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5
Great as long as you know its limitations; runs warm; monitor settings may need to be changed
I reluctantly gave up MagSafe and joined the USB-C future when my employer issued me a new 2019 16" MacBook Pro. Searching for a way to connect my various peripherals I settled on this hub as a reasonable way to connect a 4K display, pass power from the laptop charger (albeit not the full 96W; macOS reports 79W after hub lossesโgood enough most of the time), connect 1GigE, and provide a few spare USB ports and occasionally-used SD card slots. I've learned a few things: A port that looks like USB-C does not pass video unless it is a "Thunderbolt" port (look for the lightning bolt logo, apparently); connecting a USB-C-to-mini-DisplayPort adapter to the USB-C port on this hub did not allow my monitor to work. Lesson learned. The HDMI port did work, and did pass 4K@60Hz, but only after I adjusted my monitor settings. At first I was convinced either my HDMI cable or this hub were defective, because macOS would only allow me to select 4K@30Hz. I have an LG 4K display, and from reading forums, one must enable 60Hz in the on-screen display menu before the monitor will tell the computer it is capable of displaying 60Hz video. For my monitor, that meant changing "Ratio" in "Quick Settings" to "Original" (it defaulted to "Wide", with a separate configuration for each port), as well as turning on "HDMI ULTRA HD Deep Color" from "Picture" -> "Picture Adjust." After I changed those two settings, 60Hz was not available until I unplugged the HDMI cable from the hub and plugged it in again. After that I had buttery smooth 4K video at 60Hz. The hub works as advertised, at least for my configuration. The 1GigE port works well, and is equivalent to a direct USB-C to Ethernet adapter I tried. It does run warm to the touch as other reviewers have reported. That's not problematic, but I'd prefer it pass the missing 17W to the laptop rather than dissipate it as heat. Time will tell how well the hub holds up, but for now I'm happy. In summary: if you have a new Mac this hub will likely work for you, though you may need to adjust your monitor settings.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2020
