Tablets and laptops are solely getting more powerful, however hardly ever are there sufficient ports to harness all that potential. Whereas Bluetooth equipment actually have their place, you may favor the pace and accuracy of wired peripherals — to not point out objects that don’t have wi-fi counterparts.
5You have two predominant choices for including extra connectivity to your pill or laptop computer: a docking station or a hub. Each present some mixture of additional USB, HDMI, SD card slot, Ethernet and/or 3.5 mm ports so you’ll be able to join peripherals like displays or wired mice and keyboards. Docking stations are usually bigger, require AC energy and are normally meant to be stationary. A USB-C hub, however, is extra moveable and doesn’t want its personal energy supply. We examined greater than a dozen choices to provide you with the very best USB-C hub for maximizing your ports, and we’ve included recommendation on what to search for before you purchase.
Desk of contents
Finest USB-C hubs for 2025
What to search for in a USB-C hub
Hub vs docking station
The very first thing to determine is whether or not you want a USB-C hub or a USB-C docking station. There’s no set normal for what differentiates the 2, however docking stations are likely to have extra ports, supply a separate DC energy adapter and price extra, with some reaching upwards of $400. We now have a separate information to the best docking stations to take a look at if you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing larger than what we’re discussing right here. USB-C hubs, in distinction, have between 4 and 10 ports, can help pass-through charging and usually value between $30 and $150.
Hubs, typically additionally referred to as dongles and even multiport adapters, make extra sense for smaller setups with only a few peripherals, similar to a monitor, a wired keyboard and mouse, and the occasional exterior drive. They’re additionally extra moveable, since they’re small and require no devoted energy. That could possibly be helpful if you happen to change work places however wish to carry your equipment with you, or if you wish to substitute your laptop computer with a more powerful tablet. A docking station makes extra sense for somebody who wants a strong setup for his or her laptop computer, together with a number of exterior displays, webcams, stream decks, microphones and so forth.
Each docks and hubs make it simple to seize your laptop computer off your desk for a gathering or different transient relocation and while you get again, you solely must plug in a single cable to get all of your equipment reconnected.
Ports
The primary port to contemplate is the one in your laptop computer or pill. For a USB-C hub to work, it wants to hook up with a port that helps video, information and energy — all of which is roofed by something listed as USB 3.0 or higher, together with USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 and 4. The port, in fact, must be Sort-C as nicely. The ocean of laptops out there may be huge, so it’s exhausting to make generalizations, however fashionable laptops ought to have not less than one USB-C port that can suffice, and certainly, each certainly one of our high picks for the best laptops do.
Subsequent, it’s a matter of discovering an excellent USB-C hub that has the appropriate connections in your wants. Most hubs supply some combo of HDMI, USB, SD card reader, Ethernet and three.5 mm ports. In case you have a 4K monitor and would love not less than a 60Hz refresh price, you’ll want a hub with an HDMI 2.0 port — HDMI 1.4 solely goes as much as 30Hz. HDMI 2.1 will deal with 4K at as much as 120Hz, however hubs which have adopted that normal aren’t as widespread simply but. Remember that a low refresh price may cause your display screen to really feel laggy, making your mouse seem glitchy and your webcam actions to look delayed.
Further USB ports on these equipment are normally Sort-A or Sort-C. They will help information with totally different switch charges, usually 5Gbps or 10Gbps. Some ports solely deal with passthrough energy and no information, and a few can do information, energy and video, so it’s finest to examine the spec checklist to ensure you’re getting the help you want. Remember that a hub might invoice itself as a 7-in-1, however a type of ports will not be usable for something aside from charging.
Customary SD and microSD slots are helpful for transferring information from cameras and the like. Ethernet ports might ship quicker web speeds than your Wi-Fi and a hub with a 3.5mm jack can carry again the wired headphone connection that some laptops have ditched.
Energy supply
Practically all the USB-C hubs I examined help passthrough charging. Meaning in case your laptop computer or pill solely expenses by way of USB, you don’t must take up one other port in your laptop computer to maintain all the things topped up. In contrast to a docking station, powering a hub is optionally available. The one exception is if you wish to shut the lid in your laptop computer whilst you work on an exterior monitor. Most computer systems will go into sleep mode if the lid is closed with out energy, so both the laptop computer or the hub will have to be plugged into the wall to stop that from occurring.
