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Other Laptop Docking Stations to Consider
We test a lot of laptop docking stations and, frankly, most of them are … good. They are good! We get into the nitty-gritty of specific use cases to find the best, but that leaves plenty of devices that are good options even if they don’t make our top picks. Here’s a selection of some of our favorites, past favorites, or other options we’ve picked above.
Satechi Triple 4K Docking Station for $300: Satechi’s Triple 4K Docking Station supports three monitors, and while the first output is HDMI only, the other two can be connected via HDMI or DisplayPort. Each display supports up to 4K resolution at 60 Hz, which is more than enough for most office or media work, although don’t expect it to support the high frame rates you might want in gaming. –Eric Ravenscraft
USB-C Dual HDMI Display Dock for $120: Sometimes, all you need is a quick and easy way to connect your laptop to a few monitors—preferably without spending hundreds of dollars. It supports two monitors via HDMI and includes plenty of healthy ports to connect all your other accessories. So, while there are other up-to-date options, this is an affordable way to get basic connectivity.
Kensington Triple Video Mobile Dock for $83: A mobile docking station might sound like a contradiction, but in the case of the tiny Kensington Triple Video Mobile Dock, it makes a lot of sense. Using two included HDMI ports and DisplayPort, this small device can power three 1080p displays or two 4K displays—all at 60 Hz. It also has a USB-C port with 85 watts of pass-through charging, which is enough to charge most laptops. The downside is that it only supports one 4K monitor on MacBooks, as dual 4K support is only for Windows devices.
Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 Dock for $440: Sonnettech’s Echo 13 was one of the first 5 Thunderbolt docks to hit the market. As it turns out, it’s one of the most unique offerings out there, including just about every port imaginable and integrated M.2 storage with a Kingston SSD inside. Although useful, I don’t like that the drive is not user accessible. The cheap plastic chassis disappoints for the price, too.
Ivaky FusionDock Max 1 Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station for $380: Hard to say how excessively how luxurious is this port. It’s specifically for MacBook Pro users and can handle up to four 6K screens, something only the latest MacBook Pros support. The Ivanky FusionDock Max 1 achieves this with four USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, each capable of over 40 Gbps speeds. If you’re building the best media workstation for the most powerful MacBook Pros on the market, this is it. Just put everything on the company card, because it’s expensive. — Eric Ravenscraft
Ugreen Revodok Max 213 Thunderbolt 4 for $228: Few people the need 8K display—or many 4K displays—but those who know how difficult it can be to find gear that supports their needs. Fortunately, the Revodok Max 213 from Ugreen fits that bill. The DisplayPort 1.4 port can handle an 8K display at 30 Hz. It comes with an upstream Thunderbolt 4 port that runs on your laptop, and, most importantly, two downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports, which is another rarity among the docks I tested. If you need to stream a ton of media from a variety of sources to a single device, connected to high-brightness displays, this is the dock that can handle it all. — Eric Ravenscraft
Do You Need a Docking Station or USB Hub?
This is a big question you will want to answer before moving forward. You probably know if you need a full-fledged docking station rather than a USB hub, but I’ll explain the difference in case you’re on the phone. A simple USB hub will handle the needs of most people, as the device will expand the possibly very limited ports of your laptop. If you own a MacBook Air, for example, the USB hub works as a multiport adapter for HDMI, USB-A, and more. They are designed to be portable and many of these hubs include HDMI to connect an external display.
A laptop docking station will do a lot more. These devices are designed to stand on a desk, allowing you to access all of your workplace setup with a single USB-C cable. The docking station is designed to stay in place and have all your monitors and accessories connected to it. As a result, they require a lot of power and are often wrapped in a large power brick. They are usually very expensive. So, while both accessories connect your laptop to multiple ports, they serve two different functions.
There are now many docks and hubs that blur the lines, offering multi-monitor support in a very small package. This can be useful, but a full docking station will still give you faster transfer speeds, more ports, and better external display support with a single cable.
What Ports Should Your Docking Station Have?
Finding the right connection you need in your setup can be confusing, and confusing, arcane USB names make it even worse. You can check out our explainer on USB encryption terms here. For the short version, here are the basics to remember:
Check the speed of your ports, and don’t rely on version numbers. For a number of confusing reasons, ports labeled USB 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 can all have the same speed or very different speeds. For this reason, docking station manufacturers have recently begun to choose to add speeds (often labeled as “5 Gbps”) directly to individual ports. Use faster ports for data transfer, and slower ports for things like your keyboard and mouse.
Thunderbolt is best for super fast data transfer, or high brightness displays. Thunderbolt is like a supercharged version of USB, and uses USB-C ports. However, Thunderbolt ports are capable of transferring large amounts of data. This makes it ideal for things like moving uncompressed video files around, as well as things like 4K (or even 8K) displays or lower resolution monitors with higher refresh rates.
Keep in mind your energy needs. Most laptop docking stations will have some type of power connector and USB Power Delivery (or USB-PD) that can send power to your laptop. And sometimes you’ll see this called a “pass charge.” Most of the devices you connect will need their own power too, especially if you want to connect monitors or charge your phone and tablet. If you plan to connect multiple power-hungry devices, make sure your docking station can handle your needs.
Upstream holes. You will usually see USB ports labeled as upstream or downstream. Data flows upstream from the source (your PC or docking station) or downstream from the source. An upstream USB port means it’s designed to transfer data from a peripheral (like an external drive) to your PC, while a downstream USB port works the other way around.
All docks in our recommendations are compatible with both Mac and Windows, unless otherwise noted. But there are many hubs and docks out there that have some limitations on the Mac, such as supporting mirror mode on two monitors. That’s not a problem on Windows.
On low-end Macs there is a limit to the number of screens. There is a way around this if you are using a dock that supports DisplayLink. Software can create a “virtual GPU” that tricks the system into allowing more displays so you can drive more displays than is normally allowed on a MacBook Air, for example. In my experience, however, performance may be poor, and you may experience issues with latency.
Is Thunderbolt 5 worth it?
The first Thunderbolt 5-powered PCs, docks, and devices are coming out in 2024. Thunderbolt 5 can now handle three 4K displays at 144 Hz (or two 4K displays at 240 Hz) and can deliver up to 240 watts of power. That’s amazing, from the 100 watts of Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt 5 allows you to fully power more powerful devices, such as gaming laptops or the 16-inch M4 Max MacBook Pro.
The Thunderbolt 5 docks are all backwards compatible, so there’s no worry about outgrowing the peripherals you currently have. As is the case in most cases, buying the latest information is often worth it to avoid upgrades later. However, the adoption of Thunderbolt 5 is slower than I expected. And if you don’t have a Thunderbolt 5 laptop to connect to, you won’t get the full benefit that Thunderbolt 5 has to offer.
While there is a wide range of Thunderbolt 5 documentation in the world (many of which you’ll see on this list), the biggest disappointment has been the lack of Thunderbolt 5 accessories that have come out over the past year. It is still very difficult, for example, to get a Thunderbolt 5 SSD, to achieve those fast speeds. Thunderbolt 5 docks are sometimes more expensive than previous-generation options, so it’s often worth buying for improved display support or higher power delivery. For example, CalDigit’s TS5 is only $20 more than the TS4.
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