Orico USB 3.0 hub and USB Bluetooth 5.0 adapter

I picked up a USB hub and a Bluetooth adapter in a recent sale and decided to share my impressions in case it comes in handy for someone :)

I wasn't planning to write a review at first. The idea came to me after taking it apart and inspecting the insides, especially after comparing it with other devices.
Since there isn't all that much to say, I'll also cover the Bluetooth adapter in the same review.

So, I ordered them and they arrived. The total came to $12.48: $9.13 for the hub and $4.35 for the adapter, with a coupon applied.

The packaging... Yes, there was some, but it looked like it had been chewed up. At least, that was my first thought when I saw the hub's box.


Besides the hub, the package included a manual and a strip of double-sided tape. But the packaging was so badly crumpled that I didn't notice them until much later, so I ended up taking two photos.


It's a flat little box, with the ports on the front. I've mentioned before that this is my preferred form factor, and it turns out that not many people make devices like this anymore.
I also ordered the model with a 1.5 m cable, though 30 cm and 1 m versions are available. My previous hub had a shorter cable, so I had to use an extension, which wasn't very convenient.

There's a tiny hole on top for the power indicator LED. It's dim but directional, so now there's a blue spot on the ceiling at night.


Before this, I used a Ugreen hub and was very happy with it until I fried it, which is why I had to order a new one. I could have ordered the exact same Ugreen, but it cost more, and I figured, what's the difference? Turns out, there is one.

1. Like my previous hub, this one has the ports on the front edge, but on the old one one of them was on top, where I had the Bluetooth adapter plugged in.
2. Another criterion was that the ports should be oriented correctly, with the contacts facing down. This one gets that right.
3. It was also important to be able to connect an external power supply. Like Ugreen, this one has a microUSB port, so I simply connected my old Dlink power supply to the new hub.
4. The new hub's cable is noticeably thinner than the old one's, but about as flexible.

Since I got a keyboard with a built-in hub, I don't need an external one as much. But the keyboard's hub is USB 2.0, and sometimes I need the speed.
There's another issue, too: sometimes I need to connect a phone or a thermal imager to download files. If their batteries are even a little low, they immediately pull the voltage down as they start charging, and of course the computer can't see them. I really don't want to crawl under the desk every time.


Before using it, though, I decided to open it up. Fortunately, that's easy: there aren't even any clips, just a few pins.


There's a little circuit board inside, but it seemed to me that there weren't many components, and some weren't even soldered on.


The hub is built around a VL817-Q7, with an EEPROM chip visible on the right.


To see what was wrong, I found photos of my previous hub and an even older one. As I wrote, I fried the first one. I wanted to swap in the chip from another hub that was just lying around unused, but no luck: the chip was the same, but in a different package.

You can see that both hubs clearly have more components, but there's one important difference: both have a fuse on the power line.


By checking continuity, I found that the Orico's external power input is connected directly to the power rail on the line to the PC. This is dangerous because if the computer is powered off, the hub will try to draw power from its own power supply, and there's no fuse...

So I took a 1N5822 diode and connected its anode to the power wire from the PC, which I'd first desoldered from the hub, and its cathode to the pad for the missing capacitor.
By the way, they also skimped on the capacitors on the USB port power rails, not to mention any protection on the data lines.


Of course, the diode solution isn't great. Even with a Schottky diode, the voltage drop is made worse by the relatively long cable.
Here's what we get:
1, 2. Powered only by the PC, with no load and with an SSD connected: about 4.55–4.7 V
3, 4. With an external power supply, the readings are much better, over 5 V in all modes, which is to be expected since the voltage is limited only by the drop across the contacts.


I have no complaints about the copy speed; it's more than good enough for me.
But right at the beginning, for some reason, there was an odd issue when I plugged it into one of the PC's USB ports: USB 2.0 devices were detected and worked, but USB 3.0 devices weren't. I switched to another port, and everything worked normally.


I also ordered the USB Bluetooth adapter as a replacement for the one that burned out. The seller offered two options: BT 4.0 and 5.0. I ordered the 5.0 version, though I don't know why—I figured I might as well, even though it makes no difference to me personally.
It came in a blister pack, which had also been crushed in transit. Along with the adapter, there was an instruction sheet, from which I learned that the adapter is called BTA-508 and uses an RTL8761BUV chip. Judging by the description, it really is BT 5.0.


It looks a little different from the old one. The previous adapter was handy partly because it plugged the hub's top USB port. The new one is a bit larger, but since it'll go in the front port, it works just fine.


One side has the Orico logo and a small hole for the activity LED; the other side is blank. There's a hole on the edge for a lanyard, but I don't think one was included. Besides, who in their right mind would wear a BT adapter on a lanyard?
The old one partially melted inside after the short circuit and can't be repaired. It'll make a keychain, though it doesn't have a hole like the Orico :)


I plugged in the adapter and, naturally, went looking for a driver. It turned out there was a link somewhere near the bottom of the page.


All right, I followed the link, downloaded it, and tried to install it—but no luck, it threw an error. Only then did I decide to check Device Manager, where I found that the adapter had already been detected and was working.


The adapter's properties show USBVID_0BDA&PID_8771&REV_0200, which corresponds to the Realtek Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter.


As a test, I searched for nearby devices and found several without any trouble. Only one of them was mine, and even that one showed up as unknown.


As a cross-check, I searched for devices from my phone, and my PC with the adapter plugged in showed up right away.


Finally, to make sure the connection worked, I paired headphones with the PC. That went smoothly too.
The connection is stable in the room where the PC is and in the next room. The audio only started to stutter when I moved about 8 meters away, with two walls between me and the PC.


Conclusions.
I have no complaints about the Bluetooth adapter at all. Besides, I mostly need it for testing various devices rather than everyday use. The hub, on the other hand, has a few shortcomings.
Yes, the hub works, and I'm happy with the speed and the design, but it's disappointing that they clearly cut corners on the components.
The manufacturer didn't add any extra decoupling capacitors on the USB output power lines, isolation from the PC's power supply, or even a fuse. After adding a diode to the power line, it's safer to use, and for now I'm satisfied with it.
Unfortunately, if I'd known it would be like this, I probably would have paid a few dollars more and bought the Ugreen model I showed above.

That's about it. I hope you found this information useful.