Honestly, heat is pretty much a given with these compact hubs because of the power delivery conversion, but some definitely stay cooler than others. I've tried many over the years and the Ugreen Revodok Pro 109 9-in-1 USB-C Hub is my current go-to. It handles 4K@60Hz which is better than that basic Anker one, and the aluminum casing actually dissipates heat fairly well without feeling like its gonna melt. Another solid pick under $60 is the Baseus Joystar 9-in-1 USB C Hub. In my experience, the Baseus has a slightly better port layout for travel cables and handles thermals better than the cheaper plastic ones. Basically, if youre worried about temps, just dont run a high-wattage charger through the PD port if you dont need to. That usually causes the most heat buildup. Both of these beat the Anker 7-in-1 on raw specs for the price tho.

ngl the heat thing is basically a law of physics with these small controllers. ive spent way too much time over the years looking into the internal specs of these things. the reality is that pushing video while charging your laptop through the same tiny board is gonna generate a ton of thermal energy. remember my first cheap hub actually started smelling like melting electronics during a long presentation. it was a plastic nightmare and i learned my lesson the hard way... nowadays i look for a few specific things whenever i grab a new one:

• full metal casing because it acts like one big passive heatsink
• enough spacing between the ports so the cables arent jammed together
• higher wattage ratings for the power delivery than i actually need to reduce load on the IC my current setup uses a solid aluminum block style one i got recently. even when i have it fully loaded with an external drive and a monitor it barely gets warm to the touch. honestly just avoid the cheap plastic housings and you should be fine for your trip. found that hubs with a slightly larger footprint tend to manage the thermals way better than the ultra-thin ones anyway.

@Reply #1 - good point! about the aluminum shells, though unfortunately ive had mixed results even with the fancy looking ones. some of them just feel like they're cooking the internals regardless of the material. honestly i spent a lot of money on cheap hubs that just died after two months of daily use... total waste of money and super frustrating. quick question tho - what laptop are you actually hooking this up to? if it's something power hungry like a macbook pro it changes the heat situation completely vs a light chromebook. ananyway, here's the reality of why they get so hot:

• pass-through power delivery (PD) generates the most heat
• conversion from usb-c to hdmi is a heavy task for tiny chips
• lack of internal thermal pads in budget models i was really let down by some of the off-brand stuff on amazon, so i eventually landed on the Anker 555 USB-C Hub 8-in-1 which is usually right around $50-60 on sale. it still gets warm but doesnt feel like it's gonna melt my desk. if you want something that stays even cooler, the Plugable 7-in-1 USB-C Hub is surprisingly decent because it's a bit thicker so there's more air inside for the components. let me know what specs your laptop is and i can maybe dig up more options for ya.