It's possible the best USB hub I've found for the MacBook Pro in terms of the form factor. The only downside is the USB 2.0 support only. But my current MBP is the Mid-2010 model, so that's not a problem for me.
Your guide
Nick Guy
After 120 hours of doing research, consulting with electrical engineers, and testing hubs, we determined that the Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub is the best USB hub for most people. It’s compact and reliable, and it has well-placed ports aplenty. In our tests, it rose above the competition mainly because of its usability and design: Compared with most of the hubs we tested, it’s smaller and equipped with more ports, and those ports are easy to get to. It also has three high-speed charging ports, something our readers told us they wanted.
Our pick
Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub
Its seven USB 3.0 data ports and three high-speed charging ports face upward, so cables and plugs take up less room on your desk.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $40.
The Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub has seven upward-facing USB 3.0 data ports, with a helpful LED indicator for each; it also has three 2.4-amp power ports for charging power-hungry devices like iPads. As a bonus, it’s aesthetically inoffensive—it doesn’t look like a greatest hit of ugly ’90s technology, unlike some of the other hubs we tested. Much of the competition has side-facing ports that are too close together to allow for simultaneous use, or make USB plugs and devices stick out from the sides, taking up space on your desk.
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Also great
Anker AH231
Almost identical to our main pick, but with nine USB 3.0 data ports and one 2.1-amp charging port.
Buying Options
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.
If you need more USB 3.0 data ports than our main pick’s seven, you can upgrade to the 10-port Anker AH231. Designed with nine USB 3.0 data ports and a single 2.1-amp charging port, it’s otherwise just a color change away from being identical to our main recommendation. However, the AH231 costs about $10 more than our top pick at this writing, so you should make sure you really need those extra data ports.
Also great
Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub
The most portable of our recommendations. It can’t handle more than one high-powered drive at a time, but it performs better than any other four-port hub available.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $10.
We’ve yet to find the perfect four-port hub, but the Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub is the best we’ve tested. It’s small, portable, and capable of working with a power adapter add-on that you’ll need to run drives without a built-in power source. It can handle four low-power devices at a time, but we don’t recommend it if you need to connect more than one hard drive.
Everything we recommend
Our pick
Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub
Its seven USB 3.0 data ports and three high-speed charging ports face upward, so cables and plugs take up less room on your desk.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $40.
Also great
Anker AH231
Almost identical to our main pick, but with nine USB 3.0 data ports and one 2.1-amp charging port.
Buying Options
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.
Also great
Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub
The most portable of our recommendations. It can’t handle more than one high-powered drive at a time, but it performs better than any other four-port hub available.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $10.
The research
Who this is for
A USB 3.0 hub is for anyone who has a computer with at least one USB 3.0 port and either wants more ports or wants those ports in a more-accessible place. Many laptops have only one or two USB 3.0 ports; many desktop computers have USB ports in difficult-to-reach locations.
This guide currently focuses on traditional, rectangular USB-A connectors. But USB-C ports are becoming more common on computers, phones, and other devices. While the new standard has yet to supplant the legacy USB-A port that all of these hubs use, new USB-A hubs seem to have stopped coming, and older models are getting discontinued without replacements. If you’re looking for accessories for your USB-C device, check out our full guide to USB-C accessories.
If your computer doesn’t have enough USB 3.0 ports, or if you want a more-convenient place to plug in your USB 3.0 hard drive or flash drive, you should consider a USB 3.0 hub. If you have a computer with USB 3.0 ports but a slow USB 2.0 hub, you should consider upgrading, as you’ll see significantly faster transfer speeds across all your devices with a new hub. If you need a dedicated charging port for your smartphone or iPad—and you’d rather not use a dedicated USB wall charger—or if you’re experiencing dropped connections or other undesirable behaviors with connected devices, you should upgrade to one of our picks.
What makes a great USB hub
We surveyed more than 700 readers and added the results of our own research to come up with the criteria for choosing the best USB hubs. A great USB hub must have USB 3.0 ports and should have dedicated power. It needs to be reliable, practically designed, compact, and (for portable hubs) light. LED indicators for each port and a decent warranty are also useful.
