Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: 30-second test
Startech offers an impressive range of USB and Thunderbolt hubs. We have already tested the excellent Thunderbolt 3 option, the TB3CDK2DH.
The new dock has the impressive title “Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station” or can be identified by the code TB4USB4DOCK.
At around £300 or $320, this device is more expensive than the alternative docks from OWC, Kensington and Plugable, but cheaper than the Caldigit TS4 option.
The big selling point of this docking station is that it works with both Thunderbolt and USB, making it remarkably flexible.
The only downside to this heavy USB usage is that USB doesn’t offer the bandwidth of Thunderbolt, limiting the number of ports that can be used simultaneously without sacrificing performance.
Therefore, this device is ideal for USB laptop users who plan to upgrade to a Thunderbolt-enabled device soon.
This dock has fifteen ports, not including the uplink. These include four monitor ports and seven USB ports, covering most eventualities. There is also a 2.5GbE LAN port, ideal for providing a single wired connection to the local network.
When plugged in, it can deliver up to 98W of power to the laptop using the same cable used for data transfer, allowing laptops to be charged even while in use.
Our only reservation about the StarTech Thunderbolt 4 Dock is that, unlike most other high-end Thunderbolt docks, it is made mostly of plastic rather than metal.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Price and Availability
- How much does it cost? 319 USD/299 GBP
- When will it come out? It is now available
- Where can you get it? Directly from StarTech or through online retailers such as Amazon.
It is possible to buy the Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station directly from the manufacturer’s website. However, it is cheaper in the Amazon Startech Shop and delivery is free for Prime members.
The current price on Amazon.com is $318.47 and for UK Amazon customers it is available for £298.99.
Compared to the branded alternatives, it is cheaper than the Caldigit TS4 which costs just under $400. However, the excellent OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock costs just $229.99, the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Dock costs $289.95, and the Kensington SD5760T Thunderbolt 4 Dual 4K Docking Station costs just $206.12.
The price of the Kensington SD5760T recently dropped significantly from $279.99, suggesting that a new Thunderbolt dock under this name could soon hit the market.
Unless you absolutely insist on the Caldigit TS4, the Startech solution is more expensive overall than most full-featured Thunderbolt 4 docks, and for normal use the extra cost may be difficult to justify.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Specifications
|
compatibility |
TB4, USB-C or USB 4.0 |
|
Number of ports |
15 |
|
Ports |
1x TB4 upstream, 1x USB-C downstream, 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0. 2x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x audio in/out jack, 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 Ethernet port, 1x UHS-II SD card reader (320 MBps), 1x UHS-II MicroSD card reader (320 MBps |
|
Downstream performance |
7.5W USB 2.0 |
|
Upstream performance |
98W Thunderbolt |
|
Size |
210 x 96 x 34 mm (W x D x H) |
|
Weight |
Approx. 200g |
|
Accesories |
Adapter 180W 20V 9A |
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Design
- Bandwidth overbooked
- Strange USB-A obsession
- Missing Thunderbolt downlinks
This dock has an attractive but simple design, with the port layout making more sense than some other devices.
The chassis is a box with rounded corners that contains all the electronics. The ports are evenly distributed on the front and back. There are two security slots on the right side, both the standard K slot and the Nano K slot, as well as ventilation slots that are mirrored on the left side.
Air can also flow from vents on the bottom, with rubber feet providing enough room for movement. Like many docks, this one is passively cooled, so there’s no fan noise during operation.
On the front, there are two SD card slots for various sizes, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and the USB/Thunderbolt uplink. There’s also a power button, a feature that’s missing from many designs anymore.
On the back there are two HDMI, two DVI, a USB-C downlink, four USB-A ports (two each at 10 Gbps and 5 Gbps), and a single 2.5 GbE LAN port.
The included LiteOn power supply with a nominal output of 20 V at 9 A (180 W) is connected on the back via a barrel plug.
The best thing about this design is the sheer number of ports, making it ideal for users who have a lot of peripherals and want to connect them easily.
The plastic construction of the case, however, is a bit of a disappointment. And the silver finish does not compensate for the inherent heat distribution and physical resilience that an aluminum finish would have brought.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Features
- Bandwidth overbooked
- Strange USB-A obsession
- Missing Thunderbolt downlinks
Most Thunderbolt 4 dock designs all use the same Intel JHL8440 chips, but it depends on how each company divides the bandwidth between the ports they include.
All external ports are provided by different chip manufacturers connected to the Intel Thunderbolt host, with silicon from Realtek, Ti, Genesys Logic and Cypress.
Immediately after using this hardware, I noticed an issue with this dock regarding this allocation, and this is not the typical oversubscription issue that needs to be mentioned for almost every dock.
Adding up the potential bandwidth requirements of the ports, the 40 Gbps of Thunderbolt bandwidth is used up more than once, and for those using USB-C at only 20 Gbps, the problem is twice as bad.
What shocked the reviewer, however, was the fact that it is a Thunderbolt dock without Thunderbolt downstream ports and therefore it is not possible to daisy chain Thunderbolt devices from this dock.
So, oddly enough, it was designed specifically for a user who has a Thunderbolt-enabled laptop but only USB peripherals. The omission seems odd, given that the original, now-discontinued StarTech Thunderbolt 4 Dock had three TB downlinks.
The other aspect of this design that doesn’t quite add up is the large number of USB ports – seven in total – but only one USB-C port. Given the general market movement towards USB-C, not supporting it proportionally seems like a misstep.
It seems unlikely that Startech engineers correctly identified the proliferation of 2.5 GbE LAN ports, but overlooked the number of external SSDs with USB-C.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Performance
- Many USB
- Up to four monitors
- Restrictions on No-TB downlinks
Calculating the performance of a system with so many ports and multiple connection types (Thunderbolt and USB) is a pointless exercise unless you have a specific use case in mind.
The slight difference between this docking station and most competing products is that it does not pass the full bandwidth of Thunderbolt to the downstream ports, but rather reserves that bandwidth for either transferring between multiple USB ports or the video connections.
With Thunderbolt, there is no software to load onto the PC to use a monitor connected to the dock, so it’s practically plug and play. It’s worth noting, however, that unless your laptop has a discrete graphics card, driving four displays isn’t practical with most integrated GPUs. This is only possible for PC users, not for anyone with an Apple Mac.
For Apple users, a dock with downstream Thunderbolt ports would increase the number of monitors beyond the two this dock offers them. There are dual Thunderbolt chipset docks that would offer Apple Mac users four displays, but this is not one of them.
On Windows, it is possible to use either three 4K/60Hz monitors or four with one of the monitors being 4K/30Hz. Both Windows and Macs can use dual displays at 5K/60Hz. The highest resolution on PC is 8K/60Hz (7680 x 4320 resolution), and on Mac, the best single-screen resolution is 6K/60Hz (6144 x 3456).
What we won’t cover here are some arbitrary limitations Apple imposed on early M1 hardware that dictate that only two displays are supported, so it might be worth heading to the StarTech website and reading any product notes on this aspect before investing.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Conclusion
This strange design has a feature set that contradicts that of most Thunderbolt 4 docks from other brands and even some from Startech.
This hardware is obsessed with USB support, but is illogically designed almost exclusively for Type-A devices, and the lack of a Thunderbolt downlink port severely hampers its use in any environment with Thunderbolt-enabled peripherals.
What Starttech has done right is the large number of ports