SilverStone EP03, EP05 and EP07 Review
EP03 - USB 3.0 HUB
SilverStone is not only known for making computer cases, power supplies and cooling fans but also for making a wide range of accessories for personal computers and today we will be looking at the EP03, EP05 and EP07. The EP03 is a USB 3.0 hub that has four 5Gbps USB 3.0 ports so you can use it transfer data or to fast charge your mobile devices. It is capable of providing up to 2A from one single USB port and it supports over voltage and over current protection. SilverStone has included a digital power meter display that can monitor each port’s voltage and current output and it can be seen in real time. This is great for users who want to know the power draw of all the connected mobile device at any time.
SilverStone has put a built-in protection mechanism ensuring the EP03 can deliver power evenly and safely according to the number or the state of battery charge of connected devices. This is also useful for checking if a new/replacement charging cable is up to spec compared with the original one. The built quality is fantastic on the EP03, it is made of brushed aluminum and it has a nice premium feel to it.
The EP03 is made of aluminum and plastic. It is relatively small in size and weight. It measures 51mm wide, 31.5mm tall and 130mm deep and it weighs about 360g. The USB 3.0 ports are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 / 1.1 and it is capable of powering devices with up to 3.5 amps.
EP05 - Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter
There are plenty of USB to RJ45 adapters out there but the majority of them are limited in speed. SilverStone’s EP05 is a compact USB 3.1 Type-C adapter that adds a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 network port. It uses the latest USB 3.1 Type-C Gen1 (male) specification in providing conversion from USB to a RJ45 network socket and supports 1000Mbps Gigabit high speed transfer capability. USB 3.1 Type-C is designed to plug in any orientation so you don't have to waste your time fiddling to insert the connector.
The EP05 works immediately out of the box, you plug it in and you are done. If you are using an older version of Windows such as 7, windows will automatically install the drivers but if you are on a newer Windows such as 8 and above, it will work driveless. The EP05 is of decent quality and it's made of plastic and it's not loose or wobbly like most cheap adapters that are out there. It is great for ultrabooks that do not have an Ethernet port but need a physical network connection. Most of the time I use my laptop on wifi and that's fine for browsing the web and performing basic tasks but when I'm downloading or transferring large files, it's so nice to have a plugin network adapter.
The EP05 is made of plastic and it is 27.5mm wide, 16.5mm tall and 60mm deep and it weighs about 0.025kg. The EP05 is backwards compatible with USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 and it has a cable length of 100mm. It uses the Realtek RTL8153 chipset which offers TCP Offload Engine and it also supports advanced IEEE features such as 802.1Q VLAN tagging and 802.3az. The RTL8153 chipset offers Wake On LAN (WOL) as well as RealWoW that allows you to wake your system over the internet. The RTL8153 chipset used on the EP05 supports more features than the chipset used in most adapters that are out there.
EP07 - USB 3.1 Type-C To HDMI Adapter
The SilverStone EP07 is a USB 3.1 Type-C to HDMI (1.4) adapter that can be used to output high resolutions from PC or tablets to larger display devices such as TVs or computer screens. The EP07 provides high throughput using the latest USB 3.1 bus and can support 4K Ultra HD monitors. USB 3.1 Type-C is designed to plug in any orientation so you don't have to waste your time fiddling to insert the connector.
Similarly like the EP05, the EP07 works immediately out of the box, you just plug it in and you are all set. If you are using an older version of Windows such as 7, windows will automatically install the drivers but if you are on a newer Windows such as 8 and above, it will work driveless. The EP07 is made of the same material as the EP05. It's made of plastic and it's well built and it doesn't feel cheap when holding it.
The EP07 is made of plastic and it is 37mm wide, 14.5mm tall and 41.5mm deep and it weighs about 0.022kg. It is backwards compatible with USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 and it has a cable length of 100mm. It uses the NXP PTN 3363 chipset which supports resolutions up to 3840x2160 at 50/60Hz and also supports high data rates per lane, 5.4Gbps (HBR2), 2.7Gbps (HBR) and 1.62Gbps (RBR).
