Plugable Thunderbolt 4 (TBT4-UDZ) dock evaluate: Somewhat off the slump

Designate When Reviewed

$299

Good Costs These days: Plugable Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Quad Convey Docking Feature (TBT4-UDZ)

Plugable’s Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Quad Docking Feature (TBT4-UDZ) affords the giant port desire and further than one narrate-port alternatives I’d search recordsdata from in a top class dock. However it absolutely doesn’t relatively carry the keep it counts, with stability proving to be a bid.

Plugable’s TBT4-UDZ is the Thunderbolt 4 version of the Plugable TBT3-UDZ, what I called the “Cadillac of Thunderbolt docks” at the time as a result of the abundant port association. It easy tops our list of primarily the most attention-grabbing Thunderbolt docks. However there are very the same competitors now, as effectively.

On paper, Plugable’s Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Quad Convey Docking Feature (TBT4-UDZ) is terribly fair just like the Kensington Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Quad Video Docking Feature (SD5800T): the same names, the same facets — nonetheless no longer the same in tag. (Our sister dwelling, TechAdvisor, has its discover evaluate of the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Quad Convey Docking Feature, too.) Kensington’s dock is priced at about $20 extra on Amazon, nonetheless other retailers tag Kensington’s dock an excellent deal better. Plugable’s dock will most likely be remarkably fair just like the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Dock, a dock we loved which also instructions a $299 mark.

Plugable’s TBT4-UDZ has one strike against it: Thanks to the similarities between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4, you may must net into legend the older iteration, as a replacement. At about $200, Plugable’s TBT3-UDZ is about $100 more cost effective than the more moderen TBT4-UDZ.

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Because the name suggests, you may furthermore expend this dock with both an AMD Ryzen notebook computer, on the entire outfitted with USB4 ports, or the Thunderbolt 4 ports that accompany and Intel-primarily based fully notebook computer. (It’s most likely you’ll perhaps perhaps furthermore influence this with almost any rival dock, too; Plugable correct calls it out.)

Plugable’s TBT4-UDZ affords gobs of ports

Plugable’s TBT4-UDZ mixes up the port association compared to its predecessor, even though. On the front is easy a microSD/SD card slot — even though every slots are now rated for 312MB/s UHS-II performance; on the TBT3-UDZ, only the plump-sized SD card slot is. Each a 10Gbps USB-A as effectively as a 480Mbps USB-A port seem on the front of the dock, with the latter rated for 7.5W to tag external gadgets. A headphone jack, the Thunderbolt 4 port and a vitality button round out the front, plus a little yellow LED to imprint vitality.

Plugable has pushed a 2nd charging port (a 10Gbps USB-C port able to 7.5W of USB Vitality Supply) to the rear of the dock, which I’m no longer a fan of. Making an strive to fish at some level of the succor of the dock to insert a charging cable is extra difficult than doing it on the front, and most telephones tag with USB-C.

Otherwise, there are four USB-A ports on the rear of the TBT4-UDZ, two every for 5Gbps and 10Gbps — again an enchancment. They’re tightly spaced, nonetheless USB keys and cables juuuust fit. There are also two DisplayPort 1.2 ports and two HDMI 2.0 ports, plus the vitality port and a 2.5Gbps Ethernet connection.

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Bodily, the TBT4-UDZ measures 7.7 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches., and a rated 22.7 oz. (646g). Admire its predecessor, Plugable tosses in a vertical stand, which does wonders for minimizing the desk keep it takes up. The stand will most likely be perfectly real from my experience, even absolutely loaded with loads of cables.

Talking of cables, the TBT4-UDZ’s Thunderbolt 4 cable stretches a beautiful luxurious 3.25 toes or so, passing a rated 98W to the host — about 0.5 foot longer than the sooner dock, which handed a rated 96W. That’s about the utmost the recent cables will allow.

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Plugable TBT4-UDZ performance: Balance is a interrogate

On condition that you just’ve linked the dock to the apt hardware, the dock can join to four 4K shows (the expend of all four ports) at 60Hz. The dock does so by the expend of a aggregate of the Thunderbolt port, plus combining DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 (High Bit Rate 3) with DSC (Convey Dash Compression). In case your notebook computer supports these, it’s going to join to four shows; otherwise, it’s going to join to the habitual two 4K shows supported by Thunderbolt 4. (Present that you just doubtlessly received’t be ready to expend your notebook computer’s narrate at the same time as you join four external shows, and likewise you’ll must modify your notebook computer’s settings so it remains on and absolutely operational when closed.)

I wouldn’t be stunned to ogle that the rival Kensington SD5800T became manufactured by the identical vendor. The port alignment is really identical, and the performance at some level of extra than one shows is fair too. The Kensington’s front-mounted USB-A charging port became presupposed to carry about 7.5W of vitality. It doesn’t. And neither does the Plugable TBT4-UDZ! Though rated at 7.5W, the Plugable TBT4-UDZ’s USB-A port delivers 3.8W, the identical as the factitious USB-A ports.

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Designate Hachman / IDG

Totally the rear-mounted USB-C port delivers 7.0W, because it’s going to. The dock itself delivers 86W to the notebook computer, which is fine shut to its rated vitality.

From a stability standpoint, I seen the dock disconnect from every monitors twice in succession, correct performing customary predicament of job work. While taking half in a game of Diablo IV, the dock disconnected from every monitors as effectively as the network, booting me from the game. Whether or no longer you’re working, talking to a colleague, or gaming, that extra or much less part is disruptive and a dinky bit hideous.

Neither disconnection befell on my customary sorting out laptops, even though the system defects did occur with a Microsoft Floor Notebook computer Studio 2, which comprises two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Otherwise, I spent shut to three days working with this dock, and skilled no other considerations. (Appropriate type sure to occupy your notebook computer as a lot as this level, as the dock didn’t carry plump 4K resolution with a notebook computer which wished to be up as a lot as now.)

The performance of the dock became a dinky bit no longer as a lot as I anticipated, at some level of the board. In our streaming test, the dock dropped 30 frames out of 12,098 — a dinky bit low nonetheless easy common, and our 4K60 test circulate became quiet. While working the PCMark storage benchmark, the dock dropped 38 frames — about double the Kensington SD5800T. The dock’s performance within the storage benchmark became lower than I’d cherish, too — 120MB/s versus 127MB/s. Is that a big distinction? Now no longer primarily, no. However it absolutely’s easy a dinky bit slower.

The test I bustle the keep I reproduction a multi-gigabyte folder stuffed plump of various recordsdata performed in 1 minute, 10 seconds, every while streaming and by itself. But again, the dock completed a pair seconds slower than the competitors.

I didn’t occupy any considerations with the Ethernet jack, the mic/headset cable, or the SD card slots.

Have to you resolve the Plugable TBT4-UDZ?

I’ve reviewed several Plugable docks, and the firm has a effectively-primarily based fame for quality. (A one-yr puny guarantee is incorporated.) On this case, it falls a dinky bit quick.

I easy assume the Thunderbolt 3 (Plugable TBT3-UDZ) version of the dock is superior, as a result of the $100 or so good buy. However I’m overjoyed sticking with the Kensington docks as my commended Thunderbolt 4 docking stations. I cherish the flexibleness — who wouldn’t? However with competitors offering almost the identical part, I’d decide for an substitute.