Reviews by The Church of Apple

Tag: Kanex

  • Kanex DualRole

    The Kanex DualRole is a device with two reasons for it’s existance. The first is to provide you with an additional 2 USB 3.0 ports to your computer (it adds three but takes up one computer port). The second one, which is more important, adds an Ethernet adapter to a computer that needs it such as the MacBook Air and the new Retina Display MBPs. It is the first product that I have seen that combines USB 3.0 and Ethernet. The DualRole is available from Kanex for $69.99. Let’s see if it the USB hub for you.

    Form

    There isn’t much to mention in terms of Form but there are a few things I would like to point out. First, this device is perfect for traveling. It is very small and compact. If you wanted to put it in your pocket, you definitely could. The device may be small but it is made well. The cord is well attached to the device and the ports are made well enough. The device, like the MeDrive, reminds me of an Apple Time Capsule or a white Apple MacBook. The device would be a perfect fit aesthetically with a white MacBook, however users of the white MacBook would not need it since the white MacBooks have USB and Ethernet ports. The device is more suited for owners of more current computers. The cord is short, some could say a little too short but that is good since a short cable quickens the speed a bit more than a longer cable. Other than that there isn’t much else to say about the Form of this device. It’s small, compact, light and it has just enough Apple-ness in there to make it stand out.

    Function

    The device is small and compact and thus perfect for traveling. It isn’t a 12 port USB hub but on the go it is the perfect device, especially for those with a computer without an Ethernet hub. On the market right now, there is no device that I know of besides this one that can drive USB 3.0 and Ethernet on the same adapter. That is something of high-mention. I believe in Apple’s mentality of invention and this company did just that. They did it well. The device provides quick USB 3.0 ports to the newer computers coming to market, not just Macs but PCs as well. Many computers are dropping Ethernet compatibility due to the ever-increasing use of wireless internet. However, some people prefer a wired connection since it provides them with a quicker connection. I took this to the test and I did find that a wired connection was faster. Since many hotels and lodging locations still offer Ethernet, it is something to be taken advantage of. I tested the USB hubs and I found it was just as fast as the USB 3.0 ports on my computer. Also, if you wanted to drive more power to charge multiple devices, you can put in a 5V adapter which is not included but is so common you almost definitely have one at home and if not, it’s a few bucks on Amazon. I have found many times that the amount of ports on my MacBook is too few. This will make the count up to four AND allow me to plug into a wired, faster connection. In addition, as a side effect, one would no longer need to use the Thunderbolt/Ethernet adapter nor buy it if haven’t bought one yet. One problem I have with the device is not the device itself but the price. You are getting a three port USB adapter and a Gigabit Ethernet adapter for $70. I don’t know about you but that is an investment. Sure you are no longer crying about the lack of USB ports or Ethernet port but now you’ll be crying that you paid $70 to buy it. However, if you are willing to shell out the price, it is a great investment.

    Conclusion

    Pros

    -Good aesthetic
    -Small and compact
    -Additional USB 3.0 ports for a computer with only a few ports
    -Additional Ethernet port
    -Ability to add a power adapter if you need more power

    Cons

    -Price

    Ways to Improve

    The only thing Kanex can do to improve is to decrease their price on this product.

    This device is a great hub. However, the minimal amount of USB ports it adds is something to take note of with the price. The USB ports and Ethernet are great for the MBPR and the MacBook Air due to their limited USB ports and lack of Ethernet, however, I can not recommend it to owners of other Apple computers. To me, for what you pay, it seems to be lacking. However, if you are willing to pay the premium the device is perfect for anyone on the go who needs the ports. This device receives 4 stars from me.

    Thanks for reading,

    Joe

  • Kanex meDrive

    The Kanex meDrive is small device that you can plug into your router, connect a USB flash drive and use it as a file server accessible to all devices, including iOS devices, a technology worth mentioning. It can be used for as many devices have the capabilities of seeing it and that have the credentials to log in. The Kanex meDrive is available from Kanex for $99.00.

