Best Thunderbolt docks: Extend your laptop’s capabilities

Who should buy the Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock?

I think three types of customers will benefit most from Sonnet’s dock: those who swap laptops in and out, and like a source of persistent storage; gamers; and those who do some casual video editing. The latter customer may have a more professional setup, but a gamer may find a high-performance external SSD especially appealing. Important note: You’ll see the best SSD results with a Thunderbolt 5 laptop, as a Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 laptop will throttle the SSD’s performance.

Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock: Further considerations

I’m very conscious of price when recommending a dock, and two things add cost here: the Thunderbolt 5 connection, as well as the unusual integrated SSD. I think the performance that both offer justify its price — and if you disagree, the cheaper runner-up pick is just below!

(I have made one change: Sonnet ships this dock with 1-, 2-, and 4TB options. Given the pricing effect of tariffs, I recommend you buy the cheapest 1TB option, which is linked below.)

My argument isn’t just that the integrated SSD adds value, in the way that simply adding additional storage improves the product. It’s that the integrated SSD is so much faster than even an external gaming SSD (though slower than an M.2 SSD inside a PC). That, combined with all of the “standard” features the dock delivers, like smartphone charging, really elevates Sonnet’s dock to the top of the heap. We’ll probably see other docks that offer comparable features, but for now Sonnet’s dock stands out as the very best Thunderbolt docking station.

Who should buy the Kensington SD5780T?

The SD5780T is an ideal “starter” dock, for someone who has a laptop and a single external display and might want to add more in the future. Adding a second display will require the purchase of a USB-C (Thunderbolt) to HDMI cable, which will cost an additional $15 or so. The inclusion of the SD card slot should appeal to photographers who record photo or video on those cards.

Kensington SD5780T: Further considerations

One of my testing credos is “affordable flexibility,” and I favor a dock that will fit into your existing setup. But I also don’t want you to pay through the nose for it. There are other docks that allow you to get by without using a display adapter, but they generally charge for it — sometimes even $100 more. The SD5780T has one dedicated display port, and you’ll have to buy a $15 USB-C adapter cable to support a second. That’s cheaper than the alternative.

The Kensington SD578OT is a solid Thunderbolt 4 dock in all respects. For those who wish to use a single 4K monitor, chances are that you already own an HDMI cable. In my tests, the dock was stable (and not all are!) with a nice port selection. The dock will charge your smartphone, albeit with a USB-A port. The bottom line: This is currently among the best combination of value and features in a Thunderbolt dock that I’ve tested.

Who should buy the Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station?

If you want a generous set of extra ports and to connect a couple of 4K displays, this affordable yet able Thunderbolt 4 dock is a great solution.

Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station: Further considerations

For this I’m leaning on Macworld’s choice of docks, which offers an excellent feature set at an affordable price — and it will work just fine with Windows machines. The dock is a well-priced and loaded Thunderbolt 4 dock, though it sacrifices two of the potential three downstream TB4 ports in favor of two HDMI 2.1 ports. Use one of these for one external display and the downstream TB4 port for the other. The spare HDMI port can be used for a third extended display on Windows PCs.

Power delivery to the laptop is 96W, enough for a lightweight content-creation laptop. There’s a handy 30W USB-C charging port at the front, which also supports 10Gbps data transfer.

Who should buy the Ugreen Revodok Pro 13-in-1 Triple Display Docking Station?

I recommend this dock for those who own laptops with 13th-gen Core hardware or above. HBR3/DSC technology really doesn’t work on older systems like 11th-gen Core hardware and older PCs. If you own an AMD Ryzen laptop, too, it may be a little iffy. Great price, though!

Ugreen Revodok Pro 13-in-1 Triple Display Docking Station: Further considerations

The only reason this isn’t my pick for the best budget Thunderbolt docking station is because it uses a generic form of data compression known as HBR3 (High Bit Rate 3) with DSC (Display Stream Compression), which is built into the DisplayPort spec. That’s a particular technology that is more common within recent Intel Core (and Core Ultra) laptops, but isn’t guaranteed to appear on yours. (If you own a laptop with a Thunderbolt port, though, this should work just fine.) You’ll also have to supply your own USB-C power cable.

Otherwise, this docking station has so much to offer. The price is outstanding, of course, but Ugreen’s dock is also so flexible yet so stable. Everything’s well labeled, and the dock offers DisplayPort as well as HDMI options. And it’s really quite portable, too. Just remember that charger.

Who should buy the Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock?

Yes, this is the same dock I selected as my overall pick. But if you’re looking for a premium Thunderbolt dock, I think this fits the bill. We have a cheaper runner-up option just below.

Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock: Further considerations

The performance that this dock offers really boils down to the integrated SSD. It’s simply one of the fastest storage options that I’ve tested for an external drive, though it’s confined to the dock. (It’s not removeable.) But if you want a 4GB SSD option, you’ll pay $750 (at press time). That’s kind of insane.

Who should buy the Kensington Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Quad Video Docking Station (SD5800T)?

Not everyone needs four displays, or has the laptop hardware to power them. This is for the “battlestation” enthusiast or someone who needs to be surrounded by information. But you might be a person who simply doesn’t want to have to deal with additional display adapters, either.

Kensington Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Quad Video Docking Station (SD5800T): Further considerations

You may not need four displays, but many shoppers often feel like they want to buy a docking station and not have to worry about picking up a display adapter or cable. This dock does that.

