You’ll find the most straightforward options for USB hubs cost between $10 and $49. Expect to pay between $10 and $300 for a USB hub.

USB hubs aren’t very expensive, but there are a few “gotchas” to look out for, depending on how much you plan on spending. This can be useful for listening to music from your workspace, especially if your phone doesn’t have a headphone jack. If you’re ready to hear your laptop’s audio through a proper set of computer speakers, find a USB hub or port replicator that features a dedicated 3.5mm auxiliary headphone jack.

If you want to connect your laptop to an external monitor, get a USB hub that includes at least one HDMI or DisplayPort interface. If you want a USB hub that speeds up your computer’s ability to download or transfer files, make sure you buy a port replicator with a gigabit Ethernet port. Using just one of your laptop’s USB slots, these devices can add ports for many things.Įven though WiFi can be fast, a hardwired Ethernet network connection will be faster. Port replicators are ideal for use with laptops. Sometimes called port replicators, these USB hubs typically use one port from your computer to host services for multiple other ports. That’s usually because they include more than just USB ports. Stick with a minimum of USB 3.0, and check individual reviews to get a better sense of what real-world transfer speeds you can expect.Īs you’re shopping for USB hubs, you may notice that certain models are much more expensive.

If you need your USB hub to connect devices to your laptop or desktop computer, make sure to buy one that can transfer data at acceptable speeds.

If you plan on charging multiple devices, each with different power requirements, get a USB hub with “smart” charging, which dynamically adjusts to charge any connected device as quickly as possible. If you need your USB hub to charge your devices, make sure the product description explicitly states that it can do so. It can get tricky, however, because not all USB hubs provide power to connected devices, and not all USB hubs enable data transfer. USB hubs are designed to do two things: transfer data between devices and charge devices when connected to a power source. Older cables transfer data at USB 2.0 speeds and newer ones transfer data at USB 3.0 speeds even though they have the same physical interface. For example, most Android phones use micro-USB-to-USB-A cables. USB speed standards are described with numbers, while USB interfaces are named with letters.

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