The Anker USB-C 5-in-1 Hub turns a single USB-C port on a MacBook, Dell XPS, ThinkPad, or any other modern laptop into five useful ports, which is a small thing until you’re the person trying to plug in a monitor, a mouse, a flash drive, and a charger at the same time on a machine with two ports total. It’s a small aluminum dongle with a short cable on one end that plugs into your laptop, and five ports on the other end for everything else. There’s nothing to install, no drivers to chase down, and no software to set up. Just plug it in and use it.
An easy way to organize all your important cables and devices
The 4K HDMI port is the primary reason most people purchase this unit. Using a standard HDMI cable, the hub can output to an external monitor or TV at 4K (up to 30Hz) or 1080p (up to 60Hz). Two USB-A 3.0 ports and one USB-C data port round out the connectivity. All three run at 5Gbps, which is fast enough to move an HD movie in a few seconds or back up a folder of photos almost instantly. You can plug in a mouse, keyboard, external SSD, webcam, or flash drive without worrying about which port does what. Any of them will work.
Power delivery is another useful trick. A dedicated USB-C PD input port on the hub delivers up to 85 watts of charging power to your laptop when you plug in a USB-C wall charger, so you can run the hub, charge your laptop, and drive an external monitor all through a single USB-C port on your computer. For anyone with a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro that already has only two USB-C ports, that’s basically a requirement.
The Anker USB-C 5-in-1 Hub is small enough to toss in a laptop bag without a second thought. The short cable tucks alongside the hub body when not in use, and the aluminum shell withstands being tossed around with no problem. Anker backs it with an 18-month warranty, which is longer than most cheap off-brand hubs on Amazon offer.
The Anker USB-C 5-in-1 Hub is on sale for $19 instead of the usual $25. Anyone living the dongle life on a modern laptop already knows how fast these things pile up, and this one covers most of the basics for less than lunch costs.
