Hi GT! A universal port where you can connect anything is great. Both peripheral developers are comfortable, and users. But the transition to new standards is always fraught with difficulties: then no one puts new connectors, and we have to be hung with adapters and converters, then vice versa - in an attempt to speed up the industry, only the new interface is left. And if it so happens that you are moving progress with your wallet, but you don’t want to give up convenient accessories that you already have - this is the solution.
His Majesty Type-C
By itself, Type-C is just a connector. Inside there can be both the pinout of the antediluvus USB 2.0 (hello to Chinese smartphones), and the newest hybrid of PCI-Express 3.0 X4, USB 3.1 and Power Delivery standard, which allows transmitting power up to 100W via cable. What and how exactly will be transmitted is a question, the answer to which is completely on the conscience of the developer of the device. The Chinese do not shun the "formal" integration of the two-way connector, middle-class brands are limited to the implementation of USB 3.0. In top gadgets put the most powerful, that only is - combined USB 3.0 with Thunderbolt. You can connect anything to this connector: even a USB flash drive, even a monitor.
It so happened historically that Apple is once again becoming the “locomotive” in adopting promising and universal standards. High popularity around the world, the ability to single-handedly make certain decisions and implement them in hardware, plus enough weight so that the “approved” apples open technology becomes the mainstream - the best “promoter” for the industry cannot be desired. It was Macs who presented the world with the mass distribution of the first revision of USB, applied and popularized the “dead” Light Peak (under the guise of Thunderbolt), and now they combine two standards in one connector. And they do not put others.
Is it convenient for users? On the one hand, yes. Connectors are all unified and identical, take and use. Do you want - charging left, you want - charging right. On the other hand, the spread of USB Type-C peripherals today, to put it mildly, does not keep pace with the devices themselves. So owners of advanced laptops should always have an adapter with them, and better - a hub-splitter.
Nuclear suitcase
Cardboard packaging, a thin plastic blister - and here you have a little miracle. Aluminum box, which hides in itself everything you need for an active life with a laptop or smartphone that supports the modern way of connection. Next to
Apple technology,
Kingston Nucleum looks like a branded accessory. It fits into the design, is also assembled with high quality, it works out of the box without any shamanism.
There is only one entrance to the magical world - of course, with a universal USB Type-C interface. Outputs - just seven. Two classic USB 3.0 Type-A, one more Type-C to replace the occupied one (and you can plug another Nucleum into it!), A special connector for connecting the charger (the same Type-C, marked by lightning - so you can charge a laptop and use the peripherals at the same time), two memory card slots (MicroSD and SD), which can work simultaneously, and HDMI 2.0 to boot.
Disassemble the device is extremely difficult. The board inside is mounted on six spacers and does not come into contact with the case from two sides, the drops and impacts are not terrible.The mouse / graphics tablet, external drive, two memory cards, charging and 4K-display - everything works through one Type-C. Great solution for the workplace: I came with my laptop, I connected a single posting - and it all worked. The picture went to a large monitor, there are additional ports, you don’t need to plug in something else and climb under the table behind the fallen “tail” from charging.
Maximum speed
High-speed measurements were performed with different memory cards, flash drives and external drives. All of them are easily accelerated to the maximum stated speeds and work like a clock. MicroSD card is detected instantly. The SD card is similarly immediately visible in the system as a “flash drive”, there is no delay between connecting the drive and its definition. Memory cards saw both the Macbook, and the laptop with Windows, and even the “exotic” Chrome OS.
Synthetic tests rests on the capabilities of the drive itself: let their results differ from each other (test scenarios are different), but for a dozen runs inside one benchmark, the readings fluctuate on the verge of error.
The results of synthetic benchmarks strongly depend on the testing methodology.The real tests (copying a bundle of RAW-photo) confirms the result: Windows and MacOS squeeze out about the same linear speed, which is almost the same from measurement to measurement. Simultaneous testing of two cards at once does not affect the final result - the Type-C bandwidth is much higher than that of the MicroSD, and the installed controller does not limit it.
Both memory cards gave the highest possible result for reading and writing (according to the documents - 80 Mb / s in both directions)Mobile solutions
Since the universal connector, on the phones is exactly the same, why not try to make friends with the hub smartphone? Xiaomi Mi6 with a “clean” image Android Oreo recognized the Nucleum as an external drive and dutifully reflected the contents of the memory card in the file manager.
LG V30 in the built-in file manager understands USB Type-C flash drives, but does not see the hub - installation of normal software is required. In third-party applications perfectly shows all connected memory cards.
The speed of data exchange directly depends on the implementation of the USB protocol and the standard of the internal drive. In tests, the results are about a third slower than on the "big brother", but the speed is still sufficient for backup or watching videos on the road.
Simultaneous charging through the port on the hub and data transfer on cell phones are not supported. Keyboards and mice work in both cases normally: not the most important function in the context of a small diagonal, but the main thing is to make sure that everything works as it should.
HDMI from Type-C
Unfortunately, in the current version of Windows 10, the required driver out of the box is not supplied. As soon as Microsoft adds all the missing functionality to the standard service software package, it will start. However, on Windows, problems with ports are usually less than on Macs, and there are no problems with macOS - laptops equipped with Type-C connectors easily pick up an external display. Acer Chromebook works in a similar way - the system can expand the desktop to an additional screen and is “friendly” with the Nucleum.
Androids can work with MHL adapters, but in the hub they see only the drive and the connected peripherals - perhaps this will be corrected by software.
USB Power Delivery
The
Kingston Nucleum hub supports the USB PD standard: its electrical part is designed to be powered up to 65 watts. That is, through one USB Type-C connector, you can charge your laptop (along with an iPhone!) And even power-hungry external HDD.
Internal wiring is neat, the walkways are wide and additionally protected.Charging speed depends on the power source and the number of consumers - priority will be given to the host, and the rest - as it will. Given that the new makah enough 45 watts - on iPhones and other Galaxy S9 should be enough with a vengeance.
In the dry residue
Each new standard goes through a difficult stage of formation: at first it is not clear why putting something up when it is not supported and not used by anyone, then why release something if nobody has bothered about software or hardware compatibility. Only bold and strong-willed decisions of the largest players on the planet make it possible to overcome this resistance and the inertia of the industry.
And things like Nucleum allow you to wait out hard times. Yes, in the distant future, mice, tablets, flash drives and other things will move to a single standard, and laptops will have more than two or three connectors. Or in general, all the polls will use some kind of Bluetooth. Until then, there is a solution. Simple, efficient and reliable. Sales have already started in the
chain-store Citilink.For more information about Kingston and HyperX products, visit
the company's official
website .