If you’re shopping for a USB-C hub for your home office, all the different options can be daunting.
But don’t worry, in this article I’ll walk you through some of the best USB-C hubs available and help you figure out which one is going to work best for your needs.
Table of Contents
What Is A USB-C Hub
Before you move on to choosing a USB-C hub, it’s important to understand what it actually is, (if you’re already familiar with what a USB-C hub is, feel free to skip down to my list of the best ones).
Essentially, a USB-C hub is a small device that you can plug into the USB-C port of your computer (assuming your computer has a USB-C port), and then plug all kinds of things into the hub.
It’s useful as most modern laptops don’t have many different ports built into them, so you need a USB-C hub if you want to connect to different accessories.
The other good use for them is that you can use them to set up a laptop docking station on your desk that allows you to connect any accessory you might need to your laptop all with a single cable.
How To Find The Right USB-C Hub
Now that you know what they are, you’ll need to figure out which one will be best for your needs. I’ve gathered a list of 5 different USB-C hubs that you’ll find below, but first, here are a few things you should consider when deciding which one is right for you.
Port Selection – Seeing as the whole point of a USB-C hub is to connect different things to your computer, the port selection will be the most important thing to consider.
If you just need a few extra USB ports, you’ll be fine with a very cheap and simple hub. But if you want to connect to all kinds of things like external displays and wired internet, you’ll need to go with something a bit fancier.
Charging Capabilities – If your computer is able to be charged through its USB-C port (most are), then you might want to consider a USB-C hub that has power passthrough. This means you will be able to connect your laptop’s charger to the hub, and then only have one thing you need to plug in every time you put your laptop down on your desk.
Price – You likely don’t want to spend too much on a fancy USB-C hub, so it’s important to keep the price in mind. If you only need a few ports, there are some great affordable options, but if you want all the bells and whistles, it can start to get a bit expensive.
So now with all this in mind, let’s move on to my list of the 5 best USB-C hubs for your home office.
Best USB-C Hub For Home Office Use
Image | Name | Why It's Good | Number Of USB Ports | Price Range | Buy On Amazon |
 | Anker USB C Hub | Best If You Only Need USB A Ports | 4 | $ | |
 | TOTU USB C Hub | Best Affordable Hub With A Variety Of Ports | 3 | $ | |
 | VAVA USB C Hub | Best for 4K HDMI Video Output and Fast Charging | 3 | $$ | |
 | Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock | Best For Connecting Two External Displays | 1 | $$ | |
 | Cable Matters USB-C Dock | Best Hub To Create A Powerful Docking Station | 5 | $$$ |
The Good
- Super Cheap
- Plenty Of USB A Ports
- Transfer Speeds Of Up To 5 Gbps
The Bad
- Only Has USB A Ports
If the only thing you need a USB-C hub for is to connect some USB A (Regular USB) devices to your laptop, then this is the one for you.
It doesn’t have any of the other ports you would usually want in a USB-C hub like HDMI, Ethernet, or Power Passthrough.
But if you have a modern laptop and just want to connect some USB devices like a mouse, keyboard, USB stick, and anything else you could plug into a regular USB port. Then this is a great, affordable option.
It has 4 different USB ports all of which are USB 3.0 which means they are capable of really fast speeds. And there’s really nothing else to it.
If you want to create a full laptop docking station on your desk that can connect all kinds of different accessories, this is definitely not the one for you. But if you just want to add some extra USB ports to your computer, this is the perfect solution.
Want to Buy The Anker USB-C Hub?
The Good
- Plenty Of Different Ports
- Great Price Considering The Features
- Has Power Delivery
The Bad
- Power Delivery Is Not Quite Enough To Charge Some Laptops Under Heavy Workloads
If you’d rather a hub with more ports so that you can effortlessly connect things like wired internet and external displays, but still don’t want to spend too much money, this is the hub for you.
Unlike the previous option, this one gives you all the ports and features you would need to create a full on docking station for your laptop. Here are all the different ports it comes equipped with:
- 3 USB A ports (regular USB ports)
- 1 HDMI port (for connecting to an external screen)
- 1 Ethernet port (for connecting to a wired internet connection)
- 1 SD card slot
- 1 Micro SD card slot
- 1 Power Delivery USB-C Port (To charge your laptop if your laptop supports it)
The power delivery port is really convenient as it means you can plug your laptop’s charger into this hub, and then the hub will charge the laptop so you never need to worry about plugging in the charger.
But there are a few things you should consider. Charging your laptop this way will only work if your laptop is able to be charged via the USB-C port (not all laptops are).
The other thing you should consider is that this particular USB-C hub is only capable of charging speeds up to 55W. This is plenty for most laptops, but for some laptops, this might not be enough to keep them charged while they are working really hard.
Of course, if this is the case for your laptop, you can still use this hub and just plug the original charger into another port for charging. But if you have a really high powered laptop like the 16 inch MacBook Pro and you want to use this feature, you’ll want to go with the next option on this list instead.
But if the charging power is not a problem for you, this is a great, full-featured, USB-C hub that will greatly improve your home office computer setup for a low price.
