Hello to everybody!

Recently, I've spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand this complex world of USB-C hubs. I have read a lot of interesting posts here and learned a lot. So in this post, I'll try to summarize everything I discovered and make a good user guide to clarify some doubts. I'm writing this post to recover valid information from some old posts and update it with new information, but also as a thank you to all the people who have provided information to this topic. So let's do it as quickly as possible (sorry if my english is not perfect!).

First of all

The most important thing is to understand how the USB-C Hubs controls the energy and how the Power Delivery usually works (PD hereinafter). Until a few days ago, I tought that the hubs reserved 15W for proper functioning and you coul do whatever you wanted with the rest, but this is not the case. As you can read in this post, the power negotiation doesn't work like that:

USB Power Passthrough question
byu/paulsiu inUsbCHardware

So, it is very likely that you were misled by adversiting for devices like the famous Anker 555 USB-C Hub or UGREEN products as I was. In addition, there is the issue around the Realtek RTL8153, present in a lot of this kind of devices. You can read more about this in:

https://overengineer.dev/blog/2021/04/25/usb-c-hub-madness/

Why is this important?

Let's take the SteamDeck as the model device for all the examples on this post (this is the device on which I have done the tests) and USB-C hubs with a charging capacity of 100W. If you are connecting a USB-C hub to the Steam Deck (SD), probably, it is not receiving enough energy to charge while playing plugged into the grid. There's a huge post about this problem:

PSA: Many high-end hubs/docks are not able to charge the Deck at high wattage while in use
byu/miochza inSteamDeck

That's because the PD of products like Anker or Ugreen with a lot of ports and HDMI with 4K60Hz can't deal with giving to the SD more than 30/35W, when this device can take about 40/45W. In this scenario, the device may lose battery while playing, even if you are connected to a charger, and the battery may be damaged. There are a lot of comments saying that the best option USB-C hub for not losing so many W is this Ugreen Revodock 107 because it "only" takes 5W (instead of 15W likt the Anker 555 model), more or less (the links are from Amazon Spain, is where I live).

https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B093FKT9BF/ref=sw_img_1?smid=AXZ3JQ1GVFPIF&psc=1

So, what can I do?

After a lot of reading and trying to understand all this specifications and the technical issues, I decided to throw myself into the adventure and search for the perfect device (or the closest thing to it).

Firs, founding a good 100W charger and good cables it's essential. I recently discovered the amazing YouTube channel of AllThingsOnePlace, where you can find all kinf of recommendations about chargers, cables, power banks, ... with a great judgment and technical explanations.

When choosing a charger, it is very important to keep in mind the ROG Gaming Charger Dock, because it can look very simple and may not be the best of the best in terms of specifications, but it has many guarantees regarding a safe charge and voltage, as you can read in this another amazing post:

My experience using the ROG Gaming Charger Dock with a Steam Deck (+ other devices)
byu/SnooPoems9162 inSteamDeck

So, this ROG Gaming Charger Dock is a good option (I bought one!). As it says in the post, this charger/dock will assure you an excellent PD to all kind of devices (Steam Deck, Rog Ally, smartphones, tablets, ...) and algo has PPS for charging (I'm waiting to test it, I don't received it yet)!

Other option is, if you want a USB-C traditional hub, forget about Anker and other similar brands (there are all overprices and the quality is very low). I found this two Acer devices and I just tested them with the sensors parameters of the Steam Deck.

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CF224WX9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CQSZYWT8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Both devices are form ACER, a well-known brand, and the results are not perfect, but really really good. Here you can see my Steam Deck connected to them (respectively):

As you can see, this ACER USB-C hubs are a very good choice!

My only concern is the ethernet in the second product, I don't know how to find out if it's the same one that the problematic Realtek RTL8153. I have compared them and they don't look the same on the outside, but I don't know if that means that are definitely not the same ethernet module.

Thank you so much for your attention! I hope I have been helpful in this confusing topic!

Edit:

I tested the ROG Charger Dock and it has the best Power Delivery contract so far. It can charge the Steam Deck at fully 45W without problem, connected to ha 55" TV and with a wireless mouse and keyboard in the USB-A. I'm keeping this one with the first ACER hub I linked in case I need to connect many USBs to transfer data (I'm returning the one with the ethernet port to avoid any risks with the Realtek RTL8153).