4 Port Active Power USB Hub QZ-HB05

This review is primarily intended towards iOS users. To cut the long story short, kudos to the designers of this product...IT WORKS and works like charm (I was able to run 1 Terabyte HDD on iPhone SE 1st gen). So the long version goes like this:As soon as I got the product, I connected my seagate 1TB HDD to the iPad Air 2020. To my horror it didn’t work. The HDD did not show up in my native files app. I tried the 4th port (provides a higher amp). Nope, it didn’t work. The 128gb pen drive did though. But it works anyways on the iPad Air 2020 without an actively powered hub. Disappointed, with no option to return the product, I ordered a replacement and shot a frustrated email to QZ.A QZ executive replied back the next day and patiently listed possible reasons for the failure. The moment my eyes went onto the issue of NTFS formatting on iOS, I knew this had to be the most probable cause as I had read the same elsewhere as well. So, now I had to format it into FAT32.Windows 10, natively cannot do FAT32 format on storages more than 32 GB. I didn’t know that and took some time to find a alternative formatting application. Finally I did a FAT32 quick format on the entire 1 TB (I didn’t create any partition within the HDD). And guess what, the iPad showed my HDD as a storage drive on my native iOS files app using the QZ hub. I know what some of you are thinking...iPad Air 2020 DOESN’T require any active powered hub to read an external drive (at least up to 1TB I guess and mine is not an SSD). Yes you read that right. Bummer!!! I had no idea. After formatting it to FAT32, it’s just plug and play with an adapter which coverts USB A to C WITHOUT additional power.But I was more than happy to see my old iPhone SE Ist gen showing the HDD in files app using the hub. And I guess even the iPad will be happy that the HDD is running from external power. The possibilities are endless now. Unless, apple goofs up in future updates.So...it works, quality seems to be good, sturdy enough for regular use. In terms of value for money, what can I say. I was going for a NAS to sort out file transfer issues on iOS (I mostly work on raw photography files). There is no comparison to the money that I thought I had shell out for a NAS. Even when compared to other hubs, this thing costs 1/10th.Hope it continues to work for some time. GO FOR IT....

I purchased this powered USB extender to connect my IPAD and IPhone lightning connector to the PC-USB input of my Rotel 1592 mkII for Hi-Res playback. The reviewer in YouTube had suggested another brand, which was not available in India. I purchased this with trepidation as Apple is notorious for being incompatible with virtually any product outside the Apple ecosystem. The powered hub worked without a hitch. The only minor niggle is that it is so lightweight that the weight of the connected wires can topple it.

The product is nice. I use it to connect mouse, keyboard to my laptop. And even charging my phone. It works as promissed. The only 1 issue I feel is that it goes off as there is a power-cht at my place. even after being connected to my laptop by usb cable, it does not provide any connection to the use devices connected to it. It goes complete blank without power supply.Rest it is working nice and no lags or disconnects any more.

I'm really satisfied with the quality of this product so far. I previously used a TP-Link powered USB hub, which got damaged after just 3 months. I'll continue using this one for a few months and update my review here.

I used it for Raspberry Pi 5 as a NAS. I bought the variant with external charging. Charger comes within the Box. Didn't do any kind of benchmarking but it was flawless to my needs. Highly portable. All ports supported 3.0. Device Detection had no issues. Easily installable and supports most of the latest hardware.

Awesome

The hub certainly looks the part with its glossy black and white combination, even though it is apologetically plastic. It is compact enough to fit in the palm of the hand and light enough to carry around stuffed in a trouser packet. Functionally, it ticks off all the right boxes by having a separate LED for the power supply as well as individual ones for each port which light up as soon as the attached device starts drawing current. Speaking of power supply, the hub necessarily needs the included power supply to function unlike some hubs that can operate off the USB connection alone in the absence of the power supply.One of the prominently advertised aspects of the hub is the Via VL813 chipset. VIA chipsets are popular for their excellent compatibility with different host systems and OS. The VL813 is Via's 3rd generation USB 3.0 chipset and is purported to resolve some of the power supply issues of the previous generation chipsets. However, one important thing to keep in mind is that it is a 4-port chipset, so I assume that the 6 regular ports have been daisy-chained and thus share bandwidth as well as power.The proof is in the pudding and hence the best way to judge this hub was to compare its performance with my old Anker 4-port USB 3.0 hub that isn't externally powered. This should be a good way of judging the benefits of a powered USB hub like this one. I tested the data transfer and charging capabilities of both the hubs when not loaded as well as when fully loaded. The table below captures the read/write performance of a SSD as well as the charging of a phone capable of drawing up to 2A. The devices connected for each scenario are as follows:1. Charging onlyCharging phone (capable of 2A) at 76%2. Loaded - 4 portsUSB 3.0 64GB SSDUSB 3.0 2 TB HDDUSB 3.0 2 TB HDDCharging phone (capable of 2A) at 76%3. Loaded - 7 portsUSB 3.0 64GB SSDUSB 3.0 2 TB HDDUSB 3.0 2 TB HDDCharging phone (capable of 2A) at 76%USB 2.0 pen driveUSB 2.0 pen driveScannerAs can be seen from the attached table, the performance of this powered hub is pretty much identical to that of one that isn't externally powered. The only benefit is that the dedicated charging port is capable of supplying up to 1.5A while also transferring data, provided the device meets the Battery Charging 1.2 standard. Curiously, for the same charging percentage, the charge current was higher when the hub was completely loaded with devices as compared to having no other devices connected.To conclude. is it worth paying a premium over a hub that isn't powered? I sure think not because I returned this product, preferring to stay with my current Anker 4-port hub for data transfer, even if it means having to juggle between devices. As for my multi-USB charging needs, I opted for Anker's PowerPort 4.

Very good product