Microsoft was definitely onto something with Continuum - the concept still holds up well today, even if the Windows UWP ecosystem itself is winding down a little. Samsung copied Continuum for its DeX system, ditto Huawei. And, while you don't actually need a 'hub' to accomplish the magic, a physical hub with loads of ports sure makes things easier in every way. Power, wired accessories, even network connectivity. And, two years later, these hubs are pretty much commoditised, evidenced by this Omars accessory, running to only £28, yet with more connectivity than Microsoft's original Continuum dock.

Of course, with the world moving to USB Type C in general, such hubs are acquiring an extra major role, in expanding a single Type C port (e.g. on a Macbook or Surface Go) to a variety of day to day ports. The Omars 5-port here offers:

• 'host' Type C in/out/power
• Ethernet in (up to 1000Mbps)
• HDMI out (up to 4K)
• Type C in/out/power (up to 60W Power Delivery)
• 2 x USB-A (3.0-rated), one with power-out (e.g. for hard disk), one without

So pretty comprehensive and, other than the low price, the main design feature here is that four of the main ports are protected by a folding dust cover. This keeps muck out, in theory, plus it makes the hub look better when not in use.

The flaps are right angled and well made/sturdy, revealing the aforementioned ports, all of which performed as expected. Handily the ports have extra symbols, marking power, one for the Type C 'in' and one for the powered USB-A 3.0:

I tested this with a variety of Type C equipment, including Lumia and Continuum display, Samsung Galaxy and DeX, all of which worked well in the usual way. Not shown below, but I also tested Type C power in (i.e. charging the phone/tablet/laptop/host):

I've tested quite a few hubs now and they all 'just work'. Which doesn't leave room for reviewer criticism, but does bode well for the consumer. If you need to hook A up to B, C and D then a hub like this should work almost every time (and when it doesn't the answer's usually that one of your cables is cheap or damaged).

At £28 on Amazon UK, this is great value and solidly made. Bargain. One for my kit bag!