Product review: Satechi 4 Port Portable USB 3.0 Hub

The Satechi USB hub 5.5" x 1.25" x 1". Its 4 USB slots are well spaced out  and are located on the top of the strip. I found that this configuration makes it easier to plug and plug USB memory sticks. I like it better than the ports that have slots on the sides. Its power cord cord is 10" long. The unit weights 3 oz.

The documentation states that this hub USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. I tested with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, and it is backwards compatible with both. I included the speed results for both below.

I tested he hub on Windows XP, Windows 7, and Linux. Each operating system I tested saw the memory stick plugged into the hub without problems.

I tested each port by copying a directory with mp3 files totalling 638916 Megabytes. I measured CPU time and clock time. I wanted to test that all ports worked, I wanted to test if there was a significant difference in performance between ports, and I wanted to see if copying to multiple memory sticks at the same time would slow down the copying.

✔ First, I tested each port using 2.0 USB memory stick. I ran each test two times on each of the 4 ports. All ports worked with a normal small variations in performances.

✔ Second, I tested copying files onto two 2.0 USB memory sticks at the same time, to see of the copying slows down compared to working with one stick at a time. The performance remained similar to to test 1.

✔ Third, I tested copying files to 1.0 USB memory stick. The hub is backwards compatible to USB 1.0

✔ Fourth, For comparison I plugged the same memory stick directly into the computer without the USB hub.

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TEST#1 (one USB 2.0 stick)
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Here are clock times (two columns represet each of two tests):
-------------------------------
Port1:_______2:09:54, 2:12:02
Port2:_______2:09:71, 2:04:81
Port3:_______2:16:36, 2:19:16
Port4:_______2:10:60, 2:07:77

Here are the CPU times:
-------------------------------
Port1:_______1.256s, 2.083s
Port2:_______1.524s, 1.692s
Port3:_______1.538s, 1.562s
Port4:_______1.465s, 1.869s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEST#2 (two USB 2.0 sticks at the same time)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clock times for two devices at the same time:
-------------------------------
Memory stick #1: 2:10:29, 2:22:41
Memory stick #2: 2:10:40, 2:27:58

CPU times for two devices at the same time:
-------------------------------
Memory stick #1: 1.718s, 1.127s
Memory stick #2: 1.781s, 1.459s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEST#3 (one USB 1.0 stick)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clock time:_______5:08:30, 5:06:75
CPU time:_________1.191s, 1.433s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEST#4 (one USB 2.0 stick plugged directly into the computer)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Built in Port CPU:____2.873s, 3.325s
Clock time:___________4:03:30, 3:55:16

I was provided a sample for evaluation and I ran it through 32 tests in order to provide unbiased and honest review. The unit performed well and met my expectations for a 5 star rating. If there was anything I wanted to change about this unit, I would have made its cord just a little longer.

I am attaching a photo of this unit during the two memory stick test. The photo gives you a good idea of the relative size of this unit.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★