Best USB-C hubs and dongles 2023: Add ports to your laptop or tablet

Can a USB-C hub really feel elegant? This one does. Anker’s 7-in-1 USB-C hub feels surprisingly weighty (3.5 ounces), with a premium metallic (aluminum and polycarbonate) sheen. It’s additionally a bit dearer than its rivals. Anker’s hub was among the many coolest we’ve examined underneath load, at about 87 levels.

Overall, Anker’s hub is effectively designed, with ample spacing between the 2 5Gbps USB-A ports. There’s additionally a 5Gbps USB-C connection for knowledge, plus a second USB-C port for energy enter at as much as 85W rated. (The charger permits as much as 100W in, however provides 85W.) An HDMI port permits for 4K/30Hz video or 1080p/60Hz video to a single exterior show, customary for the class. Ethernet is excluded, nevertheless, so that you’ll want to make use of Wi-Fi as an alternative. Cord size is about 8.5 inches, above the usual 6-inch size.

Anker’s hub was among the many quickest we examined to ship knowledge underneath load, together with simultaneous knowledge switch between USB-A ports whereas the SD ports have been energetic. The hub provides an 18-month guarantee, and it even ships with a carrying pouch. 

We advocate not shopping for the dearer $79.99 Anker 8-in-1 Hub on Amazon except you’re completely happy connecting to 2 1080p (and never 4K) shows…which is completely superb. Otherwise, the 2 HDMI ports will solely help two 4K shows at an eye-wearying 30Hz, not 60Hz.

Yeolibo is probably not a reputation you acknowledge, however this USB-C hub is impressively detailed, with a small however extraordinarily informative guide, clearly labeled ports, and well-rounded performance.

This hub provides three USB 3.0 (5Gb/s) Type A ports, one USB 2.0 Type A port, a USB-C (5Gb/s) port, a USB-C PD charging port rated at 100W of enter energy, and an HDMI port. There are additionally microSD and SD slots able to SDXC playing cards as much as 2TB and SDR25 (25MB/s) knowledge charges. There’s no ethernet connection. The USB-C cable measures a cushty six inches, although the connector on the finish was somewhat stiff and took some fiddling to insert.

We didn’t have a 100W USB-C charger available to check, however the hub accepted 62.5W from our 65W USB-C charger. It stayed cool all through. The hub performed again protected content material by way of its HDMI port, as anticipated, however dropped extra frames than we hoped for when enjoying again 4K content material over YouTube. (Only 4K30 resolutions are supported, however that’s common.)

Lention’s CB-C35sH feels somewhat low cost out of the field, with a little bit of a rattle that signifies a nook or two have been minimize within the building. It labored flawlessly, nevertheless. This USB-C hub is barely wider than most, with an influence enter rated at 60W subsequent to a HDMI 1.2 enter (permitting 4K decision on an exterior show, at 60Hz) that permits protected content material to be performed again with no issues. (Power enter solely reached 55W in our assessments.) The total hub remained cool, even with a charger connected.

In addition to the USB-C enter port and HDMI output, there are 4 5Gb/s USB Type A ports, and that’s it—no microSD slots, ethernet, or audio connections. We would have favored to see the latter as an possibility for individuals who want it. But connecting a mouse and keyboard, in addition to transferring knowledge over the ports, labored effectively throughout the constraints of the USB-C connection.

Both our present total high decide, the Anker A83460A2, and the Yeolibo 9-in-1 a are higher total choices, with one exception: their HDMI output is simply at 30Hz, which may fatigue the eyes over lengthy intervals. Lention delivers a extra snug 60Hz on the similar decision. And when you have points, Lention provides a 12-month guarantee with a 24-hour help turnaround.

Lasuney’s 10-in-1 hub (two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two HDMI 1.2 ports (4K@30Hz), DisplayPort gigabit ethernet, microSD/SD, USB-C energy enter) provides lots to your cash, together with an uncommon mixture of not one, however two HDMI ports, and even a DisplayPort. Thanks to ethernet help, the hub can exchange lots of your wired connections. Power enter is rated at 100W in, with about 87W obtainable to the laptop computer.

But the USB-C bus the hub runs on high of merely gained’t help all of the ports getting used without delay, which is a little bit of a gotcha. While we actually just like the pair of HDMI ports for dual-display configurations, the very fact is, you’ll in all probability must restrict your self to a pair of 1080p shows to keep away from saturating the bus and slowing down the connection. Customers on Amazon have reported that they solely acquired one to work, in all probability as a result of the bus itself was saturated. The different drawback we discovered is that the SD card slot is method too sluggish. It took twice as lengthy to switch knowledge in comparison with different hubs we examined. In all equity, our different disk-to-disk assessments took about the identical period of time.

Lasuney’s hub is effectively made, with good port spacing. It doesn’t get uncomfortably heat, both. Just be life like: We actually like the flexibleness that the Lasuney hub provides, however don’t purchase it pondering you’ll be capable of use every thing without delay.

This is the Big Kahuna of USB-C docks—and, given what it does, you nearly surprise why it wasn’t made a Thunderbolt dock as an alternative. At 2.9 x 11.02 x 0.5 inches, it’s a skinny, lengthy, slanted wedge that props up your laptop computer with a grippy rubber strip. It’s a real dock, with quite a few rear-facing ports optimized for twin shows, with a foot-long USB-C cable as well.

