Satechi Surface Pro 9 Hub review: What a niche device!

Best Prices Today: Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub

Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub is, nicely, somewhat messy. And that’s perhaps placing it evenly.

First, it’s designed particularly for the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 tablet. Second, there are two different Surface Pro 9 models, they usually every have completely different inner {hardware}. Does this matter? To an extent, sure. But the actual query is whether or not you’ll be capable to purchase this hub for those who personal different Surface Pro {hardware}.

A hub designed particularly for the Surface Pro 9 is clearly somewhat limiting. Will the Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub work with the Surface Pro 8? No, not likely. And will it work with the Surface Pro 10? I believe so. I’ll attempt to tease out the variations for you.

This evaluation informs our roundup of the best USB-C hubs and dongles.

Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub: Fit, ports, bodily development

Let’s begin with the fundamentals. Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub lacks a twine. Instead, two USB-C connectors on the hub slot into the pair of USB-C ports on a Surface machine. The hub is simply 1.4 ounces, measuring 4.45 x 1.3 x 0.31 inches. It’s mild and skinny, and it match simply high-quality into our in-house Surface Pro 9 (5G) evaluation unit, and right into a Surface Pro 8, too — with an enormous caveat, which we’ll talk about later.

But the spacing of the ports is barely completely different on a few of the Surface clamshell notebooks — the Surface Laptop Studio’s ports, for instance, are spaced simply in a different way sufficient that the hub received’t match.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

The lack of a twine is an efficient factor. Even at just some ounces, the load of a dongle dangling from the Surface Pro 9’s USB-C port would most likely stress that connection. Satechi’s strategy is the proper one.

The Surface Pro 9 has the 2 USB-C ports on the left facet of the pill, with the Surface energy connector on the precise facet. So, sure, the Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub works simply high-quality with that machine. From press images of the Surface Pro 10 (we don’t have a evaluation mannequin), I’d assume that Satechi’s hub will work simply high-quality with that pill, too.

The Surface Pro 8, nevertheless, locations the ports on the precise, tucked up in opposition to the ability button, with the Surface charger slot slightly below. That signifies that the hub covers the ability button, and the charging port is just too near the hub itself to plug in. Connect the hub, and you would inadvertently energy off your machine! You can jerry-rig an answer on the Surface Pro 8 by connecting the hub simply after you’ve pressed the ability button, then utilizing one of many USB-C ports for charging…however why? So, no, this hub doesn’t actually work with the older Surface Pro 8.

The far-left USB-C inlet port on Satechi’s hub — on the facet the place you possibly can plug in cords — is a USB4 40Gbps pass-through port. USB4 is the more open version of Thunderbolt 3/4, so Thunderbolt units ought to work with this hub, however solely in sure circumstances. The different USB-C inlet is a extra standard 10Gbps port. Next to it’s a 10Gbit USB-A port, after which an undisclosed HDMI port and a UHS-1 SD/MicroSD slot, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

On the Surface Pro 9 (5G) — which has a Snapdragon Arm chip — the passthrough port didn’t permit me to energy the pill with a USB-C energy plug. I might when utilizing the Surface Pro 8 with an Intel chip inside, suggesting that the Intel model of the Surface Pro 9 will do the identical.

With any hub, it’s a must to fear a bit about whether or not ports are spaced extensive sufficient to permit USB keys and cords to suit. Satechi’s hub doesn’t permit quite a lot of area, however all the ports are spaced far sufficient away from one another, except for the USB-C ports. If you could have a USB-C reminiscence stick, it won’t match when the opposite USB-C port is occupied. Any twine connectors, nevertheless, ought to work high-quality side-by-side. The bodily development of the hub additionally appears safe and durable sufficient that you would use a thick HDMI cable with out its weight pulling the hub free from its personal connection.

The hub seems to be made from aluminum. It warmed to the contact below load, however not alarmingly so.

Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub: Performance will range

Here’s the catch.

The Surface Pro 9 is obtainable in two methods: Surface Pro 9, with an Intel chip inside, in addition to the Surface Pro 9 (5G), with a Microsoft-Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm chip inside. The Intel-based mannequin features a 40Gbps Thunderbolt port, which natively connects to the hub’s 40Gbps USB4 port with out difficulty.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

But the Surface Pro 9 (5G) solely features a 10Gbps generic USB-C port, which signifies that the hub’s capabilities are restricted by what the pill can provide. You see the problem? The worth of this hub is considerably restricted by what Surface model you personal.

Using the hub, the Surface Pro 9 (5G) will connect with only a single 4K show, at 60Hz. The Surface Pro 8, considerably surprisingly, didn’t join to 2 4K shows, as a USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 dock would. (Since the hub solely has a single HDMI port, I attempted utilizing a USB-C (Thunderbolt) to HDMI cable. No cube — the expertise needs to be the identical for Intel and Qualcomm-based Surface units in that regard.)

The hub lacks an Ethernet port, so all knowledge should come to the pill wirelessly. That’s a degree in its favor, however whereas streaming a 4K60 take a look at video to the Surface Pro 9 (5G), the video stuttered steadily, dropping 814 out of 10,000 frames. On a second run, efficiency improved to 246 dropped frames, nevertheless it nonetheless wasn’t spectacular.

When linked to an SSD and the Surface Pro 9 (5G), efficiency wasn’t dangerous: 129MB/s, utilizing PCMark’s storage benchmark, pretty much as good or higher than competing units. But transferring a folder from the SSD to the desktop took about 20 seconds greater than a Thunderbolt dock.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

When attempting to switch knowledge whereas streaming, the Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub dropped about 1,000 frames per 10,000 streamed. That’s dangerous, and infrequently turned video playback right into a uneven mess.

On the Surface Pro 8, efficiency was noticeably higher. The dock/SP8 setup dropped simply 52 frames on our take a look at stream, and simply 48 when working the PCMark take a look at within the background. That PCMark take a look at yielded a results of 151.76MB/s throughput, which is definitely the very best I’ve ever seen. That dropped to 146.91MB/s whereas streaming our 4K take a look at video.

Copying a file from an SSD to the desktop took for much longer than normal, although, and I’m undecided why.

Finally, Satechi’s hub pushed out 7.2W of energy throughout the opposite USB-C port on each the Surface Pro 9 (5G) and Surface Pro 8. That’s sufficient to slow-charge a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone in about an hour. The energy didn’t change after I linked it to an influence provide, or let the pill’s battery deal with it.

Should you purchase Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub?

If you don’t personal a Surface Pro machine, nearly definitely not. Even if in case you have two Thunderbolt or USB-C ports on the facet of your laptop computer, they most likely aren’t spaced accurately. Even Microsoft’s personal Surface Pro units aren’t constantly designed.

If you personal a Surface Pro 9, is it the Intel machine? If so, you definitely might discover a extra highly effective Thunderbolt dock or USB-C hub. But for those who’re not keen to spend that a lot, and also you don’t care about working two 4K shows, or for those who personal a Qualcomm-based Surface Pro 9, the Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub is a passable area of interest machine.