USB 3.0 hubs tend to be more expensive than USB 2.0 hubs, and the 3.0 standard has interference issues with 2.4 GHz wireless devices. Still, we chose to focus on USB 3.0 hubs, because the USB 2.0 standard is ancient—it was introduced back in April 2000, while USB 3.0 debuted in November 2008—and many times slower than 3.0. For example, our favorite desktop hard drive transfers files at about 150 megabytes per second on a USB 3.0 connection, but on USB 2.0 it maxes out at just 40 MB/s—if you think you’ll ever want to plug USB 3.0–capable external hard drives or flash drives into a hub for data transfer, you’ll want the extra speed that a USB 3.0 hub provides.
Using a dedicated power cord or adapter is a smart idea if you don’t want to risk accidentally corrupting everything on your hard drive.
Dedicated power is a must-have for most hubs—but not for all of them. (More on the kind that don’t require it in a moment.) To explain why, we first need to talk about how power flows through USB hubs. According to the official USB 3.0 spec, each USB 3.0 port must provide 900 milliamps of current at 5 volts, or 4.5 watts. If you have a four-port USB 3.0 hub powered solely by your computer’s USB 3.0 port (in other words, without a dedicated power cord or adapter), that means you theoretically have four devices running on the amount of power usually provided to one. This arrangement can lead to devices losing power and disconnecting improperly from the computer, which can cause drive corruption and data loss.
However, it’s important to recognize that this theoretical setup has a lot of flexibility. The 900-milliamp-current requirement for USB 3.0 ports is a minimum rather than a fixed level, and manufacturers often provide more power to their hubs’ ports. The power consumption of devices also varies wildly based on the kind of device and what you’re doing with it at a given moment. For example, in its user manual for our top-pick hub, Anker provides the following estimates of power consumption by device: A mouse consumes about 100 milliamps, a keyboard uses a maximum of 500 milliamps, and a portable USB 3.0 hard drive consumes a maximum of 900 milliamps.
Those are very generous estimates, intended to encourage caution so that you don’t accidentally overload your hub. Devices generally draw the most power when you first plug them into the hub and while transferring data, but very few draw the theoretical maximum, especially for extended periods. Still, using a dedicated power cord or adapter is a smart idea if you don’t want to risk accidentally corrupting everything on your hard drive; and for a USB hub with more than four ports, a dedicated power cord or adapter is an absolute must. (It’s not entirely necessary for a travel-friendly four-port USB hub, but an unpowered setup requires caution to avoid having devices trying to draw more power than your laptop’s USB 3.0 port can give. We cover this topic in more detail below.)
Beyond minimum power, we know from our research on USB chargers that people prefer ports that can charge their phones and tablets more quickly; an informal Twitter survey of readers confirmed this. So we looked for hubs with high-speed charging ports, a feature that requires external AC power, and with the exception of portable hubs, we ended up focusing on powered models.
With those power requirements in mind, we eliminated any USB hubs without enough juice to fully power all their ports. For example, our top pick has seven USB 3.0 ports and three 2.4-amp charging ports. According to the USB 3.0 spec, that means this hub could need as much as 47 watts to power all its ports at their theoretical maximums—and because it includes a 12-volt, 5-amp (60-watt) power supply, it gets enough power for all its ports at their theoretical maximums. Many hubs without adequate power aren’t significantly smaller, lighter, or less expensive to make up for that, so we ruled those models out.
A great USB hub also has to be designed with usability in mind. The ports should be spaced far enough apart that you can connect bulky thumb drives and card readers next to one another. Best mesh network for mac. In our tests, we found that vertically stacked ports were generally preferable to horizontally aligned ones. A hub should also be small and light, especially if you’ll use it for traveling, and it shouldn’t make the devices you plug in take up too much room on your desk: Hubs with ports on top (as opposed to around the edges) are better because the plugs you connect will stand vertically instead of fanning out around the hub and taking up even more space. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but it’s also nice if a USB hub doesn’t look like it fell out of the ’90s. And a decent warranty is useful in case you wind up with a faulty hub.
We found that an LED indicator for each port on the hub made troubleshooting much simpler when things didn’t work as intended, because we were able to tell which port was having issues.
In our reader survey, 51 percent of respondents told us they wanted a USB hub with five to seven ports, while 29 percent favored four or fewer ports. The remaining 20 percent said they wanted eight or more ports. Based on that feedback, we looked for picks with four, seven, and 10 ports. Nearly a third of respondents said they were interested in a travel USB hub, and 72 percent of them told us they wanted a travel hub without a dedicated power cord. So for the four-port category, we tried to find a USB hub that could work without a power cord but came with one; that way, the power cord would be available when you needed extra power but wouldn’t be a mandatory nuisance.
