This hub is very well done, a thin and lightweight black box, with all seven ports aligned along the front side and the USB and power on the back. It comes with a USB 3.0 cable (about a meter long, long enough for me), and AC adapter (5V / 2.5A). Integrated protection against overload is also a good safety feature. Installation is very easy - no need drivers.
In my tests and plugged into a 3.0 port, the transfer speed is super; there is no loss of speed compared to the direct connection to the computer. The hub has a full backward compatibility with USB 2.0 and even 1.1, but at much slower speeds. It instantly works with all devices I tested (portable under Win 8.1, desktop computer running Vista, Kindle Fire HD, multiple USB flash drives, optical mouse, compact camera Sony DSLR Nikon camera, music players and WD external hard drive).
You can use this as a feeder hub by plugging the adapter into a wall outlet, but, as I understand it, when connected to a computer via USB cable, load switching to intelligent mode, which is always better for the speed and efficiency. Of course, the USB connection is required when transferring data, such as photos and videos from a camera, or any type of data between the computer and peripherals.
I'm really impressed with the build quality and performance. In my opinion, this is a superior hub that fully justifies its very reasonable price.
