That anandtech article is from 2014. And the wikipedia article contains a similar claim, but un-citationed, as far as I can see. Do you have any links to recent articles that confirm that this is still the current state of things?

I have a chromebook that doesn't have video-out ports, but a relatively basic USB-C hub with HDMI-out port sufficed to get it connected to my HDMI monitor. Not sure if that's a counter-example, or something else entirely, but it may be relevant either way...

That Plugable adapter is interesting -- the page doesn't claim it's an "active adapter", and it only costs $15. In my mind, "active adapter" always translated to "costs $50 or more".