UtechSmart USB C Hub, Ethernet Multiport Adapter 6 in 1 USB C to HDMI Dock Compatible for MacBook Pro/Air, Chromebook, Dell XPS, HP and Type C Devices (Gigabit Ethernet 100W PD 4K HDMI USB 3.0) Black

This adapter packs a lot of features into a small 12cm device, and is perfectly usable as a portable "mini-Dock".Linux? Windows 10? Android? Yes!The design is a sleek metal case, seamless, with no visible screws.Slender, with no parts to lose, takes up very little space in the bag -- about as much as two Sharpie pens.It has a captive 6-inch cable with USB-C, and connections for USB-C PD, HDMI, Ethernet, and three USB 3.0 (blue) sockets. Inside is a USB Hub, Ethernet Adapter, and HDMI display (&audio) output.The HDMI output is driven by your computer's internal graphics adapter, so the second monitor is integrated into both Windows and Linux with no additional drivers. I believe it's done with a Via Labs VL100 "Billboard" Display Alternate mode adapter for USB-C, so it adds a second Monitor/Display instance, but not a new Display Adapter.The USB xHCI hub (VIA Labs 2109:0817 VL812 Super Speed Hub) appears on the bus, and this provides the three open USB ports as well as the new Ethernet Controller. It's a Realtek USB GbE Family Controller: VID: 0bda and PID: 8153. Drivers were automatically available in both Ubuntu Linux and Windows 10. It linked up to a 1Gb Ethernet as normal, no prompts or settings needed.For the adventurous, this UtechSmart device also works with the Samsung Galaxy S9+, and surprisingly well!Plug a USB Thumbdrive into the ports and it appears as a Storage Device, perfect for copying pictures off the phone.The Ethernet works as well, and automatically gets a DHCP address and switches over to wired connection.The HDMI monitor shows a clone of the Galaxy S9+ screen in perfect detail. Best to rotate the phone to horizontal to make the most of the monitor. (Sorry, no Samsung Dex environment here, but a USB Mouse and Keyboard work just fine.)Powering the adapter also charges the phone, as expected, but not as fast as a direct connection. I was more impressed that the phone happily powered the whole adapter, with HDMI, Ethernet, and USB from its own battery, no problem.I was going to poke fun at the whole Phone + Adapter + Monitor, Ethernet, USB Drive, Keyboard, Mouse, but now that it's been running for a while on my desk, I'm imagining it could be useful if you intend to be at your phone for hours, hammering out email or Amazon reviews.All in all, this is a really nice piece of kit to have in your travel bag, or as a single-connection desktop dock. It has replaced my USB-On-The-Go (OTG) adapters, as those were always a bit sketchy with some USB devices, and prevented charging.. Even if I don't need all the features, it's small enough on the bag that it's replaced a number of other adapters already.I accepted an offer to test and review this device, and received it for free, but this is my honest and unbiased review. Pictures are my own.

I gave this 5 stars because even though it isn't perfect, I think any issues I've encountered are more likely a result of the hardware, software, and drivers I'm using.TL;DR: It basically works as expected and I can confirm that it doesn't use DisplayLink.I contacted UTechSmart before purchase to confirm if this device used USB-C HDMI Alt-mode instead of a DisplayLink chip. They confirmed it uses the former and said that though they had not tested it with a Pocket 2, if it didn't work I could return it no questions asked. Bonus points to them for that.For reference, I'm using it with a GPD Pocket 2 (late 2018 product refresh using an Intel m3-8100Y CPU), running Windows 10 LTSC 2019 and a mixture of GPD and first-party drivers (mostly direct from Intel and Realtek). This is not how it comes from GPD, and is most definitely NOT a supported configuration by either GPD or Microsoft. I'm using the latest Intel drivers available (26.20.100.7000) from the Intel site.The only persistent issue is that on my device, if second-screen mode default (Win+P) is set to duplicate or extend then neither screen will display when the hub is first plugged in. After a few seconds one of the screens will start working again. If the default is second screen only then it will work immediately. Once external display is working, using the Win+P shortcut to switch to duplicate or extend works correctly. This is most likely a Windows or driver issue.For reference the Pocket 2 has a 1920x1200 screen that I use at 150% scaling and I mostly used 1920x1080 @100% scale monitors for testing. No HDMI adapters were used and I tested with two different known-good cables. Monitors tested were two Dell S2240L, one LG IPS234, and a Panasonic TCP50GT25. I also tested on a 4k Samsung UN50NU6950 and it reported output 4k@30fps, which is close enough to the Intel UHD 615 spec for HDMI 1.4.This hub can function without external power, but if you have problems, try connecting power before you connect it to your computer. When I used it for the first time, it wouldn't appear to work without external power, but after some unrelated software and driver updates, now it does. For me, this issue was definitely on the host side, not the hub side.The network chip is a Realtek RTL8153 USB 3 to gigabit Ethernet adapter. I own several devices that use this chip and it is serviceable, but tends to reset or drop out under sustained gigabit traffic. This is a characteristic of either the chip or Realtek's drivers, and there isn't really anything UTechSmart can do about it. (The other common providers of low cost USB->Ethernet chips (e.g. the ASIX AX88179) often have the same problems.) Below max speed, the 8153 works without any problems. As an aside, if you have one of these chips in a standalone usb adapter, you can plug it into a USB 2 port to get a trouble-free 250-350 Mb/s without having to babysit it.I haven't tried stress-testing how much power you can get from the USB 3.0 ports, nor have I tried to saturate the USB-C link with simultaneous video, network, and USB SSD file transfer traffic. It doesn't really fit my use case for the device, and if doing so didn't work or caused the hub to drop connection it wouldn't necessarily be the hub's fault anyway.One feature of the GPD Pocket 2 is that it can charge from any 5V source, not just from a USB-C PD charger. So I tried to power the hub with a regular USB power bank that can output 5V@1.8A (Soshine E3S). When charging directly, the Pocket 2 increases current draw until the voltage begins to sag below 5V. This is normal behavior and prevents the device from pulling too much current from the charger. But when I power the hub and indirectly charge the device, the power bank's over-current protection immediately trips. For whatever reason, the hub prevents the Pocket 2 from noticing the voltage drop in time to prevent a fault. A higher output 5V source, or a proper USB-C PD power bank would probably work just fine. It's just too much for a smaller power bank.So in summary it works well, the price ($40 at time of purchase) is competitive with other similar products, and if I needed another I would start looking at UTechSmart first.

I absolutely love the UtechSmart USB C Hub! It's incredibly versatile and has made my connectivity so much easier. The Gigabit Ethernet, 100W PD, 4K HDMI, and USB 3.0 ports all work seamlessly, making it a must-have for my MacBook Pro.