Add Ports to Your Laptop

You get 8 ports to add to your laptop with D-Link’s 8-in-1 USB-C Hub. There are three USB-A ports (including one with fast charging), and excellent PD USB-C pass-through charging (up to 100W) so you don’t lose a valuable C or Thunderbolt 3 port on the laptop if you need to charge or sync.

There are SD and MicroSD (TF) slots for storage cards, so you can slot in a camera card, or use the flash memory for extra laptop storage.

Gigabit Ethernet is there, too, as is an HDMI port that can support 4K displays at 30Hz.

Remember that the hub’s 100W will be mostly used for charging the laptop, so it might strain if you connect too many bus-powered devices. But the 100W is more generous than most hubs. 

D-Link has smaller, cheaper USB-C hubs if you don’t need so many ports.

The most basic, the 4-in-1 M420, has two USB-A, one USB-C and HDMI. The 6-in-1 M610 is similar to the M810 but lacks the Gigabit Ethernet port and the fast-charging USB-A.

The compact and very affordable 7-port Plugable USB-C Multifunction Hub has seven ports from one integrated USB-C connection, including a 4K HDMI output, power pass-through (at an impressive 87W) to charge connected devices, three 5Gbps USB-A ports, and SD and microSD slots.

You can use the HDMI 1.4 port to output to a 4K (at 30Hz) or Full HD 1080p monitor or projector.

Pass-through charging is especially handy if your laptop or USB-C device has just one USB-C port. The 87W power is more than you get from most hubs.

At 88g, it’s lightweight, and, as with many hubs, features a short integrated cable so works well as a portable travel device.

There are a generous three USB-A ports that can also provide power pass-through to charge other devices.

There’s just one USB-C port, so look elsewhere if you need more of the newer USB standard.

Wired Internet is also not present, but, fear not, Plugable has a longer 7-in-1 USB-C Hub that drops a USB-A port for Gigabit Ethernet.

The quality 7-port Kingston Nucleum boasts seven ports from one USB-C connection, including a 4K HDMI output (30Hz), power pass-through (60W) to charge connected devices, two USB-C (5Gbps) ports, two 5Gbps USB-A ports, and SD and microSD slots.

You can power up a USB-C laptop while also connecting to a USB Flash drive and charging your smartphone. It’s compact in size and lightweight, and features a short built-in cable so works well as a travel accessory.

The two old-school USB-A ports also provide power pass-through to charge devices such as your smartphone or Bluetooth headphones.

One USB-C port on the Nucleum can be used for charging, and the extra USB-C port can connect your other more modern devices for data.

One port it does lack is Gigabit Ethernet. If you’re happy with Wi-Fi, this won’t matter, of course.

iPad Pro and Air (2018 and 2020) users will appreciate this aluminium USB-C hub that turns the tablet’s single USB-C port into six ports: 5Gbps and 60W PD charger, 5Gbps USB-A, 3.5mm audio, HDMI (4K at 60Hz), and UHS-I MicroSD and SD Card readers.

Hyper claims it was the world’s most crowdfunded iPad Pro accessory and USB-C hub.

Available in iPad pro-matching Space Gray or Silver, this good-looking hub features a grip that secures it onto an iPad Pro without damaging the surface. You can remove the grip if you use a third-party iPad case.

It comes with a USB-C extender cable so you can also use it as a USB-C hub for your MacBook or another USB-C device, too.

The Startech USB-C Multiport 4-in-1 Video Adapter can connect your USB-C laptop to a VGA, DVI, HDMI or Mini DisplayPort (mDP) display. It has pretty much everything except full DisplayPort.

It features USB Power Delivery (PD), so you can power your laptop while outputting video using the same USB-C port. And it does this at up to 95W so can charge most laptops at full speed.

The short breakout cable features a magnetic retainer that secures it in place while you’re not using it.

The HDMI and mDP outputs support UHD 4K resolutions. All of the outputs (HDMI, mDP, VGA, DVI) support high-definition resolutions up to 1920 x 1200. The adapter is compatible with USB-C DP Alt Mode devices.

It’s available in Aluminium, Rose Gold, and Space Gray trim, which will please owners of Apple MacBooks – but it will work with Windows laptops too, of course.

This simple compact and lightweight (23g) adapter lets you connect any USB-C device to a display, projector or TV with HDMI – be it your laptop, USB-C phone, iPad Pro or USB-C tablet.

The Moshi USB-C to HDMI Adapter supports 4K displays at 60Hz for smoother quality, and HDR (compatible with HDR10). It also supports HDCP 2.2 for Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services.

It will also allow pass-through charging to your device while you use the display with USB PD 3.0 up to 60W.

If all you need is a bunch of older, standard USB-A ports to add a phone charging cable, memory stick or external hard drive, then you won’t need a more versatile hub – just an adapter with a row of USB 3.0 ports.

There are plenty of these about, but for a quality brand take a look at the UGreen USB-C to 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub, which is inexpensive and ultra-portable.

