MINIX NEO C Plus is the new HUB of which we present today its analysis or review, a product of the MINIX brand designed especially for the new Macbook Pro where they deploy all their faculties and which is also compatible with any device that has a USB Type-C port in one of its modes. A device with the usual careful design of MINIX and that allows us to considerably expand the connection capabilities of any notebook. Let’s see how it is performs in our review.
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GENERAL CONCEPTS
These USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 peripheral connection cables offer us the possibility of using our peripherals in any type of device that supports this standard connector USB Type-C, we can transmit data, video or audio with the same connector. In addition the connector is reversiblewith what we can connect without looking always right. The basic specifications of these cables are those that we can see in the following table.
Within the USB Type-C standard we have multiple forms of connection that allow us to perform other functions in addition to conventional data loading and transfer, the so-called Alternate mode. With these modes we can transmit different protocols by the same connector or add more information, all this means that the maximum bandwidth is distributed accordingly.
PRODUCT DETAILS
| Model | MINIX NEO C Plus |
| Basic specs | USB Type-C male as main connector 2x HDMI (mirror mode) 3x USB 3.0 Type-A 1x Ethernet Gigabit 1x USB Type-C (charge) 1x microSD reader 1x SD reader |
Description
The new MINIX NEO C Plus HUB has a fairly conventional design within this sector of products and as we see has a fairly short cable to connect to our device since the design is focused on using it with our laptop next to us. The main box is made of aluminum in its upper part to help dissipate the generated heat, in its perimeter we have all the available connectors, in this case we have up to nine. It is available in silver gray and dark gray.
On one side we have two HDMI 1.4 outputs that allow us to connect two screens in mirror mode with the same image, in notebooks with MacOS we have some other option but they will never be three independent screens, next we have two USB 3.0 Type-A. On the back we have a Gigabit Ethernet port and another USB 3.0 connector. On the other side we have an SD card reader, another microSD, a blue status LED and a USB Type-C charging port.
PERFORMANCE TEST
Performance of the ports
We test all the ports of this HUB to see the real performance we get when connecting peripherals, as we can see in the results the values are correct which indicates that we have quite efficient controllers.
- USB 3.0: Speeds of 400 MB/s reading and 350 MB/s writing.
- HDMI: Double video output but only mirror image.
- SD card readers: Speed of up to 100 MB/s of reading.
- Ethernet: Speeds of up to 600 MB/s in transfer.
Thermal tests
A point that draws attention when using the MINIX NEO C Plus HUB is that it reaches a fairly high temperature, as we can see on the upper metal face we reach 45ºC, when touching it it feels quite hot but it is normal according to the brand.
CONCLUSIONS
As we see MINIX offers us with its new MINI NEO C Plus HUB an interesting device if we have a laptop that has a USB Type-C port and we want to get the maximum performance, it is undoubtedly designed especially for latest models of Macbook Pro that have very few ports and with this we expand possibilities. At the level of finishes and design we have the usual careful design from MINIX what makes it fit with any device. On the other hand we must emphasize the temperature that reaches and that the double HDMI output really only gives us two images in mirror format. In general, an interesting device for those who have a Macbook Pro and want to have many more connectivity options.
WHERE TO BUY
- MINIX NEO C Plus can be purchased in Amazon.com for only $79,90
