StarTech.com 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub plus Dedicated Charging Ports - 2 x 2.4A Ports~7-Port USB 3.0 Hub (5Gbps) plus Dedicated Charging Ports - 2 x 2.4A Ports

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

For £53.69 ex-VAT, this StarTech 7‑port USB 3.0 hub with the extra dedicated charging ports is a decent “office desk” sort of buy—especially if you’re constantly plugging in peripherals and want phones/tablets to charge reliably without slowing everything down. The dedicated 2.4A ports are the big practical win here: in real use, you avoid the annoying situation where one port is technically “USB” but ends up underpowered and painfully slow when you’re charging. It’s also the right kind of hub for laptops that only have a couple of USB-A sockets, where you want something that just works for mice/keyboards, dongles, card readers, and the occasional external drive.

That said, I wouldn’t buy this if you expect it to be a “data fast for everything” solution for high-bandwidth storage. A hub like this shares capacity across ports, so while USB 3.0 is absolutely fine for most business gear, you won’t get desktop-like speed from multiple devices at once—especially with storage. Also, since you didn’t mention USB-C, make sure your devices are actually USB-A; if your kit is mostly USB-C, you may end up paying for the wrong form factor. Overall: good value if you need multiple reliable USB ports plus proper charging, and less worth it if you mostly care about moving large files quickly or you’re building around USB-C.