Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Kevin Woods photo
1 Level
1294 Review
57 Karma

Review on πŸ–₯️ Anker USB C Hub PowerExpand - 8-in-1 Adapter with 100W Power Delivery, 4K 60Hz HDMI, Ethernet, USB C/A Ports, SD/microSD Card Reader - MacBook Pro Compatible by Kevin Woods

Revainrating 5 out of 5

May work with your peripherals but not mine

I have two copies of this unit that I will be returning this week and they both behave this way so I assume this is intentional and not a bug. I bought this device because Anker is a very reliable brand and there are several (seriously, less than 3 legitimate brands) USB-C hubs that have BOTH power pass-through and an additional USB-C port. So you can charge and use another USB-C device at the same time. I use a USB-C webcam with my laptop, and thanks to remote work, I'm in meetings more often than I used to be. My laptop only has a USB-C port, so I always switched to charging after meetings and my webcam before meetings. It got annoying, but my webcam was using so much power that my battery only lasted 3 hours of continuous meetings on a single charge. Since I'm in meetings all day, I've had to forgo a webcam on late calls to charge my laptop battery (via a USB-C port). Choose this product. my salvation? Unfortunately there aren't any. Although the device allows you to transfer power through the PD's USB-C port and connect a second USB-C device, data transfer through the second port is unreliable and unstable. For a few minutes my webcam image was intermittent (think old TV with poor signal). After about 5 minutes, the webcam video froze completely and the hub reduced power, then reconnected. I thought it might be my laptop charger. It's only 65W and the hub consumes 15W of that, so I was concerned that the power might not be enough to charge my laptop, use the 15W hub and my webcam. So I used my 100w charger instead. Exactly the same problem. It might work with other USB-C based peripherals, possibly ones that don't draw power, but it doesn't work reliably for my needs. This is very unfortunate as there aren't really any other hub-based options.

Pros
  • Massive Expansion: Equipped with USB-C power-in port, USB-C data port, 2 USB-A data ports, 1 HDMI port, Ethernet port and microSD/SD card reader, offers an incredible array of features - all through a single USB-C port.
Cons
  • Out of date