There’s usually not much to say about USB cables. They’re utilitarian. Even 2-in-1 cables. So I was quite surprised that the Ugreen 2-in-1 cable I bought recently turned out to be actually a USB hub as well. I can use both the Micro-USB and Type-C device end at the same time.
I would have loved to have USB Type-C rule the world by now. Unfortunately, I still do have many devices using Micro-USB, and there are still new devices this year that continue to use Micro-USB. Like it or not, I’ll still have to deal with Micro-USB in the foreseeable future.
Hence I recently started to look for more 2-in-1 cables to help reduce the different number of cables I have to carry or keep around. I came across a few that are similar to the “UGREEN 0.5Meter 2 in 1 Micro USB Cable + Type C Cable 2.4A Fast Charging USB Cable” in this review.
As you can tell from the product title, this is a short 0.5 metres cable which is great for carrying around. The USB Type-A end connects to a computer, and the other end has a Y-split to a Micro-USB connector and a Type-C connector.
The interesting thing about this cable is that it isn’t just a simple dumb splitter. It is actually a USB hub. This means that not only does the cable carry data, but you can use both the Micro-USB and Type-C connectors at the same time, and connect two different devices to your computer.
You can also tell it’s a USB hub because Windows 10 immediately gives a notification when only the cable alone is connected to the computer. This is a USB 2.0 cable, in case you were hoping the Type-C end might support USB 3.0.
I probably don’t need to use both connectors at the same time, at least not most of the time anyway, but having that convenience of a built-in hub is really nice. The short cable length makes it easy to keep tidy, and it won’t take up much space or make a mess when stored with other items in your bag.
This cable currently sells on Lazada for just S$9.01, with free delivery (and some waiting).