Most of the newer hubs embrace a 100W USB-C energy supply (PD) port, with a wholesome 80 to 85 watts going to your Mac, PC or pill (the hubs take a bit of the juice for themselves, therefore the 15-watt or so distinction). In my exams, a powered USB hub ran hotter than when it wasn't passing the cost by means of, so I favor to energy the pc instantly utilizing its personal charger. However for tablets or different gadgets with no additional ports, that PD possibility is vital.
Some PD ports are additionally information ports — which is each good and unhealthy. On one hand, it feels wasteful to make use of a superbly good information port only for boring outdated electrical energy. However however, USB-C connections that solely carry a cost are much less versatile, and it makes it appear to be it has extra accent hookups than it truly does.
Design
There’s surprisingly little design variation amongst hubs. Most appear like a flat slab, a bit smaller than a smartphone, and have an connected Sort-C host cable. The hues vary from a silvery black to a silvery grey. Some are thinner than others, some have all ports on one edge and a few have ports on each side. All of that is simply to say that aesthetics most likely received’t make or break your shopping for resolution.
One variation that would tip the scales is the size of the cable. An extended one offers you extra freedom as you prepare the hub in your desk, probably even letting you conceal it behind your laptop computer. Or you might favor a shorter one to maintain the hub neatly set beside your laptop computer.
How we take a look at USB-C hubs
Earlier than we take a look at something, we check out what’s accessible and the way they’ve been acquired by customers, forum-goers and different publications. I grew to become conversant in a number of respected manufacturers once I was testing docking stations, so I regarded into hubs from these firms as nicely. I targeted on objects that may assist with a median day of productiveness — not high-end setups or demanding gaming conditions. As soon as I settled on a dozen or so that may make good candidates, I had them shipped to my humble workplace within the desert and began testing them out over the course of some weeks.
I used an M1 MacBook Professional because the host pc and plugged in equipment that embrace a 4K Dell monitor, a ZSA USB-C ergo keyboard, a Logitech USB-A gaming mouse, an Elgato USB-C 4K webcam, a Logitech streaming gentle, a USB-A 3.0 Sandisk thumb drive, a USB-C Samsung T7 Protect exterior drive and a pair of wired headphones I obtained at no cost on an airplane (I ought to most likely put money into some wired headphones, however the twine dangling on my chest drives me nutty so all my earbuds are wi-fi). I used high-end HDMI and USB-C cables to make sure that any information or connectivity points weren’t associated to my tools.
Then I put every USB-C hub by means of a gamut of fundamental exams. I checked out what could possibly be plugged in directly, the decision on the monitor, information switch speeds, the general construct high quality of the hub and common usability components, like the location of the ports and the size of the cords. And, lastly, the price-to-value ratio helped decide the very best ones for a number of totally different use instances.
Different hubs we examined
HyperDrive Subsequent 10 Port USB-C Hub
There’s lots to love about HyperDrive’s Next 10 Port USB-C Hub. The tethered cable is a lavish 13 inches lengthy, the HDMI 2.0 port outputs clear and crisp 4K visuals at 60Hz and the info transfers are screaming quick. It has the coveted two USB-C information ports plus a PD port, and there’s even a headphone jack. The one factor that holds again a full-throated endorsement is the best way our unit dealt with a streaming gentle. Having it on at full brightness made the webcam flicker each time. The problem went away at 75 p.c brightness, however the identical drawback didn’t occur on some other hub I examined.
Anker 341 USB-C Hub (7-in-1)
There’s nothing improper with the Anker 341 USB-C hub. Actually it’s a present suggestion in our iPad accessories guide and it comes at a terrific $35 value. It offers you two USB-A ports in addition to SD slots. However at this level, a 1.4 HDMI connection, which solely helps 4K decision at 30Hz feels a bit retro. There’s additionally only a single USB-C downstream port and the info switch exams proved to be a contact slower than the opposite hubs. However if you happen to’ve obtained a decrease decision monitor and don’t want a couple of USB-C, you received’t be upset with it.
Startech 4-Port USB-C Hub (information solely)
I solely grew to become conscious of Startech once I began researching for this information. The standard is respectable and the yellow accents are a welcome little bit of coloration within the in any other case very grey world of hubs. The efficiency is stable, with no hiccups that I encountered. The model’s 4-Port USB-C Hub has a protracted twine that wraps across the hub itself, which is exclusive. It doesn’t hassle with energy supply, which isn’t a difficulty if you happen to can energy your pc instantly. However the 4 USB ports (three Sort-A and one Sort-C) max out at 5Gbps and there’s no HDMI connector. It goes for $46, and sadly for it, there are cheaper methods to get a number of extra USB ports in your setup.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/equipment/best-usb-c-hub-120051833.html?src=rss
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