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Title: The best USB-C hub for 2025

Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2025 09:00:37 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessorie...

ItΓÇÖs impressive what tablets and ultraportable laptops can do. But to get
the most functionality out of them, you may want a few more ports at your
disposal, which is where a USB-C hub comes into play. By connecting to just
one port, these handy devices give you extra USB connections, HDMI slots, SD
card readers and Ethernet jacks. Plus most offer pass-through charging so you
can keep your tablet powered while you work with all your peripherals hooked
up. We tested more than a dozen models to come up with a few great picks for
different situations and users. Here are the best USB-C hubs based on our
testing.

Table of contents

Best USB-C hubs for 2025

What to look for in a USB-C hub

How we test USB-C hubs

Other hubs we tested

Recent updates

Best USB-C hubs for 2025

What to look for in a USB-C hub Hub vs docking station

The first thing to decide is whether you need a USB-C hub or a USB-C docking
station. ThereΓÇÖs no set standard for what differentiates the two, but
docking stations tend to have more ports, offer a separate DC power adapter
and cost more, with some reaching upwards of $400. We have a separate guide
to the best docking stations to check out if youΓÇÖre looking for something
bigger than what weΓÇÖre discussing here. USB-C hubs, in contrast, have
between four and 10 ports, can support pass-through charging and typically
cost between $30 and $150.

Hubs, sometimes also called dongles or even multiport adapters, make more
sense for smaller setups with just a few peripherals, such as a monitor, a
wired keyboard and mouse, and the occasional external drive. TheyΓÇÖre also
more portable, since theyΓÇÖre small and require no dedicated power. That
could be useful if you change work locations but want to bring your
accessories with you, or if you want to replace your laptop with a more
powerful tablet. A docking station or Thunderbolt dock makes more sense for
someone who needs a robust setup for their laptop, including multiple
external monitors, webcams, stream decks, microphones and so on.

Both docks and hubs make it easy to grab your laptop off your desk for a
meeting or other brief relocation and when you get back, you only need to
plug in one cable to get all your accessories reconnected. Of course, if you
just need to plug in one peripheral, you may not need a hub or a dock, a
simple USB-C adapter, like HDMI to USB-C or USB-A to USB-C, may do the trick.

Ports

For a USB-C hub to work, it needs to connect to a port on your laptop or
tablet that supports video, data and power ΓÇö all of which is covered by
anything listed as USB 3.0 or better, including USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 and
Thunderbolt 4. The port, of course, needs to be Type-C as well. The sea of
laptops out there is vast, so itΓÇÖs hard to make generalizations, but modern
laptops, including Windows and Apple models, should have at least one USB-C
port that will suffice, and indeed, every one of our top picks for the best
laptops do ΓÇö including our top pick, the M4 MacBook Air.

Next, itΓÇÖs a matter of finding a good USB-C hub that has the right
connections for your needs. Most hubs offer some combo of HDMI, USB, SD card
reader, Ethernet and 3.5 mm ports. If you have a 4K monitor and would like at
least a 60Hz refresh rate, youΓÇÖll need a hub with an HDMI 2.0 port ΓÇö HDMI
1.4 only goes up to 30Hz. HDMI 2.1 will handle 4K at up to 120Hz, but hubs
that have adopted that standard arenΓÇÖt as common just yet. Keep in mind
that a low refresh rate can cause your screen to feel laggy, making your
mouse appear glitchy and your webcam movements to look delayed.

Additional USB ports on these accessories are usually USB Type-A or USB Type-
C. They can support data with different transfer rates, typically 5Gbps or
10Gbps. Some ports only handle passthrough power and no data, and some can do
data, power and video, so itΓÇÖs best to check the spec list to make sure
youΓÇÖre getting the support you need. Keep in mind that a hub may bill
itself as a 7-in-1, but one of those ports may not be usable for anything
other than charging.

Standard SD and microSD cards are useful for transferring data from cameras
and the like or for offloading files from your hard drive, and many hubs have
those slots. Ethernet ports may deliver faster internet speeds than your Wi-
Fi and a hub with a 3.5mm jack can bring back the wired headphone connection
that some laptops have ditched.

Power delivery

Nearly all of the USB-C hubs I tested support passthrough charging. That
means if your laptop or tablet only charges via USB, you donΓÇÖt have to take
up another port on your laptop to keep everything topped up. Unlike a docking
station, powering a hub is optional. The one exception is if you want to
close the lid on your laptop while you work on an external monitor. Most
computers will go into sleep mode if the lid is closed without power, so
either the laptop or the hub will need to be plugged into the wall to prevent
that from happening.

Many of the newer hubs include a 100W USB-C power delivery (PD) port, with a
healthy 80 to 85 watts going to your Mac, PC, iPad or Android tablet (the
hubs take a little of the juice for themselves, hence the 15-watt or so
difference). In my tests, a powered USB hub ran hotter than when it wasn't
passing the charge through, so I prefer to power the computer directly using
its own charger. But for tablets or other devices with no extra ports, that
PD option is important.

