Many USB hubs are bulky and don’t serve much purpose, other than attaching other devices. HybridDrive slips a 2TB solid state drive into the USB hub form factor to make it more useful.
Indiegogo-funded gadget
HybridDrive is a great combination of an external storage drive and a USB
hub. It maximises the internal space of the hub with storage, making the
traditional USB hub form factor far more practical to leave attached. Many
computers and tablets nowadays are only shipping with USB-C for charging and
interfacing, leaving out the functionality for USB flash drives and HDMI cables.
HybridDrive is described by its makers as “the Yin and the Yang of computing
accessories” – the Yin being extra ports, and the Yang being extra
storage.
With a multiport on one
end and an SSD on another, and a USB-C interface connecting the two, the
HybridDrive bridges the gap between portable devices (laptops/tablets/phones)
and desktops – in the sense that it gives the device extra ports and
expandable storage, as if it is a desktop computer.
The hub-drive hybrid comprises
a 4K 60Hz HDMI port, two USB-A ports with 10Gbps data transfer, a MicroSD card
reader, an SD card reader, and a USB-C which supports 100W of power output,
along with high-speed video and data transferring. On the other end is an SSD
that comes in four sizes, starting from 128GB and going all the up to a
whopping 2TB.
All in all, the device is
small enough to fit into a pocket or backpack, and gives users one gadget to
accomplish adding storage and expanding connectivity.