Best USB-C hubs and dongles for your laptop or tablet

Can a USB-C hub 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 also a bit more expensive than its rivals. Anker’s hub was among the coolest we’ve tested under load, at about 87 degrees.

Overall, Anker’s hub is well designed, with adequate spacing between the two 5Gbps USB-A ports. There’s also a 5Gbps USB-C connection for data, plus a second USB-C port for power input at up to 85W rated. (The charger allows up to 100W in, but supplies 85W.) An HDMI port allows for 4K/30Hz video or 1080p/60Hz video to a single external display, standard for the category. Ethernet is excluded, however, so you’ll need to use Wi-Fi instead. Cord length is about 8.5 inches, above the standard 6-inch length.

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. 

We recommend not buying the more expensive $79.99 Anker 8-in-1 Hub on Amazon unless you’re happy connecting to two 1080p (and not 4K) displays…which is perfectly fine. Otherwise, the two HDMI ports will only support two 4K displays at an eye-wearying 30Hz, not 60Hz.

Yeolibo may not be a name you recognize, but this hub first appeared on Amazon at a massive discount ($19.95!?) which prompted us to test it out and eventually demote our previous value pick, the Hiearcool UCN 3286. And we’re glad we did: Yeolibo’s USB-C hub is impressively detailed, with a small but extremely informative manual, clearly labeled ports, and well-rounded functionality.

This hub offers 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 input power, and an HDMI port. There are also microSD and SD slots capable of SDXC cards up to 2TB and SDR25 (25MB/s) data rates. There’s no Ethernet connection. The USB-C cable measures a comfortable six inches, though the connector at the end was a little stiff and took some fiddling to insert.

We didn’t have a 100W USB-C charger on hand to test, but the hub accepted 62.5W from our 65W USB-C charger. It stayed cool throughout. The hub played back protected content via its HDMI port, as expected, but dropped more frames than we hoped for when playing back 4K content over YouTube. (Only 4K30 resolutions are supported, but that’s not unusual.)

The QGeeM 7-in-1 Hub I received tried to buy me off with an in-box promotion that promised a $10 Amazon card if I left a positive review. But I didn’t need to be bought off to appreciate this compact, lightweight little hub that covers all the basics, save ethernet.

The three USB 3.0 ports are adequately spaced. An HDMI port at the end of the dock supports a single 4K display at 30Hz (or 1080p at 60Hz)—par for the course with a typical USB-C hub. QGeeM’s hub includes support for both SD and microSD slots, using the older, prevalent UHS-I SD card standard. Both cards share the same controller, allowing them to be used one card at a time. It does leave out ethernet, though. QGeeM’s documentation varies on how much power it can provide; Amazon’s page says it can accept 100W (3A) and supply 85W, though the in-box documentation says 60W. The latter is correct. Nevertheless, a USB-C charger connected to the port reported that it was charging adequately.

Under load the hub warmed to about 94 degrees, a comfortable temperature. (Some customers have complained that the hub gets too hot and will shut down, but we didn’t see this.)

QGeeM doesn’t seem to offer warranty support, and the packaging skimps on niceties like a carrying bag. But this lightweight hub offers everything else a typical user will need, and for a great price. 

Lention’s CB-C35sH feels a little cheap out of the box, with a bit of a rattle that indicates a corner or two were cut in the construction. It worked flawlessly, however. This USB-C hub is slightly wider than most, with a power input rated at 60W next to a HDMI 1.2 input (allowing 4K resolution on an external display, at 60Hz) that allows protected content to be played back with no problems. (Power input only reached 55W in our tests.) The entire hub remained cool, even with a charger attached.

In addition to the USB-C input port and HDMI output, there are four 5Gb/s USB Type A ports, and that’s it—no microSD slots, Ethernet, or audio connections. We would have liked to see the latter as an option for those who need it. But connecting a mouse and keyboard, as well as transferring data over the ports, worked well within the constraints of the USB-C connection.

Both our current overall top pick, the Anker A83460A2, and the Yeolibo 9-in-1 a are better overall options, with one exception: their HDMI output is only at 30Hz, which can fatigue the eyes over long periods. Lention delivers a more comfortable 60Hz at the same resolution. And if you have issues, Lention offers a 12-month warranty with a 24-hour support turnaround.

