And despite the metal construction, it didn’t get any hotter than my normal laptop charger did during testing. The Satechi hub itself is a single compact aluminum wedge that’s doesn’t take up too much space in your bag or on your desk. (There’s also a slightly pricier version that throws in a Mini DisplayPort should you need one, but it rearranges the other ports to be a little more inconvenient to get to.) Or, more optimistically, that one day you won’t need this guide at all, because everyone will have finally switched over to using USB-C (although that still seems a long way from now.) The best USB-C hub: The Satechi Aluminum Multi-Port Adapter V2įor now, you’ll still need a USB-C hub, and the best one out there is the Satechi Aluminum Multi-Port Adapter V2, which manages to check almost every single box on the list.įirst and most importantly, Satechi’s hub just flat out offers the best port selection: three USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, HDMI, and both MicroSD and SD card slots, along with a USB-C port for passing through power.

We’ll continue to update this article as new hubs come out - USB-C is still a relatively new market, and companies are still constantly tinkering with form factors, port selection, and design to hit the perfect balance - so be sure to check back if you’re not buying a new laptop today. It shouldn’t be too expensive, and it should work reliably without getting too hot. The best USB-C hub is one that gives you access to all the ports you need, and is small and light enough to easily keep in your bag at all times. That means that all those super powerful $300 Thunderbolt 3 hubs are out.

To be clear, we’re only looking at a very specific subset of USB-C hubs here - for the sake of this comparison, they’ve got to provide the option to continue to charge your laptop through a pass-through power port, and they can’t need their own separate power supply. Which means if you’ve got a USB-C laptop like Apple’s MacBook Pros or Dell’s latest XPS 13, and you want to get your old ports back - things like regular USB, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jacks, DisplayPort, MicroSD, and SD card slots - you’re going to need a USB-C hub. Sure, one day maybe we’ll get to the place where every cable, every gadget, and every screen uses the next generation connector specification but we’re nowhere near that today.

Despite all of its promise for a better future, the reality of living with USB Type-C is kind of a nightmare.

Usb hub for macbook pro 2018