Test: Atolla powered usb hub U06_SML

At some point you might meet voltage issues on your Raspberry Pi.

Voltage issues if severe can cause disasters but most of time will only freeze your Pi every now and then. 

This may be an issue for performance and stability and you might sometimes end frustrated while playing games. 

There are two ways to power your Raspberry Pi with stability:

• Official Raspberry Pi power supply
• Powered USB hub

I didn't choose the former when I first bought my Pi because it lacked an on/off switch. It meant that every time I wanted to reboot my Raspberry Pi I would have to plug off and on which is not a very healthy way to manage one's electronic devices.

However, plugging your Raspberry Pi on a simple smartphone charger with a on/off switch USB wire will always cause voltage issue no matter if you choose a high amperage or not.

The Raspberry Pi in itself doesn't need much amperage. You will most of the time be fine with 1A. Still the Raspberry Pi needs a stable voltage and switches, cable length and cable material (which is often poor in case of pure USB cables) will make it drop and become unstable.

Another advantage of having a powered USB hub is that the USB hub manages the power of your external devices therefore relieves the power needs on your Raspberry Pi.

The U06_SML Atolla USB hub

Atolla USB hub U06_SML with AC/DC adapter

 

Size

This hub will look like very small (10cm x 4cm / 4in x 1.5in) and quite flat. Actually the USB keys and devices you plug in will most of the time be almost as big as the hub. This makes it a very discreet peripheral that you can hide behind your TV installations.

 

Looks and shape

You like it or not. There is no word to define that shape, I would say that its cylindric, partly round, somewhat edgy, difficult to describe. Still it looks tidy and professional and the blue lights are fun. 

 

Powering

This hub is powered by a classic AC/DC adapter on which there is nothing to really complain about. The wire is 1m - 3ft long which means that your power source mustn't be too far from your installation. I personally find a wire shorter than 1.5m - 5ft somewhat crippling. This wire would definately gain to be a little longer.

Features

This hub has 4 USB 2.0 and 3.0 compatible ports which means you basically won't notice any drop on speed on your peripherals compared to directly plugged in the SBC. 

This hub also has a fast charging port of 2.4A but this port does not have an on/off switch which means you might want to avoid powering your Pi with it if you don't need high amperage.

 

Stability

Tested on Raspberry Pi this hub is very stable no matter if you use the fast charging port or on/off switch port as power source. 

Benchmark test:

Has been tested with:

• 15 cm / 6 in plain USB cable (no switch) between hub and Raspberry Pi
  
• Performance governor
• PS2 emulator running FFX CD

This has not been tested on Raspberry Pi 4 but in this case it would need an USB-A to USB-C cable between the hub and the Pi 4.

 

Here you can find a script to monitor your voltage during demanding tasks.

Live test:

• The hub shows its limit when using the on/off switch port and doing heavy compilation. When doing heavy compilation it's recommended to plug your Raspberry Pi on the fast charge port and maybe remove the external hard drive.
• This is the only case when you have to look for your voltage. All the heavy games run fine. 

Issues

I see 2 main issues for this hub:

• If you want to use the fast charging port on your Raspberry Pi, you will need a on/off switch USB cable which will be poor quality and will be likely to make you lose the advantage of voltage stability.
• The USB plugs are so tight that I broke 2 plastic cases in a row from my USB devices. If you plan never to remove your devices this isn't a problem but if you use an USB key to transfer files from your Raspberry Pi to your computer it can be a real annoyance.

One of the victims of Atolla USB hub's tight plugs

 

Conclusion

This hub is very usable. Stable even if you don't use the charge plug, it definately will make your voltage issues history. You will have to be careful not to break your plastic USB covers while removing them. Best way to avoid this is to remove them from the base of the plug and go very slowly. The difference of price with an official power supply is around 7 €/$ and for this you will have 2 to 3 new USB ports depending how you plug your Pi and the same stability.

 

Purchase links

- US

- UK

- France

- Germany

- Italy

 

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