5 cool USB-C gadgets you should plug into your new iPad

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Today, all Apple iPad models have a USB-C port. Although only iPad Pro models support Thunderbolt, there are still plenty of gadgets you can plug into your tablet, like a microphone for podcasts, a powerful power bank, or even an external storage drive.

Even though some of the best accessories people should have for their iPad don’t require USB-C, like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, there are several USB-C products that can make your iPad more useful. Additionally, as Apple continues to expand the iPad’s capabilities with improved software features, like a super-powerful Files app and support for third-party SSDs and microphones, users can do a lot more on their tablets than they could a few years ago.

In this selection, we’ll talk about some of the most popular options available, as well as devices that BGR staff use on their own iPads, whether for work, personal projects, or just to enjoy iPad hardware.

If the iPad is your best companion and you always work with your voice, go to meetings, record podcasts or demo songs, then something like Sennheiser Professional Profile is one of the coolest gadgets you can have for your iPad. With USB-C support, you can plug this microphone into your Mac or iPad, and away you go, because no additional software, interfaces, or windows are needed. If you need to change anything in your audio, you can do so with the physical buttons on this product, making it one of the most professional and simple accessories you can have for your iPad.

Among its features, this Sennheiser microphone includes a mute button, a gain control for mic volume, a mix control for balancing voice and iPad audio, and a volume control for those monitoring the experience with headphones. Users can also plug it into third-party table stands and it comes with a 3-point self-locking boom. This product costs $129, while the set with the boom arm costs $199.

Apple claims that all iPad models have an all-day battery, which can be misleading depending on how you use your tablet. A solid backup option is to carry a powerful power bank. While regular iPad models can charge well with a 20W outlet, the iPad Pro can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 60W or higher charger.

Since larger 13-inch iPads, like the iPad Air and iPad Pro, have bigger batteries, it’s only natural to use a good power bank to charge them. One of the top recommendations is Anker’s laptop power bank, with 165W of power and 25,000mAh of battery capacity. According to the company, it could charge an iPad Pro up to 1.4 times.

It has three USB-C outputs of up to 100W and one USB-A output of 33W. It comes with a retractable USB-C cable and has a smart display that shows the battery temperature, current output and input in watts, and the battery status of your power bank. It also displays the remaining battery and remaining charging time, keeping users informed about how they are using this device.

This isn’t the only power bank Anker offers, however. Users can choose between even more powerful options, like the 26,000 mAh model with 300W of power, or more modest versions capable of charging your iPad.

If you usually use iPad Pro for editing in Final Cut Pro and don’t have enough storage on your device, Samsung offers some of the best portable SSDs on the market. The T7 SSD, for example, has read and write speeds of around 1 GB/s, which means that every time you work on a project through this SSD, it will feel like every file is on your iPad.

This device incorporates all the latest PCIe NVMe technologies, so it’s already twice as fast as the previous T5 model and up to 9.5 times faster than an external hard drive. Samsung offers 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models with a sleek form factor. What makes this product very interesting is that you can use it with different devices, like your iPhone, Mac, PC, etc.

One important thing to know is that these portable SSDs are expensive. The smallest 1TB drive costs $274.99, while the 4TB option can cost over $1,000. That said, this product is really aimed at creators and people who need super-fast storage at all times.

Satechi has a very popular range called OntheGo, with one of the latest items being this foldable stand. This lets you connect your iPhone or iPad to a 4K60Hz HDMI output while offering two 10Gbps USB-C and USB-A ports, UHS-II SD and microSD card slots, and a 100W USB-C power passthrough to keep everything up and running.

With this dock, you can have a place to firmly place your iPad on a desk while connecting multiple accessories at once. Satechi calls this new accessory a portable workstation, because it’s only an inch thick and folds for easy transport. While this list focuses on cool iPad accessories, the OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub is also a great option for iPhone users, and even for Samsung Galaxy owners who might want to take advantage of DeX. Satechi’s OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub is available on the company’s website for $79.99 and is optimized for the iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini (A17 Pro) or later.

A USB-C to Ethernet adapter is perhaps the simplest device on this list, but it’s especially useful if you’re using the iPad on the go and your internet connection is unreliable, whether it’s your hotel’s Wi-Fi or 5G. With a USB-C to Ethernet adapter, like the Belkin model available on the Apple Store, you can give your iPad a more stable connection via an Ethernet cable.

This can be especially useful if you’re meeting a deadline and need to send a large file, playing an online game that requires a stable connection, etc. In fact, Belkin itself claims that this adapter is the ideal solution for online gaming, streaming, video conferencing, and other tasks requiring reliable performance. It comes with a built-in 90mm cable, is USB-IF certified, and has an LED light to indicate when everything is working properly. Once you plug the adapter into your iPad’s USB-C port, all you need to do is connect an Ethernet cable to it, and that’s it. This accessory costs $29.95, but Belkin also offers a slightly upgraded option that includes a 100W pass-through charger port.