Head-to-Head: Plugable USBC-9IN1E vs. Kensington UH1400P

Choosing the right docking station or multi-port hub can have a major impact on how smoothly your workstation, travel setup, or managed laptop fleet performs. Today, we're comparing the Plugable 9-in-1 USB-C Hub (USBC-9IN1E) with the Kensington UH1400P USB-C 8-in-1 Driverless Mobile Hub (K33820WW). At first glance, these portable travel companions appear quite similar: both offer driverless USB-C connectivity, a single 4K HDMI video output, built-in card readers, and a Gigabit Ethernet port for when wireless connections get unstable. However, a closer look reveals that they are built around fundamentally different performance priorities.

The core question is: which hub is better suited for the power and speed demands of modern laptop workflows?

Let's compare the specifications, then look at what those differences mean in day-to-day use.

Feature Comparison: Plugable USBC-9IN1E vs. Kensington UH1400P

Where Kensington UH1400P May Be a Better Fit

Before examining where the Plugable USBC-9IN1E stands out, it's worth noting where the Kensington UH1400P may be a better fit, particularly when it comes to its physical footprint. If you are extremely limited on space in your travel bag or frequently work on cramped café tables, the Kensington hub offers a much more compact, pocketable design.

Measuring roughly 4.13 × 2.05 × 0.51 inches, the Kensington hub is nearly half the length of the Plugable USBC-9IN1E (which measures about 7.2 x 1.3 x 0.6 inches). When you combine that shorter, blockier chassis with Kensington's slightly longer 9.8-inch built-in host cable, the UH1400P can be easier to tuck out of the way on a crowded desk or slide into the smaller accessory pockets of a laptop sleeve. For users whose primary concern is absolute minimum travel size, the Kensington design is highly accommodating.

That said, the ultra-compact size comes with trade-offs in data throughput, port layout, and power ceiling. For users seeking higher performance headroom and faster peripheral connectivity, the Plugable USBC-9IN1E justifies its longer chassis.

The Plugable USBC-9IN1E Advantage

Charging Headroom: Built for Modern Workstations

The Plugable USBC-9IN1E is specifically engineered to accommodate modern, power-hungry USB-C laptops. It supports the latest USB-C Power Delivery 3.1 Extended Power Range (EPR) standard, allowing it to accept up to 140W of input and deliver up to 125W of pass-through charging output to a compatible host.

This extra power ceiling matters immensely if you are operating higher-performance laptops, such as a 16-inch MacBook Pro, under heavy computing loads where lower power hubs cause battery drain. By contrast, the Kensington UH1400P caps pass-through power at 85W.

Note on Power Delivery: Power Delivery ratings describe the maximum charging power the dock can provide to a compatible host. Actual charging behavior can vary by laptop model, power requirements, cable, dock firmware, and the host's supported charging profiles. When paired with standard PD 3.0 hosts, the Plugable hub will naturally adjust its threshold to provide up to 85W of downstream power.

USB Data: Double the Bandwidth for Peripherals

For professionals moving large folders, local backups, or high-resolution media, peripheral port speed is a crucial differentiator. The Plugable USBC-9IN1E pulls significantly ahead by offering a dedicated USB-C 10Gbps port alongside two USB-A 10Gbps ports (with one supporting BC 1.2 charging), and a single USB-A 2.0 port for basic input devices.

The Kensington UH1400P relies on three legacy USB-A ports limited to 5Gbps speeds. While its single USB-C port does support 5Gbps data, using it for power pass-through means you lose your only USB-C connection for peripherals. Shifting to Plugable's architecture provides double the data bandwidth (10Gbps) and gives you a dedicated USB-C data port entirely separate from the power input, minimizing wait times when interacting with fast external NVMe SSDs.

Card Readers: UHS-II Performance for Content Creators

Both hubs cater to content creators by incorporating built-in SD and microSD slots. However, the internal architecture differs. The Plugable USBC-9IN1E features high-speed UHS-II card readers capable of theoretical bus speeds up to 312MB/s. The Kensington UH1400P utilizes UHS-I card readers. When offloading large batches of raw photos or high-bitrate video files, the Plugable hub's UHS-II support provides a maximum interface data rate up to three times higher than standard UHS-I slots when used with compatible UHS-II media. Actual transfer speeds depend on the memory card, host system, and workload.

Compatibility and Testing

Compatibility is especially important for docking stations and mobile hubs because real-world setups vary across multiple hardware landscapes. The Plugable USBC-9IN1E is designed as a driverless solution that operates smoothly with full-featured USB-C, USB4, and Thunderbolt systems running Windows 10/11, ChromeOS 100 or newer, and macOS 11 or later.

To provide a more reliable user experience in diverse hardware setups, Plugable conducts validation testing for its hubs on leading laptop series, such as MacBook, Surface, Dell XPS, HP, Lenovo, and more.

Display Configuration Note: Driving an external display at 4K @ 60Hz requires that the host laptop's USB-C port natively supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode. The Plugable USBC-9IN1E requires a DisplayPort 1.4 DSC enabled host to hit 4K @ 60Hz; host systems utilizing older DisplayPort 1.2 standards will be automatically limited to 4K @ 30Hz due to hardware bandwidth constraints.

Support and Customer Service

Plugable sets itself apart with a dedicated North American support team composed of the engineers who actually design and test the hardware. Available before or after purchase, this team provides expert technical guidance to ensure a seamless user experience. For immediate assistance, customers can also utilize Watts AI, a 24/7 intelligent chat assistant designed to provide instant troubleshooting and reliable product support whenever it is needed.

Additionally, Plugable offers a 2-Year Limited Warranty + lifetime product support.

Final Decision

For users who want a travel hub with higher charging capability and peripheral bandwidth, the Plugable USBC-9IN1E is a strong fit. By offering 140W PD 3.1 EPR input capability, 10Gbps USB data pipelines, UHS-II card readers, and reliable global availability across major retail and procurement channels, it provides additional performance headroom for compatible high-performance laptops and peripherals.