Introduction
Sabrent 16-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub and Charger is a 16-port hub with plug n play and hot-swap features. These 16 ports are Super-Speed category rated for up to 5Gbps data transfer rate. Each port can provide up to 1.1A current. The hub can be used with the PC as well as, as a standalone charger. The hub has built-in safety features.
Product:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sabrent 16-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub and Charger
Price:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $89.99 [At the time of the review]
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Specifications
Closer Look
The switch is shipped inside the Sabrent-themed packing box.
An excellent little presentation of the product in the main packing box. The hub is placed on the top while the accessories are under the cover.
We have gun-metal-colored aluminum housing for the hub and charger. The hub has a dimension of 9.8 x 4.8 x 1 inch. Each USB port has an LED indicator as well as an individual switch. These switches allow the quick turn on and off feature for all the USB ports. We have a Sabrent branding at the base. The Hub has a sleek design. Combining it with a durable build with safety features allows for an extended lifespan. Plug and play installation make for easy setup, with no drivers or software to install. The combined power of all USB ports is 90W. 16 downstream ports support:
- Super-speed (5Gbps) data transfer.
- High-speed (480Mbps) data transfer.
- Full-speed (12Mbps) data transfer.
- Low-speed (1.5Mbps) data transfer.
The hub is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 standards.
The above picture shows a close-up view of the ports. The switches are in black color and they are ergonomically designed not to put stress on the finger. These switches have a little wiggle feeling to them when touching. The small holes between the ports and switches have blue color LEDs underneath. The blue color lights up as soon as the switch is powered on. The ability to power on/off the individual USB ports will prevent the connected device from overheating as the user can easily power off that device. Since the hub is plug n play and hot-swappable, simply powering up that port will get the connected device recognized in the OS.
There are 4x self-adhesive strips on the backside of the hub along with two mounting holes. Optionally, the user can mount the hub on the wall or table surface using the provided rear screw panel.
HB-PU16 is the model no of the hub and charger.
One side of the hub has a power port and a USB port. Sabrent has provided all required cables in the box.
The above picture shows the wall mounting bracket. The hub can be installed on the wall using this bracket.
Sabrent has provided mounting hardware for the rear panel. You would need a drill machine and a screwdriver.
We have a power adapter rated at 100~240V making it suitable for International use. the opposite side of the power supply has a blue color LED to show the active status of the adapter.
The above picture shows the USB 3.0 cable with a Type-A connector.
The above picture shows a power cable which is connected to the power source and the power supply.
The user can extend the 1-year warranty of the hub to 3 years by registering the product with Sabrent.
Following safety/protection features are provided for the hub:
- Short-Circuit
- Over-current
- Over-voltage
- Over-heating
The user would need a free USB 3.0 port on the PC. The hub is compatible with Microsoft Windows, MAC OS, and LINUX.
Set-Up and Testing
We have used Viper 64GB USB 3.0 flash drive and Sabrent Rocket Nano 2TB external drive for testing. The following configuration is used for testing:
- Intel i9 10850k [Stock, Auto]
- GIGABYTE Z490 Vision-G
- XPG Spectrix D50 16GB @ 3600MHz
- Lian Li GALAHAD 360
- GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3070 VISION OC
- Samsung 840 EVO 256GB [OS Drive]
- Seagate 2TB FireCuda
- Fractal Design ION+ 2 850W Platinum PSU
- Fractal Design Torrent Clear TG White
The hub was connected to the USB 3.0 port on the front panel.
The above picture shows the hub in action with two active ports.
The above picture shows the hub with all USB ports active as indicated by the blue LEDs.
The above picture shows the backside of the power supply with active blue LED indicating that the adapter is powered on.
The above picture shows both drives on My Computer (This PC).
We ran the ATTO disk benchmark on the drives. Here are the results:
The above picture shows the ATTO run on the Viper USB 3.0 64GB USB flash drive.
The above picture shows the ATTO run on the Sabrent Rocket Nano 2TB external driver. The theoretical data transfer rate of 5GBps is 635MB/s. Both drives were in the range of 400~460MB/s.
Conclusion
The Sabrent 16-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub and Charger is a handy dandy product that is also available in 7-ports configuration. This product expands a single USB 3.0 port on your PC into 16 active ports. The hub has a plug-n-play feature with hot-swappable functionality. This is quite handy as each port on the hub has a power on/off button. The user would not need to disconnect the hub from the PC every time the power is turned on for the connected device.
The hub has 16 USB 3.0 ports which are backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 standards. The hub features a USB super-speed (5Gbps) data transfer rate along with the high-speed (480Mbps), full-speed (12Mbps), and low-speed (1.5Mbps). Each port is capable of providing up to 1.1A current. The combined power of all ports is 90W. The product has protection/safety features which are short-circuit, over-current, over-voltage, and over-heating.
The hub can also be used as a standalone charger. Sabrent has provided a power adapter for the hub. The hub can also be mounted on any surface for which the rear screw panel along with mounting hardware are provided in the box. Each port has a blue color LED along with a dedicated power button. This design element will prevent the connected device from overheating as the user would power off only the not required devices while the remaining devices will continue to work.
The Sabrent 16-port USB 3.0 Data Hub and Charger has a solid build quality made of aluminum material and is listed at $89.99 at the time of the review. We have tested the hub using the USB 3.0 64GB flash drive & the Sabrent Rocket Nano 2TB external drive and found it working flawlessly. The user can have up to 3 years of warranty by registering the product with Sabrent. The Data Hub and Charger come recommended by us.
We are thankful to Sabrent for sending in the unit for the testing.
