Why This Budget Anker Hub Earns Its Keep With a Port Most Cheap Hubs Skip

The Case for the Anker 555

At $49.99, the Anker 555 USB-C Hub occupies a strange spot in the market: it's priced like a bare-bones dongle but includes a port that's typically reserved for hubs twice its cost. That port is Gigabit Ethernet, and its presence here is the main reason this hub is worth discussing at all.

Why Ethernet at This Price Actually Matters

Most budget hubs in this price range stick to the basics — HDMI, a couple of USB-A ports, maybe a card reader — and leave wired networking out entirely. That's a real gap for anyone on a laptop doing video calls, large file transfers, or anything else where Wi-Fi flakiness is a liability. The 555 closes that gap. If you've ever been on a call that stutters because the office Wi-Fi is overloaded, having a Gigabit Ethernet port built into your hub instead of needing a separate adapter is a genuine convenience, not a nice-to-have you'll never touch.

The Display Situation: Solid but Singular

The hub drives a single external display at 4K @ 60Hz, and by all accounts it does this reliably — no dropped signal, no downgrading to 30Hz under load. For anyone running one external monitor, that's exactly what you want from a hub: it should just work without fuss. The catch is right there in the spec sheet: this is a single-display hub. If your setup includes two external monitors, the 555 simply isn't built for it, and no amount of clever cabling will get you there. That's not a flaw so much as a boundary you need to know about before buying — this hub is for single-monitor desks, full stop.

Power, Ports, and the Fixed Cable Tradeoff

The 85W power delivery pass-through is generous enough to charge most laptops while you're using the hub, which matters if you don't want a tangle of separate chargers on your desk. Combined with two USB-A 3.0 ports, SD and microSD slots, and a dedicated USB-C data port, the 555 covers the routine stuff — external drives, card transfers, peripherals — without asking you to juggle dongles.

The one physical design choice worth flagging is the fixed USB-C cable. There's no detachable cord here, which means if the cable ever wears out or you want a longer or shorter reach, you're stuck with what's in the box. It also limits desk flexibility compared to hubs that let you swap in your own cable. It's a minor inconvenience day-to-day, but it's a real one if you're particular about cable management or plan to keep this hub for years.

Backed by a Name You Can Trust

Anker's reputation and warranty support carry real weight here, especially at this price point. Budget hubs are notorious for flaky connections and short lifespans, and buying into a brand with a track record for reliability takes some of the risk out of a purchase you're not spending much on to begin with.

Verdict

The Anker 555 is an easy recommendation for anyone running a single external monitor who wants Ethernet without paying dock prices for it. It's not for multi-monitor setups, and the fixed cable is a small but real limitation if you value flexibility. But for the price, getting reliable 4K@60Hz output, real wired networking, and Anker's warranty backing is a combination that's hard to beat at $49.99.