How we picked and tested
After working out the finer points of what makes a great USB hub, we combed the websites of prominent USB-hub sellers Anker, HooToo, Plugable, Sabrent, and others, and we looked at some of the top-rated and best-selling hubs on Amazon. For the initial version of this guide, after eliminating hubs that didn’t fit our criteria, we tested three hubs for the seven-port category, four hubs for the upgrade category, and eight hubs for our four-port travel pick. For our 2016 update, we tested two new four-port hubs, two additional seven-port hubs, and two more 10-port hubs. In 2017, we’ve tested only one new model, while eliminating models that have been discontinued as manufacturers turn their attention to USB-C.
We consulted with a few electrical experts and engineers—most notably Richard Baguley (owner/blogger of What Does This Button Do?) and Dan Siefert (founder of One on One Technical Products)—about how USB hubs work, how power flows through them, and what problems they commonly have. Then we worked with our experts to devise a testing plan that would both tax the hubs and use them the way normal people would.
We tested all 21 hubs in a variety of real-life situations, using The Wirecutter’s picks for desktop hard drive, portable hard drive, and flash drive, as well as a USB 3.0 card reader and a handful of 16 GB and 32 GB versions of our recommended USB 3.0 flash drive, to run simultaneous file transfers while charging a phone. We also used each of the finalists for a full day of work, which entailed using our wireless mouse recommendations, charging a phone, and having a number of other USB devices plugged in.
We monitored transfer speeds as well as surface temperatures (using a Fluke IR thermometer) during heavy file transfers. We also checked the power flow of the dedicated charging ports with an iPad Air 2, an iPhone 6s Plus, and a Samsung Galaxy S5 using a USB power meter.
We paid close attention to design choices such as the port spacing and location, the sturdiness of the hub and all its connections, and how noticeable dust and fingerprints were (aesthetic concerns, but concerns nonetheless). We also checked for nonfunctioning ports, connections, LEDs, power buttons, and the like.
The USB hub for most people
Our pick
Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub
Its seven USB 3.0 data ports and three high-speed charging ports face upward, so cables and plugs take up less room on your desk.
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Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $40.
The Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub is the best hub for most people because it has a great, usable design that most competitors lack. It sports seven USB 3.0 data ports plus three charging ports, each capable of supplying 2.4 amps, and all 10 ports face upward to reduce desk clutter—you won’t have a bunch of USB plugs sticking out in every direction. This Anker hub is reliable for simultaneous USB 3.0 file transfers and device charging. It’s also sturdy, designed with an LED indicator for each data port, equipped with lengthy AC and USB cords for easy setup, and covered by an 18-month warranty.
This Anker hub’s compact design and convenient port layout are its strongest assets. It measures just 5.7 inches long, 1.7 inches wide, and 0.9 inches tall, and it weighs 3.7 ounces. Its efficiently stacked ports let you connect bulkier USB plugs and devices; in our testing, bulkier items couldn’t fit next to one another on competing hubs with horizontally arranged ports. And because the ports are located on top of this Anker hub—rather than arranged around the sides, as on most of the hubs we tested—plugs and devices stick up instead of fanning out and taking up valuable desk space.
We connected seven of our favorite flash drives to the hub and transferred data to them while also charging an iPad Air 2 on one of the hub’s charging ports. It was just as speedy as the best of the other, worse-designed hubs we tested.
Although Anker advertises the three charging ports as providing 2.1 amps of current each, we measured them at 2.4 amps each. (Anker told us that when all the ports are in use, individual ports 'might not reach the max 2.4A value,' so the company underpromises on performance.) This means that the hub can charge even power-hungry tablets, as well as smartphones and other devices, at fast rates. (There’s no harm in plugging your phone into a 2.4-amp charging port—the phone will draw only as much current as it needs.) This Anker hub also kept all our devices connected and charging—we didn’t experience any unexplained disconnections during any of our tests. (The charging ports work even if the hub is connected only to its AC adapter and not to a computer.)
