Other laptop docking stations should be considered
We tested a lot of laptop docking stations and, frankly, most are… very good. They are very good! We went into specific use cases to find the best approach, but even if they didn’t become our top pick, they left a bunch of good options. This is some of our favorites, past favorites, or alternatives chosen above.
Courtesy of Luke Larsen
Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 Dock, priced at $440: Sonnettech’s Echo 13 is one of the earliest Thunderbolt 5 docks on the market. It turns out it is also one of the most unique products at the moment, including not only each port, but also an integrated M.2 storage slot that contains the Kingston SSD. Although convenient, I don’t like the drives that cannot access users. The cheap plastic chassis is also disappointing.
Anker 568 Docking Station, priced at $350: This docking station is good at powering all other gadgets. Two front-facing USB-C ports are able to deliver 30 watts of power, which is enough to quickly charge most phones or tablets. The USB4 port connected to your laptop supports 100 watts of power transfer. I usually charge my phone on a desk and usually need to provide a separate charger for my laptop, but with this stop I can power everything while just getting one socket. The problem is, it’s very expensive.
Satechi Multimedia Pro Thunderbolt 4 Pier for $350: If you do any major video editing, game design or other type of work involving a lot of data, this dock gives you all the bells and whistles. It is a thick dock made of sturdy aluminum which can be placed flat on the table or upright on its sides. I prefer the former, but I’m glad to have less space to choose from. The docking station uses Thunderbolt 4 port to connect to your laptop, which has enough bandwidth to handle a lot of, Although it has been eliminated by Thunderbolt 5 now.
Plugable UD-3900C dual monitor station for $100: This is our first choice for a while, but it has a bit long on the teeth. It has two HDMI ports for two-person instrument setups, but it doesn’t come with power, and the USB 3.0 port is less than many of our other more modern options. But if you need a cheap marina, that’s cheap.
Plugable 13-in-1 USB-C triple monitor station for $180: This is our previous triple monitor pick, but the Anker 568 has improved in almost every way, including price. But if you find this to be a for sale, it’s still a solid choice.
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