This Anker USB hub is the one I carry in my camera bag everywhere. It plugs into the USB-C port on your laptop and provides two USB-A 3.0 ports, an HDMI output, and both a full-size and a MicroSD card reader. It's a versatile little thing that lets you plug in peripherals to your laptop, transfer data between your devices, and hook up your laptop to a projector or monitor at a moment's notice (provided you have an HDMI cable). Best of all, it's quite affordable. 

Don't have a USB-C port in your laptop? This AmazonBasics hub will do the trick, even if it's about as bare-bones as hubs can get. It plugs into one USB-A port and gives you four more, supporting up to USB 3.0 speeds. You can use the hub by itself to plug in peripherals or flash drives, but if you jack in the included power adapter, the hub can charge gadgets plugged into it.

The singular USB-C port on recent high-end iPad models means you're often forced to choose between charging or plugging in an accessory. This hub from Twelve South can fix that without adding too much bulk. It plugs directly into the USB-C port on the bottom of the tablet and offers up a headphone jack (yay!), a USB-A port, an HDMI output, and an extra USB-C port. It also comes with a short USB-C extension cable—handy if you have a thick case over your iPad that obscures the port a bit. Currently, no basic iPads use the USB-C port, so make sure yours has it before you buy. 

Twelve South recommends it for iPads, but we've used it with MacBooks and other laptops with no issues. Check out our Best iPad Accessories guide for more. 

Wouldn't it be nice if the USB hub you carry around with you had some storage of its own? This one from Satechi can (sort of) do that. In addition to the extra USB ports and 4K HDMI output it provides, it's also an external M.2 solid state drive enclosure. Open the panel on the back and you can slot in an internal SSD card and access it whenever you plug the hub into your computer. It's an incredibly handy feature that, frankly, more USB hubs and docks should include.

Just know that the M.2 SATA SSD is not included. 1-terabyte drives like this one from Western Digital or this one from Samsung will do the job. (They come in smaller storage sizes too.) 

This USB-C dock from Plugable has been reliable for WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu for more than a year. It plugs into an external power supply, helping it power five USB-A ports (three USB 3.0, two USB 2.0), an HDMI for an external monitor, and gigabit Ethernet. The dock can be laid flat on the desk or stood up vertically, and it conveniently has separate ports for a microphone and headphones on the front.

He's also tested and likes the newer UD-3900C, which has an adapter that lets you plug it into a laptop with a USB-A or USB-C port.  It has a greater number of ports (though no USB-C) and costs a little less, but unfortunately it's fluctuating in and out of stock. 

If you use more than one monitor, than this Plugable dock is an upgrade option that might be better for you. It supports up to three displays at once—either HDMI or DisplayPort for each—and can output up to 60 watts of power to charge your laptop. In WIRED writer Eric Ravenscraft's experience, the box was a little finicky when switching between a Windows desktop and Mac laptop, but if you stick with one platform, it should be fine.

The dock also has six USB 3.0 ports (two on the front, four in the rear) and a gigabit ethernet port on the back. This makes it extremely easy to plug your laptop into a workstation with a single plug and instantly switch to a multi-monitor setup.

This indulgent dock from Satechi comes with three of the new Thunderbolt 4 connectors (as well as a fourth for plugging into your laptop), which means you can get some of the fastest data transfer speeds available today, provided your laptop or PC supports the Thunderbolt 4 standard too. You also get three USB-A 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, a combo headphone/mic jack, and an SD card reader. It also comes with its own power supply to help keep all the gadgets you plug into it running. It's the priciest dock we tested, but if you do a lot of heavy-duty tasks like transferring 4K (or more) video footage or hooking your laptop up to multiple 4K monitors, this is the dock that's going to serve your needs.

Note: This dock has gone in and out of stock.