Packaging (EP03)
The EP03 comes in a sturdy cardboard box with the front of the box displaying in big text "Four port USB 3.0 hub with fast charging and power meter" and we also see an image of the EP03 along with the features. At the back we find a description of the device in 10 languages and to one side we find the technical specifications.
Inside the box you will find the EP03 wrapped in a plastic bag accompanied by an external power supply, a USB 3.0 cable and the user manual. SilverStone is very good at packaging their products and the EP03 is no exception.
Packaging (EP05)
The EP05 comes in a simple plastic box and on the front of the box we can see the product through the transparent window. We also see in huge bold text "EP05" along with the features of the EP05. On the back of the box, you will find the technical specifications.
Packaging (EP07)
The EP07 comes in a simple plastic box similar like the EP05. On the front of the box we can see the product through the transparent window and we can also see in huge bold text "EP07" along with the features of the EP07. On the back of the box, you will find the technical specifications.
Specifications
| SilverStone EP03 Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacture: | SilverStone |
| Model: | SST-EP03B |
| Material: | Aluminum & Plastic |
| Chipset: | GL3522 |
| Power Requirement: | Input : AC 100V~240V 50~60Hz Output : DC 5V / 3.5A |
| Interface: | USB 3.0 (Compatible with USB 2.0 / 1.1) |
| Data Transfer Rate: | USB 3.0 up to 5 Gbps |
| Charging Spec: | USB battery charging 1.2 compliant |
| Detect Range: | Voltage : 0-5.5V Error ± 0.1V Current : 0-2.5A Error ± 0.1A |
| Temperature: | Operating : 0 Celsius ~65 Celsius Storage : 0 Celsius ~ 65 Celsius |
| Humidity: | Operating : 10%~90% Storage : 5%~95% |
| Net Weight: | 358g ± 20g |
| OS Support: | Microsoft Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP(32-bits/64-bits) or future release versions. Mac OS X, Linux |
| Dimension: | 51 mm (W) x 31.5mm (H) x 130 mm (D) |
| SilverStone EP05 Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacture: | SilverStone |
| Model: | SST-EP05W |
| Material: | Plastic |
| USB Interface: | USB 3.1 Type-C Gen1 Male |
| Chipset: | RTL8153 |
| IEEE Standard: | Supports full duplex flow control (IEEE 802.3x) Fully compliant with IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.3u Supports IEEE 802.1P layer 2 priority encoding Supports IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Tagging Supports IEEE 802.3az (Energy Efficient Ethernet: EEE) |
| Ethernet port: | RJ45 |
| Power requirement: | USB bus power |
| TOE (TCP Offload Engine): | Microsoft NDIS5, NDIS6 checksum offload (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP) and segmentation task-offload (large send v1 and large send v2) support Supports jumbo frame to 9K bytes |
| Microsoft AOAC: | Supports 16-set 128-byte Wake-Up frame pattern exact matching Supports link change wake up Supports Microsoft WPD (Wake Packet Detection) Supports protocol offload (ARP & NS) |
| Operation Temperature: | 0 Celsius ~ 45 Celsius |
| Intel CPPM: | Supports L1 with 3ms BESL (USB 2.0) Dynamic LTM messaging (USB 3.0) Supports U1/U2 (USB 3.0) Supports selective suspend |
| Storage Temperature: | -10 Celsius ~ 80 Celsius |
| Operation Humidity: | 10%~85% RH (no condensation) |
| Storage Humidity: | 5%~90% RH (no condensation) |
| Cable Length: | 100mm |
| Net Weight: | 0.025kg |
| OS support: | Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 /10 (32-bits, 64-bits) or future release versions Mac OS 10.5 or above |
| Dimension: | 60mm (L) x 16.5mm (H) x 27.5mm (W) |
| SilverStone EP07 Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacture: | SilverStone |
| Model: | SST-EP07 |
| Material: | Plastic |
| Color: | White |
| Chipset: | NXP PTN 3363 |
| Signal input: | USB 3.1 Type-C Male |
| Power requirement: | USB bus power |
| Signal output: | HDMI Female (HDMI 1.4) |
| Resolutions(50 and 60Hz): | 480i, 480P, 720P, 1080P, 1920x1200, 3840x2160 |
| Operation Temperature: | 0 Celsius ~ 45 Celsius |
| Storage Temperature: | -10 Celsius ~ 80 Celsius |
| Operation Humidity: | 10%~85% RH (no condensation) |
| Storage Humidity: | 5%~90% RH (no condensation) |
| Cable Length: | 100mm |
| Net Weight: | 0.022kg |
| Operating system support: | Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 /10 (32-bits, 64-bits) or future release versions Mac OS 10.5 or above |
| Dimension: | 41.5mm(L) x 14.5mm(H) x 37mm(W) |
Benchmarks (EP03)
As soon as I connected the EP03 to my computer, windows automatically installed the drivers for it so I didn't encounter any incompatibility issues or anything like that. I performed a speed test with a USB 3.0 flash drive using CrystalDiskMark to ensure that the results are the same as connecting the flash drive directly to the motherboard and it performed pretty much the same.
