8 Best USB Hubs (2025), Testing and Review

USB hub Should It’s a simple device, but obviously you can’t create one port to control everything without things getting a little messy. We have Here’s the complete explanationhowever, if you want to get the basics before purchasing a hub, here are some things to keep in mind.

Port speed is important. There is no version number. It’s appealing to look at the USB 3.2 label and assume it’s faster than USB 3.0, but unfortunately it’s not. In fact, many manufacturers have started by default writing the speed of individual ports directly to the device itself, rather than relying on the version number of the spec sheet.

For the most data-hungry devices, use Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is an enhanced version of USB developed by Intel and Apple, using the same familiar USB-C port. These can be carried Huge The amount of data (up to 40 Gbps on Thunderbolt 3 and 4). This makes it ideal for SSDs, 4K and 8K displays, or ultra-high frame rate monitors for gaming. We are now moving on to Thunderbolt 5. This slowly gets into some laptops.

Don’t forget your strength. Most USB hubs draw electricity directly from the laptop and power the devices connected to it, but obviously you need to use ports to do that. However, some hubs support USB power supply (or USB-PD, USB-PD, which may be sold as “pass-through charging”), so you can plug in a charger into one of the hub’s ports, allowing you to keep your laptop charging while you’re plugging in all additional gadgets.