Review on 🔌 13-in-1 USB C Hub by TOTU with Ethernet, 4K Dual HDMI/VGA, USB 3.0/2.0, 100W PD, SD/TF Card Reader, Mic/Audio Docking Station – Compatible with MacBook Pro Air XPS and More USB-C Laptops by Joseph Hernandez

As I ventured into the world of USB-C devices, I knew I would eventually need a hub like this to stay productive. Although luckily my computer has decent I/O, I'm starting to prefer to use this hub instead as I can leave my keys plugged into the hub itself. So far I have used this adapter with my computer, my Android-based mobile phone and my Nintendo Switch for various functions. The materials feel premium and are a good weight without making my laptop bag feel weighed down. The body is made of metal that has a very matte finish. I was a little scared of scratching it, but it did a good job of what scuffs should have been and I can't even see them. A velvet carrying case has been included for those who want extra protection for their devices. The ports are clearly and effectively labeled, and there's an indicator light to confirm the hub is plugged in and receiving power/data. Below is a description of each port and how it worked for me on different devices. Pass-Through Charging: Because this hub has a USB-C input, it can perform what is known as "pass-through charging”, which allows your device to be charged through USB ports and other in/out ports. Pass-through charging only seemed to work with my laptop. It didn't work for my phone or Nintendo Switch and I used a 61W charger for all three plus an original Nintendo Switch charger to test it. My computer is designed for 65W charging, but charges almost as fast as a 61W PD charger (sold separately). Just because it didn't work for small devices means they weren't designed to use pass-through and doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the hub itself. These other devices charge easily with direct input. SD card slots and file transfer. Another benefit of pass-through access is the ability to increase the speed of the hub itself. Using my computer's regular charging port and this USB-C hub, I can use pass-through charging to make the hub more functional. This means that my file transfer speeds increased as soon as I added USB-C power to the hub, even though my computer's AC power was adequate without it. Steps with baud rates. The card I used to transfer files ran at 22 megapixels per second, and I don't feel like I've fully exploited the hub's capabilities in that sense. Finally, regardless of technology or speed, it allows someone without an SD card slot to actually transfer files. In addition, it has both a full-size SD slot and a micro slot, so you can handle both card sizes without an additional adapter and theoretically you can transfer two cards at the same time. I couldn't get my phone to recognize SD cards. , although. I'll keep playing around with it and try other phones too because maybe it's just me. I haven't checked if Nintendo SD cards are recognized. USB-A: The full-size USB port selection offered here is perfect for my needs. I have some older peripherals that sometimes don't work with USB 3.0 ports for some reason. The availability of two USB 2.0 ports is ideal for these devices, leaving USB 3.0 ports for storage devices that can really take advantage of these speeds. It seems to me that four ports are enough for a typical workday. When not using 2.0 ports on legacy devices, I use them as dedicated mouse and keyboard button ports. I feel more secure leaving these keys in the hub rather than storing them some other way - there's less chance of them being lost or forgotten. The USB ports work as expected with my Nintendo Switch and phone. On my Nintendo Switch, I used the USB ports for my Taiko No Tatsujin drum peripheral and tested the keyboard with them in the online store. On my mobile phone I used USB ports for mouse, keyboard and flash drive. Everything worked as expected (flash drive navigation required the Google Files app). Ethernet: If Ethernet was the only thing this hub offered, it would do. Serious. It's a huge relief to be able to get faster download speeds on devices that don't have a built-in Ethernet port. I was able to test the ethernet on my laptop to download Civilization 6 and I was also able to use it to download a huge NBA 2K20 demo to my Nintendo Switch. My laptop was able to charge via USB-C while booting. The lack of pass-through power for the Nintendo Switch meant I started the download with a fully charged battery and ended the download over WiFi on the charging dock when the battery died. Despite this limitation, it still helps compared to just using WiFi! I'll report back with an update later when I have a USB-C to USB-A adapter for my Nintendo dock to see if ethernet through the dock works with that hub. HDMI: This hub has two HDMI ports and I only need one, but I'm not complaining! Dual monitors are ideal for those who have two high definition monitors on their desktop. My monitor worked as expected with my laptop through this hub. I couldn't test this on my phone as my phone isn't HDMI compatible, but I'll try it on another phone. The Nintendo Switch isn't HDMI compatible on this hub due to the lack of passthrough charging, but I tried it anyway just for you guys. Def doesn't work and should never work that way. (Also, you should never use anything other than the original Nintendo Dock, but I digress) VGA: Technically, you can run 3 monitors through this hub, since it offers a VGA port in addition to the two HDMI ports. I am happy to report that it works great and I never plan to use it again as VGA should be retired by now. If you're in a cost-cutting situation, I respect that. But if your boss is forcing you to give presentations over a VGA connection, you'll have to buy an expensive adapter just to get it working with modern 2020 PCs. It's time to ask your boss for a new workplace audio/video system. Sound/Mic: The headphone jack on this unit is a point of contention for me. While I understand and appreciate that those who don't have a headphone jack do, this has caused problems for me. When connected to a laptop, cellphone or even my Nintendo Switch, all audio is routed to that device. If I just want to use this device as a USB hub to transfer files or watch videos from a flash drive, I prefer to use the hub's headphone jack in conjunction with my phone or Nintendo - I can't use my speakers for sound then hub is connected. The same thing happens on my laptop, but luckily Windows 10 makes it very easy to toggle the audio outputs right from the taskbar, so it's much easier to work with. (Note that when you toggle audio in Windows, this hub shows up as a USB PnP audio device.) Audio works great with headphones. So if you don't have a headphone jack on your mobile phone or PC, this hub has you covered. I don't have a working headset combination (in-ear with microphone) to test all the jack's options, but I was able to use the lavalier microphone on my smartphone without any problems. The lav mic was a 4-pin headphone jack type (three black stripes on the stem). I checked the 3-pin (2 black bars) adapter I have for this (I believe it's for computer combo jacks) and the adapter didn't work. So the connection is definitely more in line with what a smartphone would have (or would have…). I'll try to come back later with updates and hopefully concrete numbers (regarding file transfer and download speeds). I hope what I've suggested here is enough for the average person who wants to add some mobile benefits to their laptop for other devices.