Review on 🔌 Sabrent Premium 4 Port Aluminum Mini USB 2.0 Hub [90°/180° Rotating Design] (HB-UMMC) by Andre Hawkins

[UPDATE 12/31/17. I found that this hub was heating up my Macbook Pro abnormally when only a USB mouse was connected to it, resulting in a mild overheating issue. I am returning this unit and am looking for another USB hub solution.] I chose this 4-port mini USB hub to add more ports to my Macbook Pro. I have an older 13" model before the retina and touchpad were added, but two USB ports were available in this version. While I'll admit that I find the Mac's touchpad to be more responsive and easier to use than other laptops, I still prefer to plug in a USB mouse when I'm doing long-term photo editing. Unfortunately, this means I'm already using one of my USB ports and missing out if I need to plug in more than my mobile device to keep charging while I'm away. from home with no outlets to plug in a charger. This represents a more compact solution compared to a USB box with multiple ports and a cable to find a place in my workspace. The casing for this 4-port USB hub is made of fairly sturdy metal to avoid chipping or damage during travel use. I like that I can rotate the hub up or down so I can store it next to the laptop itself or provide another laptop port if needed. It doesn't sit too flush with any USB port, plugging it in makes it easier to rotate, and in the case of my Macbook Pro, it has enough room to stay lowered and resting on my device without closing my optional microSD card adapter affect that is located next to the USB ports is my laptop. One problem I have with this mini USB hub is that it's sometimes difficult to remove the attached USB device - it holds the USB well, but maybe too well so I have to take extra care when extracting . It's difficult to remove my device from the hub. Also, since this hub rotates, I'm concerned that the constant force required to remove items that aren't always used with the hub might break down over time. When I try to disconnect a device that I no longer need to use in the hub, I see it move slightly away from my laptop's USB port, trying to flex with the force to force the attached device out of the port draw. I've made sure to keep the hub in place when inserting or removing devices as I see that this can be the first aspect to break or wear out with regular use. For now this seems solid and works to provide additional ports when traveling but I may have to look for another solution as this may not last as long as I would like in the long run. In terms of transfer speed, I haven't used it as a USB hub for document transfer yet, but it seems to deliver a steady current to my mobile device when side-charged. I've had some good experiences with Sabrent products in the past, so I'm hoping the aluminum mini USB hub has more improvements than I've found in other reviews. I'm still concerned about the wear and tear of this product, even for the price.