Here's another benchmark that I performed using HD Tune and once again, the flash drive performed similarly the same as connecting directly to the motherboard
The EP03 is smart at saving energy. If you have connected multiple USB 3.0 flash drives and you are not using them, it will show you zero amperes because you are not supplying power to them. In this picture the only device being used is my Galaxy S7 which we can see 0.5A amperage while the other devices that I have connected are not being used.
Conclusion (EP03)
Pros:
+ Four 5Gbps USB 3.0 Ports
+ Voltage Monitoring Display
+ Comes With External Power Supply
+ Digital Power Meter Display
+ Great Build Quality
Cons:
- Price
Overall, the EP03 is a high quality USB 3.0 hub that you can find for $35 on Amazon. It is a little bit on the expensive side but given the great build quality and all the features that it comes with, the EP03 is a top notch product. The EP03 is perfect for transferring data and fast charging your mobile devices and it allows you to measure the voltage and amperage of each of the USB 3.0 ports in real time.
Final Score 9.0
Conclusion (EP05)
Pros:
+ Higher Quality Chipset Than Most Adapters Use Out there
+ USB 3.1 Type-C Interface
+ Easy To Use/Install
+ Good Build Quality
Cons:
- Price
I did not encounter any lag in latency when I tested the EP05 by downloading a 3GB file and then uploading it to my server. The downloading and uploading speed was about the same using the EP05 as connecting the Ethernet cable directly to the Ethernet port. Many laptop manufacturers are shrinking the thickness of their laptops by removing everything and just leaving one or two USB ports. So with that being said, if you want to add a physical network connectivity to a computer with a USB Type C port, the EP05 is perfect for that but a bit expensive. The EP05 retails for $20 which is definitely not cheap since most USB 3.1 Type-C adapters on Amazon normally retail for $15 but you have to keep in mind that the RTL8153 chipset supports features such as RealWoW! which enables remote wake-up of a sleeping PC through the Internet and many other features than most adapters.
Final Score 9.0
Conclusion (EP07)
Pros:
+ Supports Higher Data Rates Per Lane Than Most Adapters Out There
+ USB 3.1 Type-C Interface
+ Easy To Install
+ Good Build Quality
Cons:
- Price
I tested the EP07 by mirroring my computer to my TV and I loaded up a movie trailer to test the picture and audio quality. Ignore the quality of photo above since it is from my TV captured from my smartphone and not a screenshot. I can tell you that the picture quality was great and audio was just as good. The EP07 does an excellent job of transmitting audio and video so if you are in the market for an adapter that can provide high throughput up to 4K, the EP07 is great at that. The EP07 is expensive at $23 because most USB 3.1 Type-C to HDMI adapters on Amazon can be found for 10-$15 but the chipset in the EP07 supports higher data rates per lane than most adapters that are out there so that explains the higher price from SilverStone.
Final Score 9.0