- Let's be honest, USB-C 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 USB-C laptop,
like a MacBook Pro, or Dell's latest XPS 13,
and you wanna use those old ports from your old computer,
stuff like regular USB, HDMI, ethernet,
display port, SD, micro SD.
All those old connectors that you used to use every day.
You're gonna need a USB-C hub.
(slow funky music)
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 out.
The best USB-C hubs should have all the ports you need
while still being thin and light enough
to keep in your bag at all times.
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 USB-C hub for most people.
First and foremost, Satechis have 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
and SD card slots, HDMI, ethernet, and a 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 USB-C 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 pass through charging,
and 4k video only works at 30 Hz, not 60 Hz.
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 USB-C laptop.
But for a well designed portable hub
with the port selection that this offers,
nothing else came close to this price point.
If you're looking to save a little money,
the next best option is the HooToo USB-C hub.
It's got the same three USB 3.0 ports,
a full-size SD card slot, and HDMI for video out.
There's not ethernet or micro SD, but at almost
half the price of the Satechi hub,
it's a great budget option, assuming you can get by
without an ethernet port, which might be
a deal breaker for some folks.
The HooToo 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 HooToo 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 all probably get the job done in a pinch,
but for one reason or another, they didn't
top our best picks.
The Aukey eight-in-one 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 kinda 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 Aukey 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 isn't that common of a port these days,
but if you need it, the Aukey hub
is definitely your best bet.
If you want something a little more premium,
there's the Bourge Design ARC hub.
It doesn't quite match up to the port selection
on some of our other picks, and at $135,
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, a weighted metal base
that doesn't slide around, and a premium
glass and aluminum design that felt 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 USB-C hub.
Stuff like Apple's official USB-C Digital AV
Multiport 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 computers, and at $70,
it only offers a single USB port and an HDMI port.
There's plenty 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 onto the computer,
they're color coordinated to match,
and it looks like they might fill that hole
that Apple's 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 damage 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, everyone will just switch over
to using USB-C.
So we won't ever need USB-C hubs.
But until that happens, the Satechi 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/vergescience.