Inateck Portable USB 3.0 Hub Review ( Model HB4008 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received an Inateck 3 port USB 3.0 + OTG hub ( Model HB4008 ) for a product review.  In addition to the hub itself, it also came with a SanDisk adapter so you could use microSD cards in the SD slot.  I really appreciated this, since I had no clue where my adapter was and I only had a microSD card handy.

Inateck portable USB 3 hub

To test the hub, I used my DROK USB tester to measure the current required.  Here is the current it required for various items:

- USB hub with nothing attached pulled 0.1A
- Adding a wired mouse made it increase to 0.11A
- Adding a wifi adapter and thumb drive pushed it up to 0.25A

So even with the hub, a mouse, a thumb drive and wifi adapter the total current was only 0.25A which is under the limits for both USB 2 and USB 3.  I was even able to get an external USB hard drive to work, but when I connected two drives it started to cause problems - which is to be expected since that is too much for one port.  If you plan to use an external USB hard drive, make sure you limit the other devices to lower current devices or just get a powered hub.

Close up of OTG (USB to microUSB) adapter and memory card adapter

After that test, I put my microSD card into the included adapter and was able to read files from the memory card with no problem.  I even used the OTG adapter on my Nexus 7 tablet and was able to use my mouse on my tablet.   I didn't test any memory cards or thumb drives since my Nexus 7 is not rooted and out the box it doesn't really support mass storage devices.

To test performance, I used Ubuntu to do a benchmark on an external USB 3.0 case ( Inateck FE2005 ) directly connected and via the hub -- no noticeable impact to the benchmark.

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Easy to Use: As with any hub, it was pretty simple - connect it to your device (computer, smartphone or tablet) and then connected the USB devices you want to use into the hub.

Versatile: In addition to acting as the normal USB 3.0 hub, it comes with an OTG adapter for use on microUSB devices (such as a smartphone or tablet) and has a built-in SD reader (with microSD adapter) allowing you to use various memory cards.

Portable: The hub itself is about the size of a candy bar, and does not require a separate power adapter so it is easy to use as a "grab and go" device.

Bottom line: If you are looking for a portable USB 3.0 hub than can work with memory cards, and with various devices (such as smartphones and tablets) this is a great option.

Product Page: http://www.inateck.com/inateck-hb4008-3-port-usb-3-0-otg-hub-with-sd-card-reader/