Satechi Surface Pro 9 Hub review: What a niche device!

Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG

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    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Mark Hachman / IDG</p></div>

The lack of a cord is a good thing. Even at just a few ounces, the weight of a dongle dangling from the Surface Pro 9’s USB-C port would probably stress that connection. Satechi’s approach is the correct one.

The Surface Pro 9 has the two USB-C ports on the left side of the tablet, with the Surface power connector on the right side. So, yes, the Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub works just fine with that device. From press photos of the Surface Pro 10 (we don’t have a review model), I would assume that Satechi’s hub will work just fine with that tablet, too.

The Surface Pro 8, however, places the ports on the right, tucked up against the power button, with the Surface charger slot just below. That means that the hub covers the power button, and the charging port is too close to the hub itself to plug in. Connect the hub, and you could inadvertently power off your device! You can jerry-rig a solution on the Surface Pro 8 by connecting the hub just after you’ve pressed the power button, then using one of the USB-C ports for charging…but why? So, no, this hub doesn’t really work with the older Surface Pro 8.

The far-left USB-C inlet port on Satechi’s hub — on the side where you can plug in cords — is a USB4 40Gbps pass-through port. USB4 is the more open version of Thunderbolt 3/4, so Thunderbolt devices should work with this hub, but only in certain cases. The other USB-C inlet is a more conventional 10Gbps port. Next to it is a 10Gbit USB-A port, and then an undisclosed HDMI port and a UHS-1 SD/MicroSD slot, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Satechi Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub" class="wp-image-2303390" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Satechi&rsquo;s hub uses a pair of USB-C connectors to plug into your Surface Pro 9.</figcaption></figure><p class="imageCredit">Mark Hachman / IDG</p></div>

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Mark Hachman / IDG</p></div>

On the Surface Pro 9 (5G) — which has a Snapdragon Arm chip — the passthrough port didn’t allow me to power the tablet with a USB-C power plug. I could when using the Surface Pro 8 with an Intel chip inside, suggesting that the Intel version of the Surface Pro 9 will do the same.

With any hub, you have to worry a bit about whether ports are spaced wide enough to allow USB keys and cords to fit. Satechi’s hub doesn’t allow a lot of space, but all of the ports are spaced far enough away from each other, with the exception of the USB-C ports. If you have a USB-C memory stick, it might not fit when the other USB-C port is occupied. Any cord connectors, however, should work fine side-by-side. The physical construction of the hub also seems secure and sturdy enough that you could use a thick HDMI cable without its weight pulling the hub loose from its own connection.

The hub appears to be made of aluminum. It warmed to the touch under load, but not alarmingly so.

Satechi’s Dual USB-C Surface Pro 9 Hub: Performance will vary

Here’s the catch.

The Surface Pro 9 is available in two ways: Surface Pro 9, with an Intel chip inside, as well as the Surface Pro 9 (5G), with a Microsoft-Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm chip inside. The Intel-based model includes a 40Gbps Thunderbolt port, which natively connects to the hub’s 40Gbps USB4 port without issue.