8 Finest USB Hubs (2025), Examined and Reviewed

USB hubs ought to be easy gadgets, however apparently it is not attainable to make One Port to Rule Them All with out issues getting somewhat messy. We have now a full explainer right here, however in the event you simply wish to get the fundamentals before you purchase your hub, right here are some things to bear in mind.

Ports speeds matter, model numbers do not. It is tempting to take a look at a USB 3.2 label and assume it is sooner than USB 3.0 however sadly, that is not the case. In truth, many producers have began defaulting to writing the velocity of particular person ports instantly onto the system itself, slightly than counting on model numbers on spec sheets.

Use Thunderbolt in your most data-hungry gadgets. Thunderbolt is a beefed-up model of USB, developed by Intel and Apple that makes use of the identical USB-C port you are accustomed to. These can carry large quantities of knowledge (as much as 40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 3 and 4), which makes them superb for issues like SSDs, 4K and 8K shows, or screens with ultrahigh body charges for gaming. We’re now as much as Thunderbolt 5, which is slowly making its means into some laptops.

Remember the ability. Most USB hubs will draw electrical energy instantly out of your laptop computer to energy any gadgets related to it, however they clearly have to take up a port to take action. Nonetheless, some hubs help USB Energy Supply (or USB-PD, generally marketed as “passthrough charging”) which lets you plug a charger into one of many ports on the hub so you’ll be able to maintain charging your laptop computer when you plug in all of your further devices.