Want to Buy The TOTU USB-C Hub?
The Good
- Great Port Selection
- Headphone/Microphone Jack
- Much Higher Charging Capacity
The Bad
- A Bit Pricey
If you liked everything about the TOTU USB-C Hub but you want a higher power passthrough capacity or a headphone/microphone jack, this is the one for you.
It’s a bit of a step up in price from the TOTU, so if you don’t care about these two features, get that one instead. But if the higher power capacity or headphone jack is important to you, this one will be a worthy upgrade.
Here’s a rundown of all its ports:
- 3 USB A ports (regular USB ports)
- 1 HDMI port (for connecting to an external screen)
- 1 Ethernet port (for connecting to a wired internet connection)
- 1 SD card slot
- 1 Micro SD card slot
- 1 Power Delivery USB-C Port (To charge your laptop if your laptop supports it)
- A headphone/microphone jack (for connecting any headphones, microphones, or external speakers you might want)
The audio jack can be super useful if you want to connect headphones or external speakers to your computer via the USB-C hub. But my favorite feature that this one has and the previous one doesn’t is the better charging capability.
Rather than the maximum charging speed of 55W that the TOTU Hub had, this one supports up to 100W which will be plenty of power to keep any laptop fully charged.
You should still keep in mind that in order for this to work your laptop must support charging via the USB-C port, but as long as it does you are good to go.
So if either of these additional features are important to you, this is probably the hub for you.
Want to Buy The VAVA USB-C Hub?
The Good
- Allows You To Connect To 2 4K Screens
- Nice And Compact
- Nice Build Quality
The Bad
- Not Many Ports
- Your Computer Needs A Thunderbolt 3 Port To Get The Full Features
If you want to connect 2 external screens to your computer, this is the hub for you.
It’s fairly pricey and it doesn’t have many other ports, but if you want to connect two external screens with one USB-C hub, this is your best option.
The ports it does have are:
- 1 DisplayPort (for connecting an external display)
- 1 HDMI port (for connecting a second external display)
- 1 USB a port (regular USB port)
- 1 Ethernet port (for connecting to a wired internet connection)
It’s important to keep in mind that this hub is designed to be used with a Thunderbolt 3 port. Thunderbolt 3 ports are the same shape as a regular USB-C port so it will work with any USB-C port.
But if your computer doesn’t have a proper Thunderbolt 3 port and only has a regular USB-C port, it won’t work quite as well.
You could still use it to connect two external displays assuming your computer is powerful enough to do so, but they might be 1080p resolution instead of 4k, and the ethernet and USB port speeds might be a bit slower as thunderbolt 3 connections are faster than regular USB-C.
This isn’t a big deal and if you have a high-end laptop like a Macbook pro, it will likely have a Thunderbolt 3 port and the hub will work perfectly. Just be aware that it may not perform as expected with computers that only have a regular USB-C.
So all that aside, if you want to take your work from home productivity to the next level with two external displays, this is probably the USB-C hub for you.
Want to Buy The Elgato Mini Dock?
The Good
- Ultimate Port Selection
- Can Connect Two External Displays
- Has Power Delivery
The Bad
- Quite Expensive
- Dock Needs It's Own Power Supply
If you’re looking for the ultimate USB-C docking station that can connect every computer accessory you need for your home office all in one port, this is the one for you.
It can connect to two external displays, while charging your laptop, connecting an ethernet connection, and much more!
Here’s a rundown of all the different ports it has:
- 1 “Power In” port (this is just for connecting the hub to power)
- 1 Host USB-C port (this is for connecting your computer to the hub)
- 2 HDMI ports (these allow you to connect two external displays at once)
- 1 Ethernet port (for connecting to a super fast wired internet connection)
- 5 USB A ports (regular USB ports)
- 1 USB-C port (for charging a compatible smartphone or doing any kind of data transfer that you could do with a USB-C port)
- 1 Audio output port (for connecting headphones or external speakers)
- 1 Audio in port (for connecting a microphone)
- 1 SD card reader
- 1 Micro SD card reader
As you can probably tell, you could connect pretty much anything you want to this hub which is awesome for anyone who wants to turn their laptop into the ultimate home computer setup.
It is Thunderbolt 3 compatible which means you will experience higher resolution displays and slightly faster data transfer speeds if you have a computer with a Thunderbolt 3 port just like with the previous option on this list. But as I said before, it will still work just fine on a computer that only has a regular USB-C port.
As it’s such a powerful hub, it does need to be connected to its own power supply so it’s obviously not very portable. But this really isn’t an issue when we’re talking about using it for a home office desk setup.
With the fairly high price tag, it’s not going to be for everyone and some of the cheaper options can do most of what this can do for a lot less money, but if you’re after the ultimate docking station for your home office, this is the one for you.
Want to Buy Cable Matters USB-C Dock?
So there you have it, hopefully with all these great USB-C hubs, you’ve now found the right one for your needs.
If you want to find out how to create the best computer setup for your home office, click here to read my full guide on creating the best work from home computer setup.