We originally didn’t think LED indicators were crucial features. Over the course of testing these hubs, however, we learned that a light indicating that the hub is turned on, along with individual port-activity lights, makes troubleshooting much easier by helping you figure out when something in the setup isn’t connected properly. Each of this model’s data ports has an adjacent numbered LED light, and the hub has a red power light at the top. The LEDs are just bright enough to see in a well-lit room but aren’t distracting in the dark if you sleep in the same room as your computer.
This Anker hub is sturdy and doesn’t creak or bend under moderate pressure, and because it comes with a 3-foot USB cord and a 9-foot power cord, you can easily put the hub where you want it. Anker also provides an 18-month warranty, a coverage length that we found to be standard across most of the hubs we tested.
Some hubs, including the HooToo model that used to be our top pick, appear to have problems with particular operating systems. We tested this Anker hub with both a Mac running OS X 10.12 Sierra and a PC running Windows 10, and we had no compatibility issues with either.
PDF Converter OCR for Mac is designed to convert both native and scanned PDF files, even image files into 16+ editable documents on Mac quickly and accurately, with accurate fully-formatted text content, layouts, formatting, columns, tables, and graphics maintained. Best pdf editor for mac. While Cool PDF Reader may not require much disk space, it's not the best PDF reader available. There isn't a search function and scrolling isn't the smoothest. However, it still works as a free PDF reader if you don't like the others on this list. Wondershare has developed a Mac version of the popular PDFelement app, which is positioned as an easy way to edit PDF documents. It gives you the tools to add text, images, links, backgrounds. While Lion didn't wow the crowd with most of its features, it brought some amazing additions to Apple's PDF viewer/editor that puts it over the top and makes it our choice for the best.
Few publications review USB hubs, but currently this Anker hub has a 4.5-star rating (out of five) on Amazon across 1,259 customer reviews.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub costs $40 at the time of this writing, a possible strike against it considering that only 38 percent of our survey respondents said they were willing to pay over $30 for a USB hub. However, most of the surveyed readers told us they wanted a hub with five to seven ports total, and the majority of the hubs we considered in that category cost between $30 and $38—in other words, a price of $30 or less for a hub with seven data ports isn’t realistic. If you’re looking to spend less, check out our four-port recommendation instead.
Despite being the best-designed hub we tested that has at least seven data ports, this Anker hub still has a couple of annoying quirks. The top plate is made from a glossy-black plastic that shows every fingerprint, smudge, and speck of dust. It’s easy to clean but just as easy to get dirty again the next time you plug in or unplug a device. (At least this model doesn’t have that glossy plastic on all sides like some of the other hubs we tested.) The upward-facing ports are great for making plugs and devices take up less room on your desk, but the port orientation means that the ports are susceptible to dust collecting inside. That said, they’re easy to clean out with a bit of compressed air.
Like most USB hubs, this Anker model comes with a chunky power supply. It’s a necessary evil, and the Anker’s is the same size as, or smaller than, the power bricks for the other seven- and 10-port hubs we tested, so it’s not a dealbreaker. This Anker hub also doesn’t have a power button, but only five of the hubs (and none of the seven-port options) we tested did, and we don’t think most people have a real need to turn off a USB hub (if you need to, you can just unplug the power cord).
A pick for more data ports (nine of them!)
Also great
Anker AH231
Almost identical to our main pick, but with nine USB 3.0 data ports and one 2.1-amp charging port.
Buying Options
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.
If you need more than the seven data ports of our main pick (who are you?!), the Anker AH231 is exactly the same size and shape as our main pick but designed with a different mix of connections: nine USB 3.0 data ports and one 2.1-amp charging port. (Unlike the 2.1 A ports on our top pick, which according to our measurements actually put out 2.4 A, this port maxed out at 2.1 A in our tests.) The AH231 also has glossy white plastic around the sides and a different LED color than our pick, but the two models weigh the same and come with the same power brick and cables, and they worked similarly in all of our tests.
The AH231 typically costs more than our top pick, and it has just two extra data ports—and two fewer charging ports—so make sure you really need that many data ports before springing for the AH231. If you do require that many connections, we couldn’t find another hub with more than seven data ports that came close to the AH231 in design and performance—the other ones we tested all had dealbreaking flaws.
One of our editors has been using the AH231 since September 2014, and it has been working great, providing plenty of power for any USB device hooked up to it and allowing reliable data transfers. The charging port has also worked flawlessly.
