I don't need dozens of watts per port. I'm not trying to charge my laptop. I just want to power e.g. a spinning-rust 2.5" external USB hard drive. Which USB ports are able to do at their default line voltage, pre USB-PD negotiation; but which these "data transfer only" USB-C hubs cannot do for some reason.
Not being able to power spinning external drives from USB A ports on laptops is a known issue for a while. Some manufacturers even provided you with a double USB A ports on the laptop side to make sure there is enough power for that.
