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There are two 5Gbps USB-A ports, one pass-through USB-C PD port (100W), HDMI 2.0, an SD Card reader (fast UHS-II), and Gigabit Ethernet for wired Internet access. Apple has a range of adapters, too, but at a (high) price. We have tested them here, but other gadget makers offer more budget-friendly alternatives, along with a range of other USB-C cables, chargers and accessories–and we present the best ones below. The version 2.0 HDMI is an upgrade on most adapters with HDMI 1.4, and can get to 60Hz with 4K displays. The business end of the integrated USB-C cable can be stored in a special slot, creating a handy loop to keep things tidy, and could also be used to hang from a hook, if desired. And there’s an LED indicator to show activity.
Multi-functional USB-C port: With a USB-C downstream port that supports power pass through, video and data, you can connect to a monitor at up to 4K resolution at 30Hz, get up to SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps data transfer and 90W power pass through to your laptop. The Satechi Pro Hub Max, available in either Silver or Space Gray, features USB4 ports that are both compatible with Thunderbolt and can reach the same 40Gbps maximum throughput. The standard M1 and M2 chips in Apple’s recent MacBooks are powerful but have a major limitation: unlike Intel-based Macs, they don’t support more than one external display. The smarter M1 Pro and M1 Max chips do support multiple displays. Still, for Windows laptops, MacBook, and Chromebook users who only need a couple of reliable ports, this makes it onto our list of best USB-C hubs. There are some 2 and 4-port USB-C hubs now available, but none seem to be cheap, simple, or reliable. It's very easy to find 7-port USB-A 3.0 hubs from well-known companies; the same cannot be said for USB-C. There appears to be some kind of spec, chip, or marketing limitation the prevents them from being made.The UHS-I (104MBps) SD and microSD card readers aren’t the fastest but should suffice. Such memory cards are an affordable way of adding portable storage, and will also delight camera users. It doesn’t have its own power supply but offers passthrough PD charging at a more than healthy 100W. Once the installation process is complete, close the window and restart your system. Upon restart, you will see that system features the latest USB Type C, driver. Ethernet: Even with Wi-Fi so prevalent you still can’t beat the speed of a wired Ethernet connection, still found in hotels and of course from your router. If so, you want a hubwith an RJ45 Ethernet port – and make sure it’s a Gigabit Ethernet connection for faster data transfer. Much more expensive adapters use the latest 2.5GBASE-Tor 5GBASE-T ports that provide multi-gigabit speeds capable of up to 5Gbps over existing Cat5e or better cabling. But 1Gbps Ethernet will be speedy enough for most. The transfer speed depends on the device your connecting it to. For instance, if you have connected a USB Type C cable to a USB 3.1 port, you will get 10 GB per second transfer speed. The USB 3.2 port will offer 20 GB per second data transfer speed, whereas the Thunderbolt 3 port will offer 40 GB per second. Talking about power, the USB Type C can charge portable devices like smartphones, laptops, power banks and more. Although similar to Type A, Type C also offers just 2.5 watts of power. But if the device features PD aka Power Delivery protocol, then the USB-C can deliver up to 100 watts of power.
The compact and very affordable 7-port Plugable USB-C Multifunction Hub has seven ports from one integrated USB-C connection, including a 4K HDMI output for adding an external display, power pass-through (at an impressive 87W) to charge connected devices, three 5Gbps USB-A ports, and SD and microSD slots. Both USB-C and Thunderbolt use the same USB-C connection. The difference is that a “generic” USB-C connection typically provides 10Gbps of bandwidth, and Thunderbolt provides 40Gbps, with a road to 120Gbps with 2024’s Thunderbolt 5. Note that the USB-C cable that connects to your computer is quite short (15cm) so it will have to sit right next to the host. Of course, the ports can accept any length of cable for the required devices and accessories. However, many USB-C hubs feature a USB-C port with power delivery (PD). This lets you use a USB-C power adapter, such as the one that may have come with your laptop, to pass power to your laptop and other ports. This can increase display support as well as speed up charging for connected devices like a phone or a tablet.
How did we choose these chargers?
In the same family, Satechi also offers the Pro Hub Mini (the same as the Max but without the HDMI port) and the Pro Hub Slim (which swaps the Ethernet port for an extra USB-A port, and boasts 10GBps USB-A and USB-C ports compared to the Mac and Mini’s 5Gbps). If you don’t need wired Internet access, the Pro Hub Slim edges out the Pro Hub Max. If you don’t need more than one external screen or you want to save the USB4 for passthrough charging only, consider the Pro Hub Mini or the Plugable 5-in-1 USB-C Hub reviewed below.. Note that you can’t charge devices connected to the USB ports, as they are there for syncing and data transfer only.) You get 8 ports to add to your laptop with Baseus’s good-looking 8-in-1 USB-C Hub. It features excellent PD USB-C pass-through charging (up to 100W) so you don’t lose a valuable USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 port on the laptop if you need to charge or sync. There are three USB-A ports pushing data at 5Gbps but a little underwhelming on device charging at 7.5W each.
The device manager window will pop up featuring all the hardware and drivers installed on your system. Widest variety of ports: Featuring the widest range of ports available that includes 2 USB-A ports, 1 USB-C, 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 VGA and 1 RJ-45 port. The mobile adapter offers seamless connectivity to various devices like monitors , projectors, headsets, keyboard, mouse, flash drives and other accessories. Gigabit Ethernet is there, too, as is an HDMI port that can support 4K displays at 30Hz—not a refresh rate to excite gamers but enough for most of us.Essentially, it's a tiny, super-fast connector that many of the best laptops today have a connector for, with the only downside being that USB A or USB B connectors can't be used with a USB Type-C port (that's where a USB Type-C hub comes in handy). It should allow video output and passthrough charging simultaneously. In a test connection from a MacBook to an LG 4K UltraFine Display, the MacBook was able to output video to the monitor, while the monitor was able to provide power to the MacBook, all through the single connection. Owners of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and M2 Air can charge via the MagSafe connector at the same time as using the Pro Hub. Anker’s hub was among the fastest we tested to deliver data under load, including simultaneous data transfer between USB-A ports while the SD ports were active. The hub offers an 18-month warranty, and it even ships with a carrying pouch. There are SD and MicroSD (TF) slots for storage cards, so you can slot in a camera card, or use the flash memory for extra laptop storage. They are UHS-I (104MBps) rather than UHS-II (312MBps) that you’ll find on some hubs. Recent laptops have begun offering a USB-C technology called HBR3 with DSC, which we’ll explain more fully in the sections following our recommendations. The bottom line is that the technology offers something similar to the DisplayLink technology below, but as an industry standard. In our experience, although the technology is somewhat supported in laptops with 11th-gen Core processors, it works best in 12th- or 13th-gen laptops.
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