One of the awesome things about the Tesla Model 3 is being able to plug in USB drives
for your music files, Tesla Cam and Sentry Mode recordings, and now game controllers.
But the one big problem is that there’s only two USB data ports in the front storage
area of the car, and those are taken up with the charging cables for your phone dock. So
if you’re interested in taking advantage of those other great features, you’re going
to have to add a USB hub to your car. For the past year I’ve been using a great little,
and cheap, USB hub I picked up on Amazon for under $10. A couple of months ago Jeda released
their own USB hub made specifically for the Model 3, which costs $80. That’s a pretty
big gap in price. Is it worth the extra $70?
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so you don’t miss out on future videos just like this one. I’m Matt Ferrell ... welcome
to Undecided.
I’ve reviewed the Jeda Wireless Pad charging dock for the Model 3, which I’ll link to
in the description, and I’m a big fan of the flexibility, fit and finish, and performance.
So when Jeda announced the Jeda Hub, I immediately perked up, but with that price I had some
reservations. That is until I saw what it was doing differently from other, cheaper
USB hubs that you can pick up.
For my car, I’ve been using the Sabrent 4-Port USB Hub. It’s been working great
with two USB thumb drives plugged into it, along with one side of my Jeda Wireless Pad.
The downside is that you end up with a wad of cables that you need to wrangle together,
as well as the free floating hub itself. You don’t want all of that hanging freely from
the USB port because it’s putting stress on the port and cables and could work itself
loose or damage something. And it can bounce around and make noise while driving. I attached
my hub to the front wall using some 3M Velcro Command Strips, which held well for the past
year. I wouldn’t say it was the tightest grip, but it held in place and never fell
off. However, it didn’t take much pressure to pull off the adhesive from the inner wall
when I removed it for testing the Jeda Hub.
That’s the first thing that really impressed me with the Jeda Hub. It’s completely self
contained and designed to look like it’s from the factory. There are no extra cables
needed to plug it in. It’s two USB plugs are designed to plug in directly into the
car’s front USB ports. And the shape of the hub is very, very snug with the front
of the car, so it’s not relying on the USB ports to hold it in place. That snugness makes
a little tricky to push it into place (especially since you can’t see if the plugs are lined
up), but once you do, it doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. It’s far more secure
than my Sabrent USB hub with velcro strips.
Now, that’s not a good enough reason to justify an extra $70, which leads me to the
next thing that sets the Jeda Hub apart. I’m sure Tesla owners have heard about how Model
3’s have been targeted by thieves looking to grab whatever they can out of the car and
trunk.(fn) Thieves smash the small back window, reach in to unlatch the rear seat to see if
there's anything worthwhile to steal. Over the past year there have been products released
to try and help with that, like [3M security film] for the back window, the back seat [Drop
Lock], as well as Tesla’s Sentry Mode.
The Jeda Hub looks like it’s part of the car and doesn't look removable once you have
it installed. That combined with the hidden compartment, where you can install your Tesla
Cam USB drive, and you’ve added a layer of obfuscation for a thief to miss. Someone
rummaging through your compartments for things to steal isn’t going to notice or realize
there’s a hidden compartment that’s actively recording them breaking into your car. It’s
a very clever design detail. And that inner compartment is able to handle an average sized
USB thumb drive or small SSD drive like the Samsung T5. I’ve tested this out with a
few different USB drives, including the Samsung iXpand that I’ve been using with the SentryView
app on my iPhone. That’s the only drive that didn’t fit completely well. The lightning
port loop is just a touch too thick, so the magnetic compartment cover sticks out a few
millimeters. But the cover still holds well enough. If you’re using an SSD drive, Jeda
includes a small piece of metal with adhesive one side and a short USB A to USB C cable.
You attach this to your SSD drive and then place that on the inner wall of the hub. There
are magnets inside that to hold your drive securely in place, but it’s super easy to
remove and replace the drive whenever you need to. Again, really nice and thoughtful
design.
Between that and the custom Model 3 design we’re starting to make more sense for that
$70 price gap. Which leads me to the final feature: four USB ports on the front of the
Jeda Hub. Two are USB A, and two are USB C. This means you can plug in the phone cables
that came with your Tesla, Jeda Wireless Pad, Nomad charger, or whatever you like to use
to charge your phones. For me, I picked up a couple of very cheap [USB C to micro USB
cables] and used those to plug into my Jeda Wireless Pad, which leaves the two USB A ports
open for one-off use. I can plug in an extra phone charging cable for a passenger, or another
USB thumb drive, or even plug in a Sony PS4 controller to play some Cuphead. I won’t
confirm or deny that I may have sat in my garage playing through a couple of levels.
So is the Jeda Hub worth it? For me, it is ... but it’s not a straight-forward recommendation.
It really comes down to what you’re looking for if that extra $70 is worth it to you.
If all you’re looking for is a simple and easy way to plug in a few extra devices into
your Model 3, then something like the Sabrent USB hub will fit the bill and save you a lot
of money. I used mine for a year and was very happy with how it worked. But with something
like the Jeda Hub, you get something that’s truly designed for not just how the Model
3 looks, but for how Model 3 owners use their car. It looks like part of the car and came
from the factory. Combine that with the hidden compartment and your random thief will look
right past it and not realize that there’s something of value hidden away inside recording
the break in. And then add the really nice design details and flexibility they’ve included
with a total of 5 USB ports, so you can really mix and match a variety of drives and accessories
with your car without a mess of wires in the compartment.
For me, it’s worth the extra $70, but if those features don’t call out to you, you
can make something like the Sabrent USB hub work out just fine. Overall, I’m a big fan
of the “from the factory” look that both the Jeda Wireless Pad and Hub bring to the
table. I’m also loving being able to have something like my [1 TB Samsung T5] or SanDisk
drive hidden away in my car with all of my music and Tesla Cam footage. It adds a little
piece of mind knowing that it’s hidden away out of view.
What USB hubs have you all used for your Model 3s? Drop a comment to share what’s been
working for you because I’m sure others would love to see what other options are out
there. And I’m also curious what path you guys would go in? Cheap functionality of a
$10 hub or the custom Model 3 designed Jeda Hub?
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