It has four USB 3.0 ports, and even a 5V/2.4A micro-USB power port for extra power supply for devices that require it – although this is weak at 12W, so nowhere near enough to charge a laptop!

Even with this handy extra, you should really just consider most of the four ports for data transfer rather than powered devices.

There’s no HDMI, no extra USB-C port for passthrough charging, no memory card slots or Gigabit Ethernet. But who cares: you just want a few old-style USB ports, and this has enough to satisfy the most ardent accessory fan.

Many of the USB-C adapters tested here have a Gigabit Ethernet port, but none except the TrendNet TUC-ET5G can boast 5X gigabit speed for the absolute fastest wired transfers.

This is the first-to-market USB-C to 5GBASE-T (5Gps) Ethernet Adapter that is compatible with existing Cat5e cabling or better. Now you can add super-fast Ethernet (which you usually find only on top-end workstations such as the Mac Pro) to your laptop.

It’s not cheap, but it is the fastest. TrendNet also sells a TUC-ET2G model that can handle 2.5GBASE-T (2.5Gbps), which is about half the price and still 2.5X faster than Gigabit Ethernet. But if you want the very fastest only the TUC-ET5G will do. 

The Moshi Symbus Q is a similar offering to the HyperDrive hub above. It offers slightly less functionality at a slightly higher price, but you’re really paying for the sort of premium finish and build quality that Moshi delivers.

As with the HyperDrive, this is a USB-C hub that doubles as a 15W wireless Qi charger. Beyond that it packs in two USB-A 3.1 ports, 4K HDMI, and Gigabit ethernet, while it offers 60W USB-C PD pass-through charging to whatever laptop it’s plugged into.

The main body is built out of aluminium, so feels pretty sturdy, while there’s a soft fabric and rubber finish to the top to keep any glass-backed phones from sliding around. It’ll also happily charge through most phone cases.

Bear in mind that this only takes power from the mains, so even if you don’t want to use it for charging you’ll still need to plug it in, meaning this is best suited to leaving on your desk, rather than a hub for travelling.

If your laptop, tablet or even USB-C phone lacks a 3.5mm audio jack, then this simple and compact 2-in-1 adapter is what you need if you still use wired headphones, speaker or microphone. 

It doesn’t just feature the audio jack, it has a USB-C port for pass-through 60W power delivery (PD). You can attach it to your USB-C wall charger, or untethered it can be bus-powered. 

Available in a range of colours (silver, gold, rose gold, and Space Grey) that match Apple’s MacBooks – but compatible with any USB-C laptop – the Satechi Aluminum Type-C Slim Multi-Port Adapter 4K is one of the lightest and smallest multiport USB-C hubs we’ve seen.

Weighing just 46g and both slim and short, the hub/adapter boasts dual USB 3.0 ports for standard accessories and a 4K HDMI port for displays and projectors.

It also has an extra USB-C port for 60W pass-through charging, so you can keep your laptop powered up while it’s in use.

The flexible cable is 15cm long.

The OWC USB-C 6-Port Travel Dock is tiny, but includes at least one of each port you might need, whether out and about or just on your desk at home or in the office.

There are two 5Gbps USB-A ports, one pass-through USB-C PD port (100W), HDMI 2.0, an SD Card reader (fast UHS-II), and Gigabit Ethernet for wired Internet access.

The version 2.0 HDMI is an upgrade on most adapters with HDMI 1.4, and can get to 60Hz with 4K displays. 

At 174g, it’s heavier than most of the USB-C adapters tested here, but we like it compact and robust shape. 

Note that the USB-C cable that connects to your computer is quite short (15cm) so it will have to sit right next to the host. Of course, the ports can accept any length of cable for the required devices and accessories.

As a mini dock, rather than in-pocket adapter, it’s compact, solid and well built but lacks Gigabit Ethernet, which we’d argue is essential for any device calling itself a dock.

It’s available in Space Grey, Silver and Rose Gold.

This Moshi hub is a simple 3-in-1 adapter with four ports.

It features two USB 3.0 (USB A) ports for adding extra peripherals, a built-in SD card reader for transferring photos and videos, and a 4K UHD (30Hz) HDMI video adapter for connecting to an external display.

The card reader slot supports both SD and SDHC/XC memory cards with transfer speeds up to 104Mbps.

It doesn’t boast an extra USB-C port, so if your laptop has just the one USB-C port this hub won’t allow you to charge at the same time as you’re using it. Laptops that boast more than one USB-C port can of course use one of those for charging.

The adapter attaches to the laptop via a 12cm flexible cable, and weighs 64g.

If you want multiple USB-A ports with a couple of USB-C for good measure, the StarTech 7-Port Charging Station offers five of the older USB standard plus two type-C ports.

This hub is powered (48W) via a 1m power cable rather than relying on the laptop’s juice, so you can charge a bunch of mobile devices and a couple of laptops at the same time, or use it as a USB-C dock. You don’t need to add a wall charger as it comes with its own.

While aimed at MacBook users (with its brushed aluminium design…