Today's Tech News and Reviews
As usual, Hyper has been releasing a number of neat products. One of them is a hub solution that we have today that was briefly covered in an interview earlier this year during CES 2022. This is Hyper’s USB4 Mobile Dock. One of the most cross-compatible docks on the market, allowing you to use it with USB4, Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (TB3/TB4), or even USB 3.x Type-C connections.
It is a little smaller in size, but packs a walloping punch, making for a perfect travel solution for laptops. About the size of an old 3.5″ floppy disk (but thicker, of course) that has a USB-C cable dangling out of it, this dock can easily fit into a laptop bag, backpack, or anything else you use to carry your setup around in. Or, you can simply use it with a desktop system to expand what you have.
It offers a number of neat futures tucked away into that space, including everything you need to start building your multi-display setup for both Windows and Chrome OS (Mac solutions are limited to mirrored display only since this hub requires support for DisplayPort’s MST [Multi-Stream Transport], which Mac does not support).
With Windows and Chrome OS systems, you are able to extend your desktop to two monitors up to 4K@60 resolution each. One uses an HDMI 2.1 port and the other a DP 1.4. Or you can opt for a single extended monitor at up to 8K@30 resolution with either port.
There is a gigabit Ethernet connection for those laptops that no longer have one built-in (which happens more often than not these days). It’s too bad Hyper didn’t go with a 2.5G port this round, but so far, this is only a new growing trend that you will start seeing on larger Thunderbolt 4 docks as they come out. Maybe on the next model that replaces this one, we will see it on the more affordable USB4 options as well.
There are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports that can transfer at up to 10Gbps. This will cover you for the majority of devices that you plug into the hub. Clearly, this can support any accessory that you plug in. However, it will also provide everything you need for most external drives as well (or anything else that is capable of transferring data at these speeds).
These ports can also deliver up to 4.5W of power for these connected devices. This leads us to the third side with ports.
Besides a headset connection (for headsets, headphones, or microphones), there is an additional USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, only this one is USB-C and can be used to plug into the wall for additional power. This connection is capable of delivering up to 100W of power to the hub that can be used to power connected devices or even pass through to a laptop for charging (if your model supports this ability). It is able to pass up to 85W of that 100W to the laptop for this purpose.
You do, of course, have to provide your own wall adapter and USB-C to USB-C cable in order to make use of this. It does not come with either of these. So you will have to make sure the one you buy into is capable of supplying 100W (or more) down a single USB-C connection. The USB-C cable you choose will have to support the same since not all USB-C cables are equal when it comes to power and data handling. So check your specs before buying!
In our tests, we have been using this wall adapter by Maxonar and this USB-C cable by AINOPE for our testing of the hub. Both of these support 100W and we choose this specific cable since it was 10ft long, which places it at or even a little longer than some laptop power cords. That way we don’t have to sacrifice on the distance to a nearby plug by switching to USB-C for charging.
This is more than enough charging power for the majority of the modern laptops out there. We could only find a few on-site that this wasn’t sufficient for, including an older model that doesn’t even support USB-C charging anyway, and a modern gaming model that isn’t so energy efficient when it comes to charging. Most of our laptops on-site are Dell Inspiron or XPS, and all of these have been compatible with this.
In our opinion, being able to charge your laptop from the same hub you use to connect everything else to is a must when it comes to minimizing cable mess. All you have is a single USB-C connection to make to the laptop and you are ready to go. That same connection powers anything else plugged into that hub that needs it and no other outlets are required (unless your attached accessories cannot be powered by their USB connections, like monitors or some external HDDs).
As mentioned, this is best used on a Windows or Chrome OS system. Great for laptops, but it could be used for desktops as well. However, laptops are where it shines best due to its size and ability to pass power back to the system for charging.
Your system should support USB-C with DP Alt-Mode at a minimum, in order to make use of the dock. Preferably, TB3, TB4, or USB4 connectivity for the best performance. However, it should function quite well with any of these. Anything older than that (ie, USB-C without DP support built-in) and it would become an over-priced dock with limited function. So stick to the supported ports.
With that said, the dock has been functioning quite well for us. Multiple screens, fast Ethernet, and fast USB connectivity. Plenty of power to charge the system and power most connected devices. You can’t break out to USB-C supported monitors, but this is fine for the size of the dock.
Size and weight are great for what it is capable of. It makes for a great accessory for your travel bag since it allows you to bring everything (connectivity-wise) to your laptop while also allowing you to leave the normal brick-style charger at home. You do have to replace that brick-style charger with a USB-C cable and wall adapter, but this is almost always going to be a smaller footprint and less weight.
At $139.99 (MSRP), the price can feel a bit steep for a hub accessory. However, the pricing of TB3 and TB4 hubs has been quite steep over the years (typically around $179-$299). USB4 was supposed to lighten this a bit thanks to Intel dropping royalties relating to the new port (a port that has TB support built-in). So this can be seen in the price of this one. You may even see some prices come down a little more when global supply chain issues clear up (whenever that actually happens).
However, for now, it does seem like a good price point for this model to be at.
It’s small, it’s light, and it’s powerful (up to 40Gbps bandwidth throughout). It should be everything you need in connectivity, at least for most users with laptops. The ability to keep most laptops charged using the same hub is always a huge perk when it comes to our rating of a dock/hub solution. It’s also affordable enough to say that the price is an improvement on older Thunderbolt options. All of this while being driver-free. Nothing needs to be installed for everything to work. Plug it into a modern Windows or Chrome OS system and off you go once it is auto-detected and ready to use.
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Ports: HOST: USB4 (40Gbps; 85W PD Passthrough) HDMI 2.1 (8K 30Hz; HDR) DisplayPort 1.4 (8K 30Hz; HDR) USB-C (10Gbps; 100W PD*) USB-A (10Gbps; 4.5W) USB-A (10Gbps; 4.5W) 1 Gigabit Ethernet 3.5 mm Audio Combo Jack (96 kHz 24 bit)
Dimensions 84.9 x 84.9 x 19.4mm 3.34″ x 3.34″ x 0.76”
What’s in the Box: 1 x HyperDrive USB4 Mobile Dock 1 x User Guide
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
Don’t forget to subscribe for a chance to win cool prizes!
Designer, Editor and Product Reviewer Poc Network Ryan is an avid gamer that spends most of his time either commanding teams on the Xbox One or out on the grass kicking the soccer ball around when others are willing to take the challenge. He comes with a bachelors in electrical engineering and a hobby in the installation of advanced audio-video environments.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.