    Form

    The looks of this device aren’t nearly as important as how it performs but there are a few things to mention. First, this device is very small and compact. This device may be able to fit in tight corners. The wires included are short so the device needs to be close to the router. Of course, you can get a longer cable and your meDrive will have more space to move about the cabin. There is a little light on the device that let’s you become aware of when the device is on or not, transferring files or not. The device reminds me of the Time Capsule that Apple sells or at least the looks anyways. In a device where the looks don’t really matter, it at least passes this category.

    Function

    The idea behind this product is a great idea. A simple file server that you can connect to your router and is accessible not only to computers like all file servers are but also iOS devices as well, providing a massive cloud service if you use massive hard drive (I tried a 1TB hard drive with it). Unfortunately, this is where the complimenting ends. This device does not work with Mac-formatted hard drives. Therefore, I can not use my hard drive with this device and then use it with my Mac right after, they don’t go hand in hand. Since I only own Macs, that’s a big problem. In addition, this device needs to be driven by a USB port. I have a USB port on my router thankfully but if I didn’t, I may have had to buy a USB wall outlet adapter just to use it. Adding to that, the USB cable may not be long enough so you may want to find an additional, longer cable. Therefore, with that said, this device is not wireless. There are two, possibly three wires involved. Power, Ethernet (to the router) and a cord to a portable hard drive if you have one. Once you have it set up, the struggles continue. Sometimes, my devices can’t recognize the meDrive at all. Sometimes, my device can recognize it but it appears as though there is nothing in my drive when there is and the best days are when it does recognize something but takes a few minutes to show up. It shouldn’t take long for it to recognize it at all. I know it wasn’t my device because A I have a 2012 computer and B it was right next to the meDrive. When I did get a 500 GB external HDD to work, it took a long time to show it’s contents. So long, I lost count of time and moved on with something else equally as boring. The same goes for my iOS devices. I rather just save my files onto the hard drive then take the hard drive to where I want the files and download it there. There is a good thing to say about the iOS app though, when it works, it is intuitive. Of course, all this is not to say that it never works. In fact it works sometimes, but when it does, it’s slow and it’s results are wildly unpredictable. When we had problems however, he had no help. The instructions and manual are useless for troubleshooting so that leaves contacting the company the only option for help and some people just don’t want to do that. From my perspective, the device has too many problems to recommend.

    Conclusion

    Pros

    -Looks nice
    -Lights provide some knowledge about what’s going on
    -Provided cables
    -iOS app, unlike the rest of the whole process, is intuitive

    Cons

    -Unreliable
    -Unpredictable
    -Needs to be tethered
    -Does not work with Mac formatted drives
    -When it works, it takes way too long to do anything useful with it
    -Instructions are vague and worthless for troubleshooting

    Ways to Improve

    Besides a need to fix it’s compatibility issues, it needs to be more stable so we can have better access to the USB device attached to the meDrive. A faster connection with the router needs to be established. The company needs to consider wireless solutions to a second rendition of the product. Perhaps, they could add wireless connections to the router and wireless power such as a battery. In addition, some improvements to the instructions and troubleshooting should be considered.

    The meDrive has too many problems for me to recommend it. The device was limited in it’s abilities and unstable. It is clear that Kanex has some kinks to work out before they have a stable, finished product. This product receives 2 stars from me.

    Thanks for reading,

    Joe

  • Kanex Sydnee iOS Charging Station

    The Sydnee, from Kanex, is a four device charging station available direct for $149.00. This sleek, minimalistic and space saving machine will charge four iOS devices at maximum charging speed, providing a full charge to your smaller iPod touch/iPhone devices in an hour or so to a full charge to your big boy devices, your iPads, in about two hours. If you have a shortage of cords, don’t worry, they provide you with three small but long enough cords to charge with so you only need to come up with one more. Let’s see if this charger is worth it’s high cost.