The most portable four-port option
Also great
Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub
The most portable of our recommendations. It can’t handle more than one high-powered drive at a time, but it performs better than any other four-port hub available.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $10.
Usb 3 Hub For Imac
We couldn’t find a four-port hub we were in love with, but if you need something small and portable, the Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub is your best bet. At just 4¼ inches by 1 inch by ¼ inch, it’s the smallest hub we tested. It’s available on its own or with a power adapter, which you’ll need if you plan on plugging in any bus-powered drives (those that draw power via USB instead of an internal source).
We don’t like how this Anker model’s four data ports are arranged in a horizontal line along one edge, closely spaced, such that fat plugs or thumb drives partially block adjacent ports. In addition, our data transfers failed when we attempted to use two portable hard drives at a time, even with the hub’s optional power adapter connected.
We don’t recommend this hub for people who want to use theirs for multiple hard drives or other high-powered devices at the same time. But if you mostly use low-power-draw devices such as flash drives, mice, and keyboards, and you need something portable, it’s a handy alternative to our top pick.
Devices that don’t work with USB hubs
Some devices must be plugged directly into the host computer’s USB port—they don’t work at all when you plug them into a USB hub. For example, the Apple SuperDrive works only when you plug it directly into a USB port on an Apple laptop.
It’s impossible to account for every setup, scenario, and device, so our advice is to do a bit of research before you buy: A quick Google search will usually turn up common issues with the devices you’ll be plugging into your hub. We also recommend testing, right when you get a new hub, compatibility with your existing USB devices so that you can return the hub if it has a problem.
A note on wireless devices and USB 3.0
USB 3.0 ports and devices have been shown to emit radio-frequency (RF) noise that can interfere with devices using the 2.4 GHz wireless band; such devices include wireless mice and keyboards that use an RF dongle for wireless communication.
The RF noise can come from anywhere along the USB 3.0 connection. For example, if you have a USB 3.0 hard drive plugged into a USB 3.0 port, the interference can come from the port on your hub, the USB cord, or even the drive’s USB port. This noise isn’t always an issue, but if your wireless mouse or keyboard constantly drops its connection, or if you lose clicks or keystrokes, you should try connecting the mouse or keyboard to a USB 2.0 port and keeping RF dongles and devices away from active USB 3.0 connections. If your computer doesn’t have any USB 2.0 ports, you can use a USB 2.0 extension cable to move the RF dongle farther from the source of the interference.
The competition
The AmazonBasics four-port model ships with a power adapter, but it provides less power than our requirement.
The Unitek Aluminum 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub with Smart Charging Port is appealing on paper, but in our real-world use it turned out to be rather disappointing. It has only three data ports, with the fourth port reserved for charging. Though the company claims charging at 2 amps, we measured only 1 amp of charging output. The power adapter’s connector also fit far too loosely into the hub, suggesting poor manufacturing and leaving us uncomfortable with how this model might hold up over the long term.
Our previous top pick, HooToo’s HT-UH010, is still solid, but it’s not quite as appealing as the Anker hub that took its spot. Aesthetically, the HT-UH010 is almost identical to the Anker: It has the same body and a similar port array, including the same number of data ports. It also has charging ports, but only two instead of the three of our top pick. HooToo labels these charging ports as 1-amp and 2.1-amp, yet in our testing both supported 2.4-amp charging; on the other hand, when copying data to seven flash drives at once, we saw the transfer rate of some of the drives drop. In our long-term testing, we noticed that a bit of the soft-touch coating started flaking off the bottom surface, but that isn’t a major concern because it doesn’t impact the usability or look of the hub when it’s sitting on a desk. Again, the HT-UH010 is a good hub, but it’s not as good as our top pick.
Satechi’s 10-Port Premium Aluminum USB 3.0 Hub is physically larger than any other hub we tested. Rather than the clean, side-by-side power- and aria-selected='true' tabindex='0'>Sources
Dan Siefert, founder, One on One Technical Products, interview
USB 3.0* Radio Frequency Interference on 2.4 GHz Devices, Intel
USB 3.0 Promoter Group Announces USB Type-C Connector Ready for Production (PDF), USB.org, August 12, 2014
Richard Baguley, owner, What Does This Button Do?, interview
USB Type-C is slowly but surely becoming the standard connector for both charging and data on laptops, phones and tablets. While not every device has this powerful port yet, a number of prominent notebooks, including the Apple MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13 and HP Spectre Folio, employ it. So we compiled a list of the best USB Type-C accessories and cables as well as a short guide to help you through the madness.
