Startech.com Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Quad Display Dock review

Armed with 16 ports, the Startech.com Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Quad Show Dock provides quite a lot of flexibility, particularly in terms of including exterior shows.

This docking station can have most enchantment to Home windows customers who’ve the chance to run 4 exterior shows at excessive refresh charges utilizing the devoted high-end show ports.

There are different docking stations that assist 4 exterior shows, however this one hits the candy spot for value and options.

Specs and options

• One upstream Thunderbolt 4 port (40Gbps, 98W)
• 2x DisplayPort 1.4 ports
• 2x HDMI 2.1 ports
• Six USB-A ports (3x 10Gbps; 2x 5Gbps; 1x 480Mbps, 7.5W)
• One USB-C port (10Gbps, 4.5W)
• 2.5Gb Ethernet 
• UHS-II SD Card reader (320MBps)
• UHS-II MicroSD Card reader (320MBps)
• 3.5mm audio jack
• 180W energy provide

The combination of ports is tremendous high-end in the primary half—together with 2.5Gb Ethernet—however then is let down by some quite old-school USB choices: there are six USB-A ports however only one USB-C, which appears much more lonely provided that Startech.com has swapped the prospect for any downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports for the pliability of show choices.

If connecting as many exterior shows as attainable is your precedence, then the dearth of TB4 ports issues little. If you wish to daisy-chain quicker units at 40Gbps, or join even one, then we suggest you take a look at docks with at the very least one downstream TB4 port: try our beneficial finest Thunderbolt 4 docking stations. Extra on the show choices decrease down this overview.

Whereas it provides dual-display port flexibility to Mac customers, the 4 port choices will at all times be half unused so we’d suggest Apple individuals take a look at a Thunderbolt 4 dock with one show port and a few downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports (such because the Caldigit Thunderbolt Station 4), or two show ports and one spare TB4 port (for instance, the OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock or Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock).

The inclusion of two.5Gbs Ethernet is forward-thinking future proofing for quicker wired networks, though most of us shall be on 1Gbps Gigabit Ethernet in the meanwhile. Fortunately, 2.5Gb Ethernet is backwards suitable with Gigabit.

Some USB-C docks save prices with slower UHS-I SD card readers, so Startech.com needs to be applauded for forking out for a lot quicker UHS-II (312MBps) as you’ll discover on most higher-end Thunderbolt 4 docks.

The 180W energy provide helps the 98W PD charging to the laptop computer, however there isn’t a lot else in the way in which of gadget charging as the best rated USB port offers up simply 7.5W of energy (not sufficient to fast-charge a telephone and a USB-A port anyway), and the others are throttled to only 4.5W. That leaves quite a lot of potential energy going nowhere even when the dock is totally loaded.

Startech.com

Startech.com

Startech.com

A number of show choices (for Home windows)

All 4 show ports are top-end—two HDMI 2.1 and two DisplayPort 1.4—every of which might assist a single 8K (7680×4320 pixel) monitor at 60Hz. For the best decision on a single show, Macs are restricted to 6K/60Hz (6144×3456).

Home windows laptops can add two 5K/60Hz shows through the dock; M1/M2/M3 Professional or Max Macs assist two 5K/60Hz (5120×2880) screens.

Whereas Macs max out at two shows from the dock, Home windows can go go additional with three 4K/60Hz (3840×2160) or 4 (3x 4K/60Hz plus 1x 4K/30Hz or 1x 1440/60Hz).

Dissatisfied Mac customers ought to as a substitute contemplate the iVanky FusionDock Max 1, which might deal with 4 exterior shows with its distinctive dual-Thunderbolt 4 chipsets.

Design and construct

The dock is available in a darkish grey case—Apple would name it Area Grey—and the ports are nicely marked back and front.

I’m not a fan of placing the upstream TB4 port (to the host laptop computer) on the entrance because it means an unhidden trailing cable, whereas most new docks are sensibly sticking it on the again with the show ports—though solely after years of me moaning about it!

It is sensible to have the 7.5W USB 2.0 port on the entrance if you wish to use it to slow-charge your telephone, however we’d have most well-liked one thing beefier akin to a 20W or 30W USB-C port, which the ability provide ought to be capable to deal with.

Audio and card readers on the entrance are additionally nicely positioned.

On the again are the 4 additional USB-A ports. When you have been ditching USB-A units for USB-C, these might go you by. Certainly, if USB-A is firmly in your rear-view mirror, this dock’s dearth of Sort C ports would possibly nicely put you off. Comparable four-display-port rivals additionally favor USB-A over C, so there isn’t an apparent various to level to.

We admire the front-mounted energy button, which makes preserving the laptop computer’s battery life simpler than remembering to unhook the laptop computer on the day’s finish.

Worth

AT $320 / £299 the Startech.com Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Quad Show Dock is matched nicely with related docks that boast 4 show ports—a little bit cheaper than the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Professional Dock and a little bit bit greater than the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Quad Show Docking Station.

That cheaper Plugable dock doesn’t have the best rated show ports supplied by this Startech.com docking station, so the additional outlay is worth it for one of the best resolutions.

And the Startech.com dock beats the Satechi with its single-display 8K assist reaching a 60Hz refresh charge in comparison with the Satechi’s 30Hz.

It ships with a decent-length 1m Thunderbolt 4 cable.

Verdict

The Startech.com Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Quad Show Dock beats the competitors on specs in terms of quad-display assist on the highest refresh charges. Its desire for USB-A over USB-C and lack of quick gadget charging let it down considerably but it surely’s laborious to beat on show flexibility.