Lasuney’s 10-in-1 hub (2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, two HDMI 1.2 ports (4K@30Hz), DisplayPort Gigabit Ethernet, microSD/SD, USB-C power input) offers a lot for your money, including an unusual mix of not one, but two HDMI ports, and even a DisplayPort. Ethernet’s included, too, letting the hub replace many of your wired connections. Power input is rated at 100W in, with about 87W available to the laptop.

But the USB-C bus the hub runs on top of simply won’t support all of the ports being used at once, which is a bit of a gotcha. While we really like the pair of HDMI ports for dual-display configurations, the fact is that you’ll probably need to limit yourself to a pair of 1080p displays to avoid saturating the bus and slowing down the connection. Customers on Amazon have reported that they only got one to work, probably because the bus itself was saturated. The other problem we found, though, is that the SD card slot is way too slow. It took twice as long to transfer data compared to other hubs we tested. In all fairness, our other disk-to-disk tests took about the same amount of time.

Lasuney’s hub is well made, with good port spacing. It doesn’t get uncomfortably warm, either. Just be realistic: we really like the flexibility that the Lasuney hub offers, but don’t buy it thinking that you’ll be able to use everything at once.

The AmazonBasics L6LUD001-CS-R provides three USB 3.1 Type A ports plus gigabit ethernet to your laptop’s existing USB-C port. There are no HDMI or charging inputs; this is merely an incremental step up from the AmazonBasics L6LUD012-CS-R, which forgoes the ethernet capabilities.

This hub is handy for those who don’t have or don’t trust Wi-Fi on the go. The lengthy 14-inch cord adds some flexibility to your desktop layout. The hub performed comparably to the others we’ve tested, and there weren’t any issues with temperature or power.

At press time, the price was only $3 or so above the price of the aforementioned AmazonBasics L6LUD012-CS-R, which makes this a no-brainer if you just want a basic hub. Though the hub ships in both black and white, we noticed Amazon will occasionally discount one or the other by a few dollars. Honestly, though, the heated competition in the USB-C market means that the value this hub offered isn’t as strong as it once was.

The IOgear Dock Pro (GUD3C02B) is the Big Kahuna of USB-C docks—and, given what it does, you almost wonder why it wasn’t made a Thunderbolt dock instead. At 2.9 x 11.02 x 0.5 inches, it’s a thin, long, slanted wedge that props up your laptop with a grippy rubber strip. It’s a true dock, with a number of rear-facing ports optimized for dual displays, with a foot-long USB-C cable to boot.

Specifically, there’s three USB 3.0 (Type A ports), one HDMI 1.4 por for 4K30 video, one DisplayPort 1.2 port, Gigabit Ethernet, one SD/SDHC port and a microSD slot (both USH-I), VGA, a 3.5mm jack, and a USB-C port for up to 100W of external charging. Some of the additional ports come with some caveats: The VGA connection must be used solo, for example, and not in conjunction with either DisplayPort or VGA. Remember, all that data passed along the USB-C cable can interfere with one another, but IOgear plays it a bit conservative; the manual says that two hard drives can’t be connected simultaneously, but that’s not true.

Be advised that the BC 1.2 port provides up to 1.5A of power for quick-charging phones, though the port isn’t compatible with the specialized quick-charging schemes of OnePlus or Samsung. (Phones from both manufacturers reported “charging” when connected, rather than “Fast charging”.) Thermal issues weren’t a problem, and performance was surprisingly good, even with HDMI and ethernet connected. The doc supports Power Delivery 3.0 up to 85W, and consumes 15W by itself; in other words, if you have a 100W laptop charger feeding power to the hub, 85W will be left over for your laptop to use.

A price of about $125 or so is way more than you’d expect to pay for a USB-C hub, but it’s still less than a higher-speed Thunderbolt dock. Still, this USB-C hub is more of a USB-C dock; it’s not really portable, and the form factor lends itself to a permanent spot on your desk.

Plugable’s big brother to the UD-3900H is $50 more, but it might be worth it. This powered USB-C dock—not a dongle, but a full-sized dock—has some of the same issues as the UD-3900H. It measures 3.25 x 9.5 x 1.25 inches, with a 3-foot USB-C to USB-C cable (or USB-C to USB-A), with four USB 3.0 (5.0Gbps) ports on the front and two more on the rear. Display ports are plentiful: two HDMI 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort 1.2 ports, allowing either a single 4K display at 60Hz or two at 30Hz. There’s Gigabit Ethernet and a headphone jack, too.