With Type-C on board, you can copy files at USB 3.1 speeds, deliver enough power to charge a laptop or use Alt Mode to send other types of data using DisplayPort or Thunderbolt 3 connections. Speaking of DisplayPorts, The VESA recently published its DisplayPort 2 standard, which supports 16K video. Additionally, Microsoft recently changed the default setting on USB drives to 'quick removal,' so speeds will be slower. Check out our quick guide on how to make your drives operate faster on the latest Windows 10 update.
All Thunderbolt 3 ports use the Type-C connector and are compatible with both the faster Thunderbolt 3 standard and regular Type-C devices. Because Thunderbolt 3 has four times the bandwidth (40 Gbps) of standard USB Type-C 3.1, you can connect to external GPUs which let you play games on your thin and light notebook. Some docks and hard drives also take advantage of the faster speeds.
Looking forward, you can expect USB 3.2 to come soon, which is another version of USB Type-C. It doubles regular USB Type-C speeds at 20 Gbps, but is half of Thunderbolt 3 speeds. USB 4 is coming as well, and its throughput will have a speed of 40 Gbps. The best part, though, is that when you upgrade to a laptop that supports it, it will work on all of your existing cables, so no need to wait on buying them. And if you need some help setting up your laptop out of the box, we have a couple tips that'll ease your way forward.
MORE: USB Type-C FAQ: Everything You Need to Know
Below you’ll find a list of the best USB Type-C accessories and cables that will help you continue to use your older USB-A peripherals, charge your devices, provide extra ports and take advantage of USB Type-C’s ability to output 4K video. It’s everything you’ll need to make the most out of the new connector, especially as it ends up on a growing list of devices. If you're looking for something more expansive for your laptop, consider getting a docking station. And if you work at home, you might want to pick up an office chair or a lap desk, but if you're always travelling, maybe get a laptop sleeve with compartments to store your accessories or a portable charger. But if you prefer legacy tech, you might even want a laptop with a DVD drive.
WGGE USB-C to USB-C Cable
WGGE produces this tangle-free, nylon braided, 10-foot USB-C to USB-C cable for only $10.99. You can use it to charge USB-C devices as well as connect external hard drives and docking stations. And if you don’t want the joy of a really long, inexpensive wire, you can get the 6.6-foot version for an even cheaper $8.99. WGGE also includes a two-year warranty with it.
Plugable USB-C Triple Display Dock
The Plugable USB-C Triple Display Dock (UD-ULTCD) is the best pick for early adopters who need a dock. It works with the newest standards, like USB Type-C for charging and external displays and supports 4K monitors. We didn’t like that it’s locked into vertical orientation, but you can’t argue for great performance and support for three displays at the same time.
Asus ROG Strix XG17 Portable Gaming Monitor
If you're gaming on the road, and don't exactly have the best display on your current gaming laptop, you shouldn't force yourself to deal with it. Instead, spring for the Asus ROG Strix XG17, which is the first portable gaming monitor that sports a 240Hz refresh rate. It has a 17.3-inch IPS panel with a 1080p resolution and a 3-millisecond response time. The monitor also has an internal battery, so you can game freely for at least two hours before you have to reconnect to an outlet. It also has two USB-C ports and a mini HDMI input.
There's no word on pricing and availability as of yet, but we're excited to get our hands on it.
Best Usb Hubs For Mac
AverMedia’s Live Gamer Bolt (GC555)
If you're a streamer or content creator focused around gaming, you should know about AverMedia’s Live Gamer Bolt (GC555), which is the first 4K, 240FPS external game capture card. You can capture 4K HDR at 60 frames per second, 1440p at 144fps and 1080p at 240fps. The capture box has ports for HDMI, USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3.
There's no word on availability as of yet, but its estimated launch price is $499.
Aukey USB-C to USB 3.0 Adapter
If you don’t want to buy a whole bunch of new cables, you can grab a tiny adapter. Aukey’s USB-C to USB 3.0 adapter is small and will work with any of your legacy peripherals. It also doesn’t hurt that you get a two-pack for just $10, so you can just multiple USB Type-A accessories with your new computer at once.
