Anker 4-Port USB A hub Unibody Aluminum Portable Data Hub with 2ft USB 3.0 Cable,USB Splitter for MacBook, Mac Pro/mini, iMac, XPS, Surface Pro, Notebook PC, Mobile HDD and More

Five Stars
Anker was great. I received a faulty unit and I received a replacement within a few days.

An Awesome Quality Hub For Those Who Need A Few Extra Ports!
I am a fan of Anker products, because it seems like everything I buy from them, is made of quality. I own both a Anker 16,000 MAH battery charger, and an Anker 5-port wall charger, both work great. One of the sad things about my Acer notebook from 2012, is that the company decided to only give me two USB 3.0 ports, the other two are only USB 2.0 ports. They obviously chose to do this for reasons of cost reduction, since USB 3.0 technology was still brand new then. I’m sorry, I have at least 4-USB 3.0 devices, and I’d rather not wear out my only remaining USB 3.0 port in my notebook from repeated installing and removals.Anker makes several different models of USB 3.0 hubs, there is the plastic 4-port hub, the aluminum 4-port hub such as this one, the 7-port hub, and the 13-port hub. I read the reviews for the plastic 4-port hub, and many described overheating issues, so I decided that stepping up to the aluminum hub was the safer option. Also, I like how this hub has its own built in 2 foot USB cable, that way I don’t have to use up a port to plug into my notebook, like many other hubs on the market. This unit has some heft to it, about 1-pound, what you receive in weight due to the aluminum construction, you also get excellent heat dissipation. The unit never got hot to the touch, and it was only luke warm on occasion.I also like the fact that the unit comes with hook/loom velcro strips, this made it easy to secure the hub to my desk, so that the wires from cables connected, do not pull it down. I have an older USB 2.0 hub plugged into my notebook as well, and it doesn’t have said velcro strips, and even with the use of duct tape, the old hub is still trying to fall behind the desk! My computer is a 2.2GHZ quad core I7 machine with 16GB of RAM, and has a 512GB SSD drive. I am running on a Linux OS that doesn’t have the typical bloatware you find slowing down your Windows system’s. Any device that I plug into the hub, instantly mounts and pops up on my screen within 1-second.Linux usually comes with a set of basic utilities that is an absolute must for any distribution, one of those utilities is called, “Disks.” Once the drive is mounted, all you have to do is go into the Disks utility, select the drive to be benchmarked, then click on the “GEAR” icon, then select benchmark test. For this benchmark test, I chose 2 samples per read/write, and I chose a solid MIB of 1000. I have performed this test several times, it averages between 154 – 155 MBs for the read speed, and 18.8 – 19 MBs for the write speed. I am using a super fast Patriot Supersonic XT 16GB flash drive for this test.NOTE: This is a data hub, not a charging device. If you have a phone, tablet, that requires a 2-amp charge, or a 3.5″ external hard drive, this hub will not work for you. If you have those types of requirements, you will need to step up to the 7-port hub or better from Anker, that supplies a DC adapter power port, for supplying the required amps. So far I haven’t had any issues with this hub, and it has performed as expected. I highly recommend it 5 out of 5!UPDATE: December 5th 2018Its been over a year since I purchased this USB hub, and I wanted to give you an update on how its doing.Going with the aluminum version was a very smart choice. In all the time I’ve had this hub, it has never once overheated on me. Its also been very reliable as a hub itself, I’ve been able to transfer data from my camera’s, SSD hard drives, you name it. In November of last year, I purchased a condenser microphone with a phantom amp and stand kit. In order to use it with my notebook however, I needed to buy a USB audio card in order to process the microphone signal, as built in notebook mic ports can’t process the 48v phantom power.I am happy to report that this USB hub did a perfect job of supplying an external audio connection capable of processing my audio requirements in USB 3.0. In my humble opinion, if your looking for a little USB hub that can do it all, and be reliable doing it, you can’t go wrong with the aluminum 4-port hub. If you need more ports, by all means purchase the 7-port or 13-port hubs from Anker, but if you only need 4-ports, this is the way to go. My rating stays at a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

Still holding up like a champ
Bought this 5 years ago, still working awesome! I use it to connect controllers to for game night.

Of interest to Mac users
The AH430 aluminum hub works very well with my 2012 iMac running OS X 10.9.3 Mavericks. When both USB 2 & USB 3 devices are plugged into the hub, it will appear in the System Information app as two hubs, one on a “USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus” with the USB 3 items attached to it, & the other on a “USB Hi-Speed Bus” with the USB 2 items attached to that.Blackmagic Disk Speed Test shows that it can deliver USB 3 speeds to USB 3 devices even when both USB 2 & 3 ones are plugged into it. I saw no difference in transfer speeds between plugging a fast USB 3 hard drive into the hub & directly into one of the iMac’s ports.Since the hub does not have a separate power supply, it is limited to supplying a maximum total of 900 ma (0.9 amps) to all the devices plugged into it, & no more than 500 ma (0.5 amps) to any USB 2 device. This means it will charge my iPhone 5s, but at only half the rate of Apple’s 1 amp “cube” charger. For those using a wired Apple aluminum keyboard, note that the USB ports on the keyboard’s built-in hub can supply more than 500 ma to an iPhone to charge it, but only if the keyboard is plugged directly into the Mac. If the keyboard is plugged into this (or any other) hub, the iPhone will only get 500 ma.However, unlike the keyboard this hub still supplies power when the Mac is asleep (the green light stays lit) so it will continue to charge an iPhone when the Mac is asleep, if slowly.The fit & finish of the AH430 is excellent & the supplied USB 3 cable appears to be a rugged, high quality one. However, the one I got was a little stiff & 22″ long, slightly less than the advertised two feet.On a final note, I want to mention that Anker’s customer support was great. I had some questions about their hubs & my email about that was answered promptly & completely.

INITIAL THOUGHTSSleek design, well packaged, works as expected.PROS✓ USB 3.0 -> Fast transfer speeds✓ USB ports are spaced out effectively -> No issues with multiple USBs not fitting close together✓ Sleek Design -> Compact and sleek, won’t clutter up your workspace✓ No drivers needed -> Simply plug it in, no secondary steps required✓ Built-in surge protector -> No need to worry about any data loss✓ Comes with a strong velcro strip -> Mount the device anywhere on/in your desk to fit your organizational needsCONS✘ Green light can only be turned off if the device unplugged -> May bother sleep✘ Only a 2 ft (unadjustable) cable -> Ensure that you measure how much wire you need to avoid any shortage problems✘ Only 900mA power output (max) -> Not intended for fast charging (no quick charge)↠ I recommend this wall charger for your Quick Charge needs:Quick Charge 3.0, Anker 18W USB Wall ChargerRATINGSQuality★★★★★ [5]Design ★★★★ [4]Reliability ★★★★★ [5]Installation ★★★★★ [5]Delivery ★★★★★ [5]FINAL SCORE ★★★★★ [5]FINAL THOUGHTSAbsolutely love this product so far and it exceeded my expectations!***Highly Recommend

100% recommend buying this one. I’ve attached it to my desk and run a USB wireless headset, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard and a headset charging lead through it all at once. No issues with data transfer. Make sure it gets plugged into a USB 3.0 port though.