    Form

    I have very mixed opinions on this one. The Sydnee has it’s positives and negatives to it’s design, the negatives mostly applying only to those who receive a poorly constructed product. First off, the Syndee, out of all the multi-device chargers I’ve seen, takes the least amount of space on my desk. It is compact, allowing it to be stored anywhere. The product is made out of what seems to be a hard plastic with rubber pieces. It is very elegant in design and looks particularly great on my black glass desk, as the one I received is black, it comes in white as well. It does look tacky from the back having four cables coming from the back of it but if the Sydnee is against a wall, you won’t see them anyway. Also, the charger is light, consisting of a lot of air so it is easy to carry around. There are a few problems with the form of the case, not what it looks like, but how it was built. The rubber piece inside of the charger, as soon as I took Sydnee out of it’s box had already come off. Now this isn’t a small rubber piece, it’s a padding for any device that it has in it. If this said device did not have a case, it could be scratched, therefore that space would be unusable. Also, let’s not forget that you pay $150 for this charger and as soon as you open it, it already is falling apart. However, I will give the product the benefit of the doubt, provided that I probably just received a faulty product, and not all are. However, zoom up a few weeks later, and a provided cord had the connector part come out partially when I unplugged it from the iPad. It did go right back in and was still usable but the point is, it shouldn’t do that. It is not a good pattern. In addition to these two incidents, there is another thing that bugs me as well. The whole thing is black, chrome black, except for one part that is yellow. The rubber part that is yellow, a part that is actually quite useful to the charger (I will explain it in a bit), does not fit with the rest of the charger. It’s just there and it looks a little weird. It is a little nit-picky but it is not to be discounted as everything goes in a review. As a wrap-up, the Sydnee has it’s highs and lows, (more lows than highs here) in the Form category but will it be so in the Function category?

    Function

    The answer is no. The function of the charger is much better than its form. First of all, like I mentioned before, the charger does charge devices incredibly fast, faster than the Apple chargers, at least to what I have seen with it. The charger takes up little room whether on a desk, shelf etc. The charger has a pretty neat cord system as to hide the cords as much as possible. Because of the amount of power this charger provides, 2.1 amps per device, it can charge 4 iPads at the same time from 0-100% in a little over two hours. This is pretty good. Of course, not everyone has four iPads so you can charge a mixture of different Apple products and some other non-Apple products as well. The product is mainly for Apple products but it does charge other companies products as well, provided the charger is compatible with the said product(s). The device itself is pretty well protected, though I recommend that you make sure that there are cases on any device that you put on or in the Sydnee considering that they can fall right off/out of it. Fortunately, Kanex thought of this and they made it so that the device can be small enough to go anywhere, but yet open enough to where an iPad with just about any case could fit, allowing it to keep it’s protection should it fall out. I think that the best thing overall, is it’s ability to charge four iPads at the same time, charging them all in a short amount of time. That, after all, above all else, is what they advertise it will do, and it does it well.

    Conclusion

    Pros

    -Charges FAST, up to four devices, the most I have seen out of one product
    -I use it everyday
    -Cord management is effective
    -Takes up little room
    -Simplistic, yet useful design
    -Sleek black color looks great on any surface

    Cons

    -Pieces falling off (Big problem for me)
    -Not a lot of protection for the iPads themselves
    -Yellow piece doesn’t match with the rest of the charger, subtracts from elegant look of the charger
    -Three cables, four ports. Why?
    -HIGH Price

    Out of all the products I have reviewed, this charger is a true test of Form vs Function and which one is more important. I believe that if a product doesn’t perform well but looks great, it isn’t as worth as it as one that works really well but has cosmetic issues. This is the case with this charger. The charger isn’t the greatest in the form, but it does everything it promised it would do. The product definitely received a 5/5 in what it does but it receives a 3.5/5 in its form, it would have been a 2/5 with the pieces falling off, however I realize that most people’s chargers would not fall apart like mine. At what point does the Form influence the final score? I think that as long as Kanex doesn’t send out chargers with rubber pieces coming off, then I will give the benefit of the doubt and give the Kanex Sydnee a 4/5. I believe that there is not a product quite like this one on the market at this time, considering the low space it takes up and the amount of things it can charge at one time. However, the price and the poor construction make it so that I can’t give it anything higher than a 4/5. I hope that Kanex can just put a little more glue on their product and take a little less money for the product and I would definitely raise the final score. Good job Kanex on a product that performs well and meets and exceeds it’s advertised abilities.

    Thanks for reading,

    Joe