Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE vs Zyxel XMG1915-10E

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against network switches at a similar price

The Zyxel XMG1915-10E scores 7.4/10 overall, ahead of the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE at 5.9/10.

The Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE leads on management.

The Zyxel XMG1915-10E leads on port speeds and port count and uplinks.

They score the same on noise and efficiency, poE and firmware and support.

The biggest difference is port speeds, where the Zyxel XMG1915-10E scores 8/10 to the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE's 4/10.

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE

5.9/10verdict: good, not the best

The UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE is for people already running, or planning, a UniFi setup who want a small, silent managed switch. It suits a desk, small office or home network with a few PoE devices such as access points or cameras. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs faster than gigabit speeds, fibre uplinks or lots of PoE power.

Typically about £111 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

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Zyxel XMG1915-10E

7.4/10verdict: buy

The Zyxel XMG1915-10E is for people who want 2.5GbE on most ports and 10G uplinks in a quiet, fanless switch. It suits homelabbers and small offices whose devices bring their own power, since it has no PoE. It does not offer copper 10GbE, so buyers who want that need to look at SFP+ modules or other models.

Typically about £189 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE	Zyxel XMG1915-10E
Port speeds	30%	4/10	8/10
Management	20%	8/10	7/10
Port count and uplinks	15%	5/10	8/10
Noise and efficiency	15%	9/10	9/10
PoE	10%	5/10	5/10
Firmware and support	10%	5/10	5/10
Overall		5.9/10	7.4/10

Specifications

Spec	Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE	Zyxel XMG1915-10E
Ports	8 RJ45 ports in total, of which 4 are PoE+	8 x 100M/1G/2.5G RJ-45 plus 2 x 1G SFP/10G SFP+ (10 total)
Port speeds	10/100/1000 Mbps on all ports	100 Mbps, 1 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps on the eight copper ports; SFP+ slots take 1G or 10G
Management	Layer 2 managed, configured through the UniFi Network Controller, in-band Ethernet management	Smart Managed
PoE budget	52 W total PoE budget; up to 30 W per PoE+ port (802.3at)	None (0 PoE ports)
Uplinks (SFP/SFP+)	No SFP or SFP+ port; RJ45 networking ports only	2 x 1G SFP / 10G SFP+
Switching capacity	16 Gbps switching capacity; 8 Gbps non-blocking line rate	80 Gbps switching capacity; 59.5 Mpps forwarding rate
Cooling	Fanless; heat dissipation 27.3 BTU/hr excluding PoE output	Fanless

Strengths and weaknesses

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE

+ Fanless and quiet, praised by owners
+ Layer 2 management with VLANs through UniFi Network Controller
+ Easy setup and quick provisioning, per owners
− Only four of eight ports supply PoE
− Gigabit only, with no SFP or SFP+ uplink
− 52 W PoE budget may strain demanding devices

Skip it if:

Buyers who need 2.5GbE, 10GbE or SFP+ uplinks
Anyone powering many or high-demand PoE devices
People who want L3 routing on the switch itself

Read the full Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE review ›

Zyxel XMG1915-10E

+ Eight 2.5GbE copper ports
+ Two SFP+ slots take 1G or 10G
+ Fanless, quiet, low power draw
− No PoE ports
− No copper 10GbE ports

Skip it if:

Buyers who need PoE to power access points or cameras
Buyers who want copper 10GbE ports rather than SFP+ slots
Buyers who need more than ten ports on one switch

Read the full Zyxel XMG1915-10E review ›

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