Kiwi+ USB review

We were surprised how well the original version worked, especially compared to expensive game capture cards that don’t even allow for that kind of interactivity between systems. Cytrence has since put out several new versions of Kiwi under a ‘+’ label – one with built-in shared storage, another that creates a local network between both machines, and a third with the simpler concept of a shared USB port.

Plus it

The Kiwi+ USB (£89/$119) retains the same great and very responsive features of the original, along with some of the dev options of the Kiwi Pro, and this new ability to switch a USB port between the host and target machines. Like before, it’s controlled via a dropdown menu on the capture window, allowing you to change which machine is using the USB port. It only works on one system at a time due to the limitations of, well, technology. So if you wanted some dedicated storage on a flash drive for both systems to use, you’re better off choosing the Kiwi+ Drive option. For everything else, and for testing software and hardware, it’s perfect. Switching between systems isn’t really slow and is about as fast as moving a USB device from one port to the neighbouring port, so it is also quite convenient. You are paying for that extra convenience, though, with the ‘+’ range coming in at $40 more than its predecessor – although that still makes it cheaper than a lot of its competition and it has the extra dev features too.

Verdict

9/10

The Kiwi KVM with some nice upgrades that can really streamline development, with a fairly reasonable price point.

Specs

I/O:

USB-C (host connection),
USB-C (input connection),
USB-A (shared connection), HDMI, 6× GPIO

Connectivity: 1080p video, human input devices, virtual serial connection, UART, ATX, USB devices

Dimensions: 46 × 46 × 15mm