Like the other Plugable UD-3900H dock, you’ll need to install a DisplayLink driver, which is a slightly different interface that runs over USB-C. The dock doesn’t supply any power to the laptop itself, another black mark. But the inclusion of DisplayPort and its HDCP capabilities means you can watch Netflix, and in 4K if you’d like. But all that data streaming over a USB-C connection also means that video playback is going to be stuttery. Nearly $180 is a ton of money to spend on a dock, too, though it comes with a two-year warranty.

We’d recommend the UD-6950H as the best USB-C dock that we’ve seen. As we point out below in our buying advice, however, the USB-C connection will be what limits this dock, not the dock itself. For a smoother connection, invest in a Thunderbolt dock if your PC supports it.

ICZI’s IZEC-TH01 breaks from the typical USB-C hub design, forgoing the “candy bar” form factor in favor of a radial hub. Two USB 3.0 Type-A ports are seated next to SD and microSD card slots, HDMI (4K at 30Hz) and VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, and a USB-C input connection for charging your laptop.

The extra-long 11-inch cable wraps around the outside of the hub for storage. Sadly, the radial design means other cables (VGA, HDMI, etc.) will end up going in all directions. The center of the hub is taken up by a tray with a magnetic faceplate, large enough to store a dongle. Otherwise, our hub came with no documentation whatsoever, just a 24-month warranty card that’s double the duration of most of its competition.

The IZEC-TH01 does get a bit warm under load (copying files from an SD card to a PC while also copying files from an external hard drive to an SSD, while streaming YouTube) but only to about 88 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a tad faster than other hubs, too. VGA and HDMI can be used simultaneously, and the hub supplies up to 900mA via USB-A for charging.

At 3.75 inches in diameter, IZEC-TH01 is a bit big and bulky for our tastes, especially with cables going every which way. Otherwise it’s a good value, though ICZI charges a bit more than other hubs.

Lenovo’s GX90M61235 USB-C travel hub retains the same black, boxy aesthetic as generations of ThinkPad laptops. The odd pairing of connectors—VGA, HDMI (4K at 30Hz), a single USB 3.0 port, and Gigabit Ethernet—means you’ll be using your laptop’s keyboard, possibly a mouse, and either display connector. We’d rather see Lenovo pick either VGA or HDMI and add another USB port.

To be fair though, all of the ports performed as expected and there was no perceptible heat increase when we tried to saturate the ethernet link and USB-C port simultaneously.

There are better deals elsewhere, in terms of price and ports. But if you need a VGA connector, this is one of the few options available.

This Rshtech RS-516 USB-C port splitter uses an unusually long 2-foot cable to split a 5Gbps USB 3.0 input (over USB-C) and divide it among four USB 3.0 Type A ports. It’s also uncommon to see those ports controlled by LED-lit button switches, and an optional 5V/2A adapter powering the whole affair.

The port splitter takes the 5Gbps input and splits it among the ports, which are only active if the corresponding LED-lit button is depressed. This applies to both power (the hub will charge, though not fast-charge phones) and data. Port spacing isn’t an issue, and the ABS/aluminum construct handles heat well.

The Rshtech hub wouldn’t always identify and connect to a bus-powered SSD, but it found every other device we connected to it. The performance of a powered external hard drive plunged to about 20 percent when all ports were occupied, but surged to about 67 percent when the optional power cable was plugged in—which Rshtech recommends when connected to external storage.

That cable (with a proprietary plug) is a pain, and the issues finding our SSD gave us pause. But we really liked how the hub allowed us access to and control of external hard 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: an inexpensive, relatively tiny USB-C dock that plugs directly into your laptop, without a connecting cord.

“There’s no way this will work,” you might think—but it does, with just enough room for your laptop’s USB-C charger to sneak in one side of the dock, next to an HDMI cord, then a USB key or cord, and a 3.5mm jack. (The Mini Dock supports up to 60W of power in from an external charger.)

That’s fine, of course, if your laptop’s USB-C port is all by its lonesome. Otherwise, the Travel Pro Mini Dock will block ports as it tries to offer expansion capabilities—and that’s a problem for laptops like the Asus ZenBook, which forego a 3.5mm headphone jack but cram their USB-C ports too close together to make IOgear’s dock feasible.

We like the idea, but there are cheaper, better docks out there with more flexibility.