The Zagg 6-port Media Hub features a flip-up iPad stand, an HDMI port, a USB-A port and extra, with the standout characteristic being an simply accessible set of media controls. And all this matches into the identical house in your desktop as a extra standard pill stand.
I used the iPad hub/stand in my residence for weeks, and it does its job effectively. That mentioned, a design quirk may restrict its attraction.
Zagg 6-port Media Hub evaluation
An iPad could be the center of your lounge leisure heart. With apps for Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, and so on., you may entry all of your favourite exhibits, however you want a strategy to get them onto a big display.
The Zagg 6-port Media Hub could be simply what you’re on the lookout for. Join your TV to its HDMI port, and you may lean again and luxuriate in. The conveniently positioned media controls make beginning and stopping the present as simple as could be.
Plus, the pill/hub consists of ports so you may simply watch movies or pictures saved on a USB drive or SD card.
Desk of contents: Zagg 6-port Media Hub evaluation
iPad stand is prepared to your lounge
When folded, the Zagg 6-port Media Hub is 5.5 inches by 4.3 inches by 0.8 inches. It’s sufficiently small to be comparatively unobtrusive subsequent to your TV.
Carry a high flap, and it turns into a kickstand to your iPad. The entrance fringe of the pill matches right into a slot close to the entrance fringe of the stand. Because of the movable flap, the angle the iPad stands upward can differ between leaning backward about 25 levels and leaning backward about 40 levels. That’s not an enormous vary, nevertheless it’s good to have some choices.
Beneath that high flap is a storage slot for the hub’s information/energy cable. That is solely 6 inches lengthy, so getting it to connect with my 13-inch iPad Professional with out the pill needing to relaxation on the stand off-center requires forcing the cable to bend at a 90-degree angle, which may’t be good for it. These with 11-inch iPads can have much less of an issue.
The cable could be hidden away contained in the hub to cut back muddle in your lounge, nevertheless it additionally makes the accent transportable. This may very well be your journey iPad stand plus hub that makes a spread of equipment simply accessible.
It’s referred to as ‘Zagg 6-port Media Hub’ for a purpose
Photograph: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
I hope nobody is shocked that Zagg’s pill/hub has six ports. Including a spread of ports to the only USB-C one constructed into the iPad is splendidly handy for connecting a spread of equipment and storage choices.
The HDMI port helps 4K screens at 60Hz. I examined it with my Innocn 4K show for weeks and by no means had an issue.
The hub’s USB-A port is handy for plugging in a keyboard, which is usually how I used it throughout testing. Nevertheless it’s additionally helpful to entry films and pictures on detachable storage. It helps USB 3.2 Gen 2, so information transfers go as much as a theoretical max of 10Gbps. In my testing, copying a 1GB file off an SSD took below 3 seconds. A film performed from that drive began in lower than a second.
There are additionally SD and microSD card slots to allow you to simply copy pictures and video from a digicam. Transferring a 1GB take a look at file to my pc took about 12 seconds. Or you may open information proper off the cardboard.
The USB-C port within the Zagg 6-port Media Hub is primarily supposed to allow you to cost your iPad whereas utilizing the hub. It might probably present as much as 100W of energy, so it’s able to juice up right now’s and future iPad fashions. However the port is practical for greater than recharging. I examined it with a USB-C exterior SSD drive, and file transfers went blazingly quick. I efficiently use a keyboard with it, too.
Drawback with the audio jack
I saved the audio jack for the final port to speak about as a result of it’s my least favourite characteristic on this entire system.
To be clear, its primary performance is okay. It’s a simple strategy to join wired audio system or headphones to your iPad, and the sound is wealthy and clear. I examined it with my favourite headphones to make certain.
However the Zagg 6-port Media Hub takes over the audio output for the iPad. With the hub related, there’s no means to make use of the audio system constructed into the pill, even when there’s nothing plugged into the audio jack. Different hubs with audio ports I’ve examined don’t work that means — with these, audio goes by means of the port solely when there’s one thing plugged into it.
What this implies is Zagg’s stand/hub works splendidly if you happen to’re going to completely plug audio system into it … which isn’t an unreasonable requirement for a product referred to as a “Media Hub.” However if you happen to’re not, say goodbye to sound out of your pill.
Don’t neglect the useful media buttons
Photograph: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Throughout the entrance are a set of media controls that make beginning, stopping and leaping by means of video or audio a snap. These bodily buttons are positioned to be simply accessible, which makes them a noticeable enchancment over on-screen controls.
Put your iPad within the Zagg 6-port Media Hub and join it to your TV, and you may simply pause and restart your film on the press of a button.
Zagg 6-port Media Hub evaluation: Last ideas
This hub/stand makes it simple to place your iPad on the heart of your property leisure system. Plug your pill in, plus your TV and a pair of audio system, and also you’re prepared to look at films, stream music, take a look at trip photos … it’s as much as you.
★★★★☆
The hub’s demand to fully hijack the pc’s audio is an issue, although. And the connecting energy/information cable isn’t well-designed.
Pricing
The Zagg 6-Port Media Hub prices $99.99 — not a foul worth contemplating it’s two equipment in a single.
Purchase it from: Amazon
Zagg offered Cult of Mac with a evaluation unit for this text. See our evaluations coverage, and take a look at extra in-depth evaluations of Apple-related objects.
