A Thunderbolt 3 dock with card reader is a neat solution for replacing multiple dongles with one single device on your desk, but when on the road you might need something a bit more portable so that's where a USB hub adapter that can expand a single USB port into several comes in really handy!
If you own a cutting edge laptop though, chances are it will be a USB-C laptop and that is because USB-C is set to replace the standard USB connector. While USB connectors might be on their way out, USB-C connectors will still maintaining the default USB protocol (USB 3.1) which is currently the fastest USB protocol to date, delivering up to 10gbps (same speed as Thunderbolt 1).
And it's not hard to see why USB-C is making USB connectors obsolete and that is because the USB-C connector improves on the regular USB connector by being able to be inserted upside down. USB-C ports are also able to support a variety of different protocols simultaneously, including HDMI which is integrated in some USB-C hub adapters such as the Beeasy USB-C hub adapter.
There are literally hundreds of USB-C hub options to choose from, all with different features and speed performance ranging from 40gbps Thunderbolt 3 speeds (like the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock) to 5gbps USB 3.0 speeds and below.
The Beeasy USB-C hub adapter uses the USB 3.0 protocol so it delivers up to 5gbps speeds. It also features two USB 3.0 ports, a SD card slot, a microSD card slot and HDMI so you can get video to display on an external monitor from the USB-C port on your laptop.
The Apple Macbook Pro (2015/2016/2017), Dell XPS 15 and the HP Spectre x360 15t are all USB-C laptops that have added USB-C ports to their USB port configuration.
In the case of the Apple Macbook Pro, a USB-C adapter solution such as the Beeasy USB-C hub really improves the experience of the Macbook Pro (the one without Retina display) by adding usable ports that Apple stripped off, including the HDMI port, regular USB, Ethernet and even the magnetic charging that you get with the MacBook Air and Macbook Pro with Retina display.
The Beeasy USB-C hub HDMI SD card adapter even supports transfer of power (Power Delivery) which means you can charge very fast (faster than 5W charging) other devices via the Beeasy USB-C hub as well as power the laptop all at the same time.