If you prefer a standard dongle-style hub or just one without a built-in kickstand, here are a few other options I’ve tested and liked.
12 South StayGo Mini USB-C Hub for $60: This Tiny USB-C Hub Might Be All You Need And It serious Compact. It’s a bit taller but narrower than the Zippo lighter, and you get a 4K HDMI port, USB-A, an 85-watt USB-C port with pass-through charging, and a headphone jack. I’ve had problems inserting it into a case-protected iPad, but Twelve South includes a female USB-C to USB-C male cable that helps with this.
HyperDrive 6-in-1 Dongle for $80: It has a 60-watt USB-C port, USB-A, a MicroSD slot, an SD card slot, 3.5mm audio, and HDMI 4K 60 Hz. You can attach it to the USB-C port of your iPad Mini, Air, or Pro and lay it flat and solid with the edge, or swap to a short, thin cable. You need the cable if you have a case on your iPad, and Hyper provides screws and a screwdriver to swap this out (it took me two minutes). Just remember to unplug it when you’re not using it as it will drain your tablet’s battery slowly.
Satechi USB-C Hybrid with SSD Case for $90: Satechi’s four-port hub is a bit too big for the number of portals you get, but there’s a good reason for that. Open the aluminum cover and you’ll find a slot for an M.2 SATA solid state drive slot. That means you can access an external SSD, along with two USB-A jacks, one 100-watt USB-C pass-through charging port, and one HDMI 4K at the same time. I don’t have an M.2 SATA drive to test, but this 1 terabyte card will work ($100). Just know that Satechi’s center doesn’t support NVME M.2 card.
Hyper USB-C to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Adapter for $50: Most people won’t need an Ethernet port on your iPad, but you’re probably doing some cloud gaming on your tablet. If so, you’ll need the fastest speed possible so your game appears at the highest possible quality. This simple aluminum USB-C to Ethernet dongle offers download speeds of about 630 Mbps, which is what my desktop computer typically experiences on my iPad Pro.