Specifically, there’s three USB 3.0 (Type A ports), one HDMI 1.4 port for 4K30 video, one DisplayPort 1.2 port, gigabit ethernet, one SD/SDHC port and a microSD slot (each USH-I), VGA, a 3.5mm jack, and a USB-C port for as much as 100W of exterior charging. Some of the extra ports include some caveats: The VGA connection should be used solo, for instance, and never at the side of both DisplayPort or HDMI. Remember, all that knowledge handed alongside the USB-C cable can intervene with each other, however IOgear performs it a bit conservative; the guide says that two onerous drives can’t be related concurrently, however that’s not true.

Be suggested that the BC 1.2 port offers as much as 1.5A of energy for quick-charging telephones, although the port isn’t suitable with the specialised quick-charging schemes of OnePlus or Samsung. (Phones from each producers reported “charging” when related, reasonably than “Fast charging”.) Thermal points weren’t an issue, and efficiency was surprisingly good, even with HDMI and ethernet related. The doc helps Power Delivery 3.0 as much as 85W, and consumes 15W by itself; in different phrases, when you have a 100W laptop computer charger feeding energy to the hub, 85W will likely be left over to your laptop computer to make use of.

A worth of about $125 or so is far more than you’d count on to pay for a USB-C hub, however it’s nonetheless lower than a higher-speed Thunderbolt dock. Still, this USB-C hub is extra of a USB-C dock; it’s not likely moveable, and the shape issue lends itself to a everlasting spot in your desk.

Recent laptops have begun providing a USB-C expertise referred to as HBR3 with DSC, which we’ll clarify extra absolutely within the sections following our suggestions. The backside line is that the expertise provides one thing just like the DisplayHyperlink expertise under, however as an trade customary. In our expertise, though the expertise is considerably supported in laptops with 11th-gen Core processors, it really works finest in 12th- or 13th-gen laptops.

This slim plastic dock measures a hair over 6 inches broad and about 3 inches deep. It lacks a stand, and warms reasonably sharply underneath load. But it packs a pair of HDMI ports on the rear, 4 5Gbps USB-A ports on the again, in addition to gigabit ethernet. The USB-C cable, measuring about 2.5 ft, snakes out from the aspect of the dock. (CA’s guide and documentation is awful, by the best way, so we’re not fairly clear what HDMI port expertise it makes use of.) On the entrance is one other USB Type A port and a USB-C port, too.

The latter USB-C port can be utilized to cost your smartphone, because it places out 6.7W of charging energy, or sufficient to fast-charge a smartphone. Otherwise, it is a powered dock, and it’ll provide 90W of charging energy to your laptop computer, too.

This is our entry for an upgraded DisplayLink dock, which has its personal execs and cons—barely dearer than a USB-C docking station, however extra options, too.

Plugable’s UD-6950PDH doesn’t enable the bandwidth for the most recent HDMI or DisplayPort interfaces, however it preserves what we like about Plugable’s docks: two pairs of non-compulsory DisplayPort and HDMI connections to select from, in addition to 100W of charging energy to your laptop computer. One omission, nevertheless, is a devoted charging port for powering a smartphone, or any USB-C port in any respect. (VisionTek’s VT7000 contains these, however for a considerable premium.)

At about $199 MSRP, nevertheless, the value is totally proper for a DisplayHyperlink docking station. Just don’t neglect your smartphone charger.

This Rshtech RS-516 USB-C port splitter makes use of an unusually lengthy 2-foot cable to separate a 5Gbps USB 3.0 enter (over USB-C) and divide it amongst 4 USB 3.0 Type A ports. It’s additionally unusual to see these ports managed by LED-lit button switches, and an non-compulsory 5V/2A adapter powering the entire affair.

The port splitter takes the 5Gbps enter and splits it among the many ports, that are solely energetic if the corresponding LED-lit button is depressed. This applies to each energy (the hub will cost, although not fast-charge telephones) and knowledge. Port spacing isn’t a problem, and the ABS/aluminum assemble handles warmth effectively.

The Rshtech hub wouldn’t at all times establish and hook up with a bus-powered SSD, however it discovered each different machine we related to it. The efficiency of a powered exterior onerous drive plunged to about 20 p.c when all ports have been occupied, however surged to about 67 p.c when the non-compulsory energy cable was plugged in—which Rshtech recommends when related to exterior storage.

That cable (with a proprietary plug) is a ache, and the problems discovering our SSD gave us pause. But we actually favored how the hub allowed us entry to and management of exterior onerous drives, which spin up and down loudly and randomly.

At 2.8 x 0.31 x 1.22 inches, IOgear’s Travel Pro Mini Dock is an odd duck: a reasonable, comparatively tiny USB-C dock that plugs immediately into your laptop computer, with out a connecting wire.

“There’s no way this will work,” you may suppose—however it does, with simply sufficient room to your laptop computer’s USB-C charger to sneak in a single aspect of the dock, subsequent to an HDMI wire, then a USB key or wire, and a 3.5mm jack. (The Mini Dock helps as much as 60W of energy in from an exterior charger.)

That’s superb, after all, in case your laptop computer’s USB-C port is all by its lonesome. Otherwise, the Travel Pro Mini Dock will block ports because it tries to supply growth capabilities—and that’s an issue for laptops just like the Asus ZenBook, which forego a 3.5mm headphone jack however cram their USB-C ports too shut collectively to make IOgear’s dock possible.

We like the concept, however there are cheaper, higher docks on the market with extra flexibility.