Hiya F,
I have a Dell WD19 USB-c Hub, it came with the work laptop. Been using with M1 MBA for over a month. No major issues. I'm pretty OCD about this mind
RE: BRICKING
I'm surmising it could be a config issue with the MBA firing up from sleep or from cold, with the Hub not plugged in, or not fired up, or bits of Hardware disconnected from the Hub, since the last time the MBA was fully awake. Waking up, the MBA does not like the different HW config it is presented with, and then Bricks.
So I make sure the MBA is in standalone mode when I turn off, or disconnect the USB-C hub.
I.e. I fully fire up the MBA in standalone, and turn the Hub on separately, let it spin up, THEN plug the USB-c cable in. When shutting down the MBA for the night, I turn off the Monitor, then the Hub. Let the MBA go into standalone mode again (So the Screen resizes to the laptop screen). THEN I disconnect the Hub lead, THEN turn off the MBA.
Pretty crappy to have to do this with a premium laptop, but this has been working for me. Better safe than sorry
RE: Dell
I do like Dell kit. Proper rock solid work stuff, not cheap kit in both senses. I'm pretty lucky to have the Work PD Hub. Hell, it even has its own internal fan to keep itself cool.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Martin