Review: Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub is a nicely designed kit that underwhelms with its performance - Entertainment Focus

Connectivity hubs are plentiful and a quick Google search will turn up an overwhelming amount of options. With laptops seemingly offering fewer and fewer connectivity ports than they used to, there’s more demand that ever for a hub that can increase your number of simultaneous connections. Enter into the market the Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub. Retailing at £29.99 it’s not the cheapest on the market but it’s certainly not among the most expensive either.

The Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub boasts two USB-A 3.2 ports, each offering 10Gbps, a USB-C port, a microSD card reader, a HDMI port and a USB-C PD 100W port to charge devices. The device is simple to set-up, and all you need to do is plug it into your device. It then works pretty seamlessly from there, with a small white light to display that it’s active. Design-wise the Hub is pleasing to look at and it’s super light-weight, which makes it easy to chuck in your bag and carry around.

From my tests the USB-A ports, the microSD card reader and the HDMI port all performed as I’d expected. Of those parts, the HDMI one is the most impressive. Rather than going through the pain of trying to AirPlay to my TV, I just plugged in a HDMI cable and I got a crystal-clear picture. Transferring files via the USB-A ports worked well and the microSD card reader kicks into action the second you put your microSD card in. What more could you ask for?

I did encounter some issues when testing out the Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub. Firstly, it’s not actually all that clear what the first connection is and it took some research to find out. After plugging in a variety of USB-C cables, it transpires that it’s for adapters that are plugged into the mains and have a USB-C connector. Connecting my MacBook charger to this socket yielded the result I’d expect but this could have been made a lot clearer in the accompanying booklet for the device. Secondly, I found the USB-C port a little hit and miss. Usually a plug a double-ended USB-C cable into one of my MacBook ports and the other to my iPad Pro to keep it charged throughout the day. Trying to connect that same lead straight from the Hub into my iPad Pro just didn’t work; the device didn’t power and I got a ‘Not charging’ display next to the battery symbol on my iPad.

The biggest issue I spotted though is that while the data transfer speed is fine, the charging speed is quite poor. Using a traditional charger for my iPhone results in a speedy charge but plugging it into the Hub resulted in a sluggish experience. It took far long to charge and after around 30 minutes of being connected, the phone battery had charged by only 10%. That’s really poor considering plugging it straight into an adapter or even into my MacBook would result in a much quicker charge.

Overall, I wasn’t hugely impressed by the Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub. For the price tag I’d expected more and I think some people will be disappointed with its performance. If you’re buying it for the USB-A ports and the HDMI, you’ll find it works fine but the spotty performance of the charging port and the USB-C connection left me underwhelmed. It’s a shame as it’s a nice-looking and lightweight bit of kit, that I’d hoped would be a good addition to my tech add-ons.

Released by: Canyon Buy the Canyon 6 Port USB-C Hub now

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