A concern for just about everyone who buys an Apple Macbook, is that two small USB-C connections just won’t cut it for their mobile lifestyle. Thankfully, Kingston has come up with something that takes up one of the ports, a USB-C 7-in-1 hub that allows the owner to do everything from use their favorite monitor and mouse to a favorite keyboard and more. Let’s get into the full review of the Kingston Nucleum.
Kingston’s Nucleum has a built-in USB-C drive connection cord that gives enough room to use the connections but not for the cord to hang off a surface and get caught up in things as the cord is just a few inches long.
The device is covered in polished aluminum so it definitely gives a premium look and goes nicely with most computers.
The connections, which are really what this is about, consist of two USB-C ports, two USB 3.1 connections, and a 4K HDMI port which can come in really handy when working with a monitor or a television.
The last two connections are pretty important: Both microSD and SDHC card reader slots! Anyone who bought the Macbook Pro, before Apple removed the SDHC slot, would tell you how important its utility is to someone who works with media devices all day long, like us.
During our reviews of DSLRs and lenses we end up taking tons of pictures and video. All of the adapters that let me plug the microSD or SDHC cards into my computer have at some point time simply faltered. As a result, some times our nice expensive cameras end up sitting in a bag while we use our phones to take pictures. Kingston Nucleum functioned exactly as promised and the transfer rates were great – offloading memory cards full of images took just a few moments.
A very useful feature of the Kingston Nucleum is that you can use all 7 ports simultaneously! So if you have things plugged into all of the connections except one USB 3.1, you can still your phone into that and charge it.
You can probably buy an adapter that does many of the things the Kingston Nucleum can do for cheaper, but odds are you won’t get the high standards of quality we have come to expect with the Kingston name and it will probably look tacky with your brushed aluminium Macbook or notebook.
Not only does the Kingston Nucleum perform well, it has the looks going for it too. In tech devices, one generally gets what they pay for, and if you are someone who needs to use a hub and these ports regularly, look no further than the Kingston Nucleum because as we have come to see with most Kingston products, the Nucleum will prove to be a workhorse.
