Gadgetory

let's be honest USBC is kind of a nightmare sure one day we might get to the point where every cable every gadget every screen uses the same next-generation connector but we're nowhere near that point today which means if you've got a new USBC laptop like a MacBook Pro or Dells latest XPS 13 and you want to use those old ports from your old computer stuff like regular USB HDMI Ethernet DisplayPort SC micro sd all those old connectors that you used to use every day you're gonna need a USB C hub to be clear for the sake of this comparison we're only looking at a small subset of USB C hubs that means that we're only talking about ones that offer some sort of pass-through powers that you can keep charging your computer while you're using other stuff and ones that don't need their own integrated power supply that means unfortunately all those super cool $300 Thunderbolt 3 hubs are at the best of USBC hubs should have all the ports you need while still being thin and light enough to keep in your bag at all times it shouldn't be too expensive and it should work reliably without getting too hot the Satechi aluminum multi port adapter v2 manages to check almost every box on the list and it's our pick for the USBC hub for most people first and foremost Satechi hub had the best port selection of any of the hubs that we tested in this price point there are three USB 3.0 ports both micro SD n SD card slots HDMI Ethernet and USB C port for power pass-through the hub itself is a compact aluminum hub that doesn't take up too much room in your bag or on your desk and despite the all-metal construction didn't get any hotter than my normal laptop charger during use the port layout is also one of the better designs that we've seen on any of these hubs one end has the single USBC cable to plug into your laptop the other end has the USB C input for power and Ethernet one side of the wedge has the SD card slots and the other side has the USB 3.0 ports and the HDMI port and most importantly everything is spaced far enough that it's always easy to plug stuff in the Satechi hub isn't quite perfect it only offers 49 watts for a pass-through charging and 4k video only works at 30 Hertz not 60 Hertz plus the $80 price tag might be a little hard to swallow especially if you're someone who just spent thousands of dollars on a new USBC laptop but for a well-designed portable hub with the port selection that this offers nothing else came close at this price point if you're looking to save a little money the next best option is the who - USB C hub it's got the same 3 USB 3.0 ports a full-size SD card slot and HDMI for video out there's no Ethernet or micro SD but at almost half the price of the Satechi hub it's a great budget option assume you can get by without an Ethernet port which might be a deal-breaker for some folks the who - hub does feel a little cheap compared to the Satechi despite also being made out of aluminum and there's just no getting around the giant glowing koutou logo on top but that's nothing that some electrical tape can't fix if it really bothers you now there are plenty of other USB C hubs out there with different port configurations price points and form factors they'll probably get the job done in a pinch but for one reason or another they didn't top our best fix the okie 8 in 1 USB C hub had the second best port selection of any of the hubs that we tested but it weirdly chooses to cluster all the ports at like one end of the device which makes it kind of hard to plug things in also you can only use the SD card slot or the micro SD card slot but not both of them at the same time but the okie hub makes up for one of its shortcomings by swapping one of the USB ports for a VGA port which is useful if you need the connectivity options VGA z'n that comment of the port these days but if you need it if you okie hub is definitely a best bet if you want something a little more premium there's the Borge design archive it doesn't quite match up to the port selection on some of our other picks and at 135 dollars it's the most expensive hub that we looked at but it's also far nicer than some of the other hubs with a removable USB C cable the weighted metal base that doesn't slide around and a premium glass and aluminum design that felt just much nicer than some of the other picks on the other end of the spectrum there's a few things that you should avoid when you're buying a USBC hub stuff like apples official USB C digital AV multi port adapter which while you might think might be a great option because the Apple name actually offered one of the slowest pass-through charging rates of any of the things we tested it also worked the least well with things that weren't Mac's computers and at $70 it only offers a single USB port an HDMI port there's plenty of other options that'll give you more bang for your buck I'd also caution against any hubs like the hyperdrive solo which connected directly to your computer I get the appeal here they're pretty much designed for Apple's new MacBooks and MacBook Pros they clip directly on to the computer they're color-coordinated to match and it looks like they might feel that whole that apples removal of the ports might have left in your life but they also felt incredibly flimsy when attached to my computer and I was constantly afraid that they were just gonna snap off or damaged the ports at the end of the day almost any functional USB C hub will probably get the job done for connecting your old gadgets to your new devices and hopefully this whole product category will be a pretty short-lived thing because in an ideal world every mole just switched over to using USB C so we won't ever need USB C hubs but until that happens this is attached is probably still your best bet for getting by in this crazy mixed-up port standard world hey thanks for watching we just launched a new science Channel and you should go definitely check it out at youtube.com slash Virg science