Samsung Portable SSD T5
The Samsung Portable SSD T5 takes the spot of its predecessor, the T3, on this list, with even faster speeds and a better design. It comes with both a USB Type-C cable and a USB-C to USB 3.0 cable, so you can use it with any laptop and many newer Android phones. It has blazing fast transfer speeds of up to 540MBps, and backed up my computer extremely quickly. I love the new blue color for the 250GB ($127.99) and 500GB models ($196) , while the 1TB ($397.99) and 2TB ($797.99) options come in black. The thing is tiny -- smaller than a credit card -- and includes a three-year warranty.
SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive
If you're transferring data between USB Type-A and USB Type-C devices, SanDisk's two-sided Ultra Dual flash drive is the perfect storage solution. Starting at 16GB, this flash drive uses a slider to switch between a USB 3.0 Type-A connector on one side and a USB Type-C connector on the other, so you will see blazing speeds on both ends of the transfer. You can also get it in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes.
Apple USB-C Power Adapter
No doubt your USB Type-C device came with a charger. But extras never hurt, and the 30W Apple USB Type-C Power Adapter is a compact and sleek-looking choice. Just remember that you need to bring your own USB Type-C to USB Type-C charging cable.
Dell USB Type-C to HDMI/Ethernet/VGA/USB 3.0 Adapter
This USB Type-C adapter from Dell can do the work of several adapters by allowing you to plug into displays, attach older USB accessories and connect to wired Internet with one compact adapter that’s easy to take with you anywhere. It’s the Swiss Army Knife of USB Type-C attachments.
Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB Type-C Power Bank
Laptops, tablets and smartphones keep getting thinner, and most don’t have replaceable batteries. Certain USB Type-C ports, like the ones on the 12-inch MacBook and Google’s Pixel C, support charging, so Anker has introduced a high-capacity external battery that will keep your battery full on the go. This battery also features two USB-A ports to feed hungry tablets, headphones and other rechargeable gadgets.
Kingston Nucleum 7-in-1 Connetion
Apple’s 12-inch MacBook has one measly USB Type-C port, but Kingston's hub can make it much more useful. It boasts two USB Type-A 3.1 ports, two Type-C ports (including one for power, an HDMI output for up to 4K resolution, an SD card slot and a microSD card slot. That's enough to transfer data, power monitors and use both new and old USB accessories.
AmazonBasics USB-C to USB-A Cable (White)
This 3-foot, $9.99 cable will come in handy wherever you go, especially in situations where you have a USB-C device and are surrounded by USB-A charging stations. And whether you need to transfer files to an older computer via a connected smartphone or hard drive, Amazon has got your back with that 10 Gbps data transfer speed. We updated this with the white cable because the black one was out of stock.
Scosche PowerVolt 3.0 USB-C / USB-A Fast Charger for Cars
With a blazing Power Deliver 3.0 system, Scosche's USB Type-C (18W) and Type-A (12W) car charger will keep up to two devices fully charged for a journey across the country, all for $24.99. It's up to 3 times faster than typical 5W chargers, and it also includes an LED power indicator as well as safety measures to prevent your device from overcharging.
Zulpunur USB C to Headphone Jack Adapter
There are plenty of laptops and tablets, like the Google Pixel Slate and the 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro, that have forsaken the precious headphone jack. So instead of letting this bleak new future blindside you, come prepared with Zulpunur's USB C to Headphone Jack Adapter. The adapter supports music control as well as calling control, and it also comes with two in the pack, so you have a replacement wire on the spot.
CHOETECH USB-C (Female) to Micro USB (Male) Adapter
You may be running on the USB-C high life, but your controllers aren't (most of them anyway). If you need to plug-and-play or simply charge, why bother getting another cable when you can use your existing USB-C cable with a handy adapter from CHOETECH, which is only $7.99 for a pair of USB-C (female) to Micro USB (male) adapters.
Best Usb Hubs For Mac
Anker USB C to Lightning Cable
Best Usb Hub For Pc
Anker's USB C to Lightning Cable is a necessary accessory if you're an iPhone or iPad user, as you can seamlessly connect your Apple device your MacBook or iPad Pro to charge and sync your data. The cable is 3 feet long and also has Apple's MFI certification, so you'll have no problems connecting with this cable.