8 Port HDMI KVM Switch 4K60Hz Support RS232/LAN Control

First, I want to acknowledge that such products are likely to be blamed for issues that might actually be the fault of the monitor, the source device, cables, or a software problem. So, I do have sympathy for the manufacturer, and perhaps that's why I'm willing to overlook a few minor issues and still award a 5-star rating, especially given the attractive price point and leading-edge capabilities.

I selected this product for 3 main reasons. First, I have a Kinesis keyboard that didn't work with my old KVM switch. I posted a question in the Q&A section and the vendor assured me it would work via the USB pass-through feature, which I can confirm it does! Second, I needed at least 1440p @ 60 Hz capability (which is the most I've tested, to date), but wanted some future capability for possible monitor upgrades. Third is the price, which is far less than more established KVM makers charge even for switches with inferior specifications.

What I tested: I tried all 8 ports and all 4 included cables. As mentioned above, the highest resolution I tried was 2560x1440 @ 60 Hz (but no audio or embedded Ethernet). I also tested with a 1600x1200 @ 60 Hz DVI monitor, using a HDMI -> DVI cable. The devices I tried include older Intel integrated graphics (Windows), two Nvidia GPUs (Windows & Linux), an older AMD GPU (Linux), a Raspberry Pi v3, and a ODROID-N2. The longest cables I've tried are 4.6m (15 feet). I've already mentioned my keyboard, but my pointing device is a Logitech Wireless that it seems to power just fine. I haven't tried network control or the OSD. I did try the IR remote, but have mostly used the front panel buttons.

Everything worked pretty much flawlessly, except for the ODROID that (with an open source driver on an up-to-date Ubuntu 20.04 arm64 install) failed to auto-negotiate with the 1440p monitor through the switch, but worked with direct-connection. From briefly looking at the logs, I think the issue was related to audio negotiation, since the monitor is audio-capable. Interestingly, I can boot it with a direct connection, then move it over to the switch and that works. So, the problem might even be specific to the graphical login screen. In any case, I'm no longer using it with that monitor, or else I'd have tried updating it to use the proprietary Mali GPU driver.

I like that some cables were included, but I think it's good they included only 4, because I'm actually using just 3 of them. They're about 1.5m and that's only long enough to reach 3 of my machines. I'm actually glad it didn't come with 8, since that would push up the price for 4 more cables I can't use!

Overall, there's a lot to like about this switch. I like all the different control methods. I like the ability to disable the switching noise. The switch is fanless and stays cool, within the limited extent of my testing. The rackmount option is nice, but I'm not currently using it. The front panel on/off switch seems useful, though I haven't really needed it.

I spent a long time searching for the perfect KVM switch, and I'm happy to say I think this one is very close. Thank you!

This switch arrived but the cables were missing. Again, I contacted TESmart and they made it right. These people have their act together. Just plugged it in, and it just works as supposed to.

I'm glad to report that This TESmart 8 port 4k@60hz KVM arrived well packaged. The rack ears were wrapped in bubble-wrap and tucked securely in a box within the main box, alongside the power adapter. It wasn't a pain to unpack and install and I didn't even have to break out a knife to get things out of their packaging. Cables were individually wrapped so they could be set aside as needed.

Operation is smooth. It doesn't degrade video quality or introduce any noticeable delay in either video or mouse and keyboard inputs- which to me, is important.

Switching Speed:
It takes about 2 seconds to switch between displays (and that may well be because of my monitor rather than the unit itself as keyboard and mouse switching is close enough to instant that it isn't worth trying to measure), though I must say that that ~2 seconds is is still nearly twice as fast as the 2 port kvm that this one replaced.

EDID works flawlessly for me on both Windows and Linux machines (Debian & Ubuntu), and I've not had windows or icons rearranging themselves when switching inputs.

The unit is a bit loud when it beeps- which it does at power-up and to acknowledge inputs when switching, This is a good thing if it's in a rack with a bunch of noisy servers. If however, you're like me and have a rack at home (or just a bunch of computers or devices) that you want as silent as possible- it's not so great. On the plus side you can disable the loud beeps either through the remote (which the advertising made abundantly clear does not come with a common CR2025 button cell battery) or via IP Control which requires you to download the control app from TESMart's website. Unfortunately that app is only available for Windows. I haven't tested to see if it works with WINE as I do have a single windows computer in the rack- but it would be nice if there were a switch on the unit itself for this feature.

Speaking of silence, the KVM does have a couple places for fans on the unit but they're not in use, it runs cool and quiet.

I do like the various methods available to switch between inputs, The advertisement says there are 4- but honestly there's a few more.
- Mouse gestures (scroll lock, scroll lock, F12 to enable/disable mouse gestures)
- Front panel buttons
- Keyboard shortcuts (double-tap scroll lock, then press input number)
- RS232 control
- IP control (Via windows-only app)
- you can have it auto-cycle between inputs at a fixed interval (useful in a rack of servers if you leave them with GUI's up for monitoring purposes, you can even set the auto-switch interval with the minute and second buttons.)

I tried to replicate the issue another reviewer had where they would lose their mouse when the KVM was powered down and have to unplug and re-plug it to get it back after switching it back on but was unsuccessful. Both my mouse and keyboard were picked up without issue when I powered it back up, no fiddling with plugs required.

I feel i should also note that you can (and may accidentally) toggle a feature that is meant for compatibility. Keyboard shortcuts default to double tapping scroll lock then a number. However you can switch this to double-tapping control then a number by double-tapping scroll lock then either f1 or f2. If you do this by accident you may find yourself wondering why it's not functioning correctly and not switching inputs. To get back to using scroll lock just double-tap control then press f1 or f2 accordingly and you'll be back to using scroll lock for keyboard shortcuts instead of the control(ctrl) key.

Overall it's a great KVM and I'd recommend it, though I do hope in future versions they consider adding a switch to the back (or front) of the unit to disable the buzzer rather than having to use the IR remote or the IP control app to do so.

I purchased this to connect 7 computers in a small area so using 1 Monitor, Keyboard, and Mouse for all of them worked great to make effective use of the limited space. This device worked great although I did need to purchase a HDMI Female to DisplayPort Male adapter for one computer for it to work with the KVM. You may need to purchase additional KVM cables depending on how many computers you are connecting to the KVM. I already had a few, so the included KVM cables plus what I already had was enough. For me this was money well spent and I like that it handles high res displays so this KVM will handle today's and new monitor's purchased in the future.