NOTE: TurboHub has offered GiGadget readers a special deal on their Indiegogo: TurboHub 6-in-1 adapter and 4TB SSD and a leather pouch for $334 ($405 OFF). Use this link to claim the special offer.
In a perfect world, USB-hubs wouldn’t exist. Laptops would have all the ports we need and “dongle” would be more akin to Seussian vocabulary than a modern computing necessity.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.
Dongles and USB-hubs are the frustrating reality for nearly everyone trying to offload footage from an SD card, plug in an HDMI monitor, or read a USB-A hard drive on a post-2015 laptop.
I am no stranger to dongles and USB-hubs as my 2018 Macbook only has 4 USB-C ports. That’s why I was intrigued when TurboHub reached out to us about reviewing their 6-in-1 USB-hub, a hub that seems to offer greater port selection while reducing the annoyance of conventional USB-hubs.
The TurboHub is a new TurboHub 6-in-1 adapter and 4TB SSD. It stands out amongst other USB-hubs due to its unique design. Instead of plugging into your computer through a cable, the TurboHub is built to be securely attached to the side of your MacBook by its two USB-C stubs.
I found the TurboHub’s design to be much more convenient than conventional USB-hubs that attach with flexible cables. I could easily move my MacBook around without worrying about dangling cables. Oftentimes I forgot that I even had the TurboHub attached, it felt like a natural and needed extension of my MacBook.
In terms of ports, the TurboHub offers a great selection for my needs. It has a gigabit ethernet port, 2 USB-C ports (with one being Thunderbolt 3), a USB-A port, an HDMI 2.0 port, and an SD card reader. Using the TurboHub felt like returning to a time when MacBooks actually had more ports.
Aside from its USB-hub functionality the TurboHub also has an internal SSD with storage options up to 4 TB.
The company claims that TurboHub is the world’s fastest SSD. Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources to test every SSD on the market, but I did run tests comparing it to my go-to SSD the Samsung Galaxy T5.
Using Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test, I found that TurboHub’s SSD had read and write speeds of around 940 MB/s and 890 MB/s respectively, this is nearly 1.8x faster than the results I got from the Samsung T5.
After a week of hands-on time, I can say that using the TurboHub feels like giving your MacBook an upgrade. It’s my favorite USB-hub design I’ve seen yet and is very easy to use. The built-in SSD is also a huge cost saver as Apple charges $400 to add a terabyte of storage whereas the 1 TB TurboHub model only costs $119.
The TurboHub also comes with a cable attachment that allows it to be used with PCs, tablets, and smartphones that support USB-C.
TurboHub has offered GiGadget readers a special deal on their Indiegogo: TurboHub 6-in-1 adapter and 4TB SSD and a leather pouch for $334 ($405 OFF). Use this link to claim the special offer.
Editor: Adam Skov