Some PD ports are also data ports ΓÇö which is both good and bad. On one
hand, it feels wasteful to use a perfectly good data port just for boring old
electricity. But on the other hand, USB-C connections that only carry a
charge are less versatile, and it makes it seem like it has more accessory
hookups than it actually does.

Design

ThereΓÇÖs surprisingly little design variation among hubs. Most look like a
flat slab, a little smaller than a smartphone, and have an attached Type-C
host cable. The hues range from a silvery black to a silvery gray. Some are
thinner than others, some have all ports on one edge and some have ports on
both sides. All of this is just to say that aesthetics probably wonΓÇÖt make
or break your buying decision.

One variation that could tip the scales is the length of the cable. A longer
one will give you more freedom as you arrange the hub on your desk,
potentially even letting you hide it behind your laptop. Or you may prefer a
shorter one to keep the hub neatly set beside your laptop.

How we test USB-C hubs

Before we test anything, we take a look at whatΓÇÖs available and how
theyΓÇÖve been received by shoppers, forum-goers and other publications. I
became familiar with a few reputable brands when I was testing docking
stations, so I looked into hubs from those companies as well. I focused on
items that would help with an average day of productivity ΓÇö not high-end
setups or demanding gaming situations. Once I settled on a dozen or so that
would make good candidates, I had them shipped to my humble office in the
desert and started testing them out over the course of a few weeks.

I used an M1 MacBook Pro running MacOS Sonoma as the host computer and
plugged in accessories that include 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 light, a USB-A 3.0 Sandisk thumb drive, a USB-C Samsung T7
Shield external drive and a pair of wired headphones I got for free on an
airplane (I should probably invest in some wired headphones, but the cord
dangling on my chest drives me nutty so all my earbuds are wireless). I used
high-end HDMI and USB-C cables to ensure that any data or connectivity issues
werenΓÇÖt related to my equipment.

Then I put each USB-C hub through a gamut of basic tests. I looked at what
could be plugged in at once, the resolution on the monitor, data transfer
speeds, the overall build quality of the hub and general usability factors,
like the placement of the ports and the length of the cords. And, finally,
the price-to-value ratio helped determine the best ones for a few different
use cases.

Other hubs we tested HyperDrive Next 10 Port USB-C Hub

ThereΓÇÖs a lot to like about HyperDriveΓÇÖs Next 10 Port USB-C Hub. The
tethered cable is a lavish 13 inches long, the HDMI 2.0 port outputs clear
and crisp 4K visuals at 60Hz and the high-speed data transfers are great. It
has the coveted two USB-C data ports plus a PD port, and thereΓÇÖs even a
headphone jack. The only thing that holds back a full-throated endorsement is
the way our unit handled a streaming light. Having it on at full brightness
made the webcam flicker every time. The issue went away at 75 percent
brightness, but the same problem didnΓÇÖt happen on any other hub I tested.

Anker 341 USB-C Hub (7-in-1)

ThereΓÇÖs nothing wrong with the Anker 341 USB-C hub. In fact itΓÇÖs a
current recommendation in our iPad accessories guide and it comes at a great
$35 price. It gives you two USB-A ports as well as SD slots. But at this
point, a 1.4 HDMI connection, which only supports 4K resolution at 30Hz feels
a little retro. ThereΓÇÖs also just a single USB-C downstream port and the
data transfer tests proved to be a touch slower than the other hubs. But if
youΓÇÖve got a lower resolution monitor and donΓÇÖt need more than one USB-C,
you wonΓÇÖt be disappointed with it.

Anker 555 8-in-1

It was a tough call between the UGreen Revodoc Pro 109 and the Anker 555 8-in-
1 for our top recommendation. Both have a similar port array with an HDMI,
Ethernet, two USB Type A, a PD USB-C and a USB-C 3.2 on the 555. And the
Anker USB-C hub is $15 cheaper. We went with the UGreen hub for its more
premium build, extra USB-A port and longer cord that gives you two extra
inches to work with. But if you want to save a few bucks this hub is a
worthwhile pick.

Startech 4-Port USB-C Hub (data only)

I only became aware of Startech when I started researching for this guide.
The quality is decent and the yellow accents are a welcome bit of color in
the otherwise very gray world of hubs. The performance is solid, with no
hiccups that I encountered. The brandΓÇÖs 4-Port USB-C Hub has a long cord
that wraps around the hub itself, which is unique. It doesnΓÇÖt bother with
power delivery, which isnΓÇÖt an issue if you can power your computer
directly. But the four USB ports (three Type-A and one Type-C) max out at
5Gbps and thereΓÇÖs no HDMI connector. It goes for $46, and unfortunately for
it, there are cheaper ways to get a few more USB ports for your setup.

Recent updates

August 2025: Updated to ensure our top picks are still current and accurate.

April 2025: Added our experience with the Anker 555 8-in-1 hub to the Other
hubs we tested section.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessorie...
120051833.html?src=rss

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