About the only weakness is a lack of adequate smartphone charging from the USB-C port — a trait shared by its competitors, too, for some reason. You may notice that I recommend a Sonnet dock as the best overall dock, and I stand by it — but you’ll see the best performance from it if you own a Thunderbolt 5 laptop. This premium dock has more mainstream appeal.

Who should buy the Plugable 5-in-1 Thunderbolt Hub (USB4-HUB3A)?

The hub works as a “splitter” of sorts for the Thunderbolt connection.

Why should you care? This hub can be used for an emerging market of Thunderbolt/USB-C monitors, which are much more common in the Mac market but may become more prevalent in the Windows space in the future.

Put another way, if you own a USB-C monitor, those displays tend to also have legacy ports (USB-A, USB-C) inside them, which means that a Thunderbolt dock and its cluster of ports may be redundant. This hub is a way to save a little money for the user who has a specific setup.

Plugable 5-in-1 Thunderbolt Hub (USB4-HUB3A): Further considerations

How does a Thunderbolt hub differ from a Thunderbolt dock? In this case, there’s less of an emphasis on legacy ports, and more of a focus on a direct connection to a display. The Mac world tends to emphasize Thunderbolt-connected displays far more than the Windows world does, so this might be a niche product for most of you. But this thing is tiny (4.75 x 2.88 x 0.5 inches) even if, unfortunately, the associated power brick isn’t.

It will send 15W of power via the Thunderbolt/USB-C connections to charge smartphones, and 60W to the host PC.

If you don’t need a big, bulky dock with multiple connections, Plugable’s 5-in-1 Hub just does the job and without any extra fuss. If your laptop needs more power than the 60W Plugable hub provides, I would recommend the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro instead.

Who should buy the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma?

Gamers, obviously. But even a stodgy old reporter like me likes it, because the RGB can either be fixed to a certain color or turned off entirely. And the dock surprised me with its stability and construction. You can certainly buy this dock for its blingy aesthetic, but it works just as well as a more down-to-earth alternative, too. Razer did a very nice job balancing both aspects.

Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma: Further considerations

I was surprised by how much I like this combination dock/hub. It’s a premium offering, with enough ports that I’d almost consider it a full-fledged dock. But with three upstream Thunderbolt ports, you can characterize it as a hub as well. As one of the more modern docks, with rock-solid stability, it won me over in the end, though its storage performance was middling. And, of course, remember to invest in cables.

The RGB lighting is fun, and optional — it can be turned off.

Who should buy the Plugable USB4 Dual HDMI Docking Station (UD-4VPD)?

This is a general-purpose USB4 dock, which can be adopted by anyone. But it’s best suited for laptops with a Ryzen chip inside, and for photographers who need the SD card slots.

Plugable USB4 Dual HDMI Docking Station (UD-4VPD): Further considerations

Thunderbolt and USB4 are basically the same. USB4 ports typically appear on laptops with AMD Ryzen chips inside (because Intel refuses to certify an AMD laptop as Thunderbolt-compliant.) Why include a dedicated USB4 category? In part, because not everyone knows this.

This dock can get hot, but it’s an affordable budget option.

Who should buy the Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock?

Think of this dock as a more full-featured version of our Thunderbolt 4 hub recommendation, above. Though this recommendation is targeted at Mac users, there’s no reason that an owner of a Windows PC couldn’t buy this dock, too. If you’re trying to save space on your desk but also want an external SSD, this hybrid dock could serve both needs.

Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock: Further considerations

This recommendation comes courtesy of our colleagues at Macworld, who have compiled their own list of best Thunderbolt docking stations for the Apple Mac market. “Boasting an impressive 19 top-rated ports, Thunderbolt 4 certified, and with a bonus internal SSD storage feature, the Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt SuperDock offers remarkable value for money,” Macworld writes.

I haven’t reviewed this dock myself, but there’s an undeniable surplus of ports, and an SSD enclosure. (I definitely liked the SSD enclosure on our top pick!) And it’s reasonably priced, too.

Who should buy the Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615?

If you’re not worried about hunting down the proper software driver (because Ugreen, bless them, does not make it apparent that it needs one) than I would recommend that you buy this dock. It offers many of the features of more expensive Thunderbolt docks at an affordable price.

Ugreen 9-in-1 USB-C (Revodok) Docking Station CM615: Further considerations

Like some of our premium Thunderbolt docks, Ugreen provides options to use either HDMI or DisplayPort to connect a display, allowing you to use your existing display cables and save some money.

Like most DisplayLink docks, this dock was unusually stable, with no flickering between displays — one of the reasons I like DisplayLink docks. Some other Thunderbolt docks offer the same flexibility to shift between monitors, but not many. Ugreen’s dock does so affordably.

Who should buy the Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock?

The price differential between the Sonnet and Ugreen docks should help answer that question: The Sonnet buyer is willing to pay a little more for what is really a well-made and well-documented dock, with clear instructions. Really, without the price differential and the audio issues, this would be the top dock in the category.

Sonnet Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock: Further considerations

Sonnet’s Echo 13 Triple 4K Display Dock follows the intriguing path other DisplayLink docks have blazed: The dock’s built-in compression means you can connect to three 4K displays, without penalty. And yes, it works as advertised, though with one issue that holds it back: spotty audio that really needs to be fixed. (If you use your laptop’s headphone jack, there’s no issue.)

There was a tiny bit of instability, but performance was excellent. And with 20W of charging power for your phone and 100W for your laptop, you’ll be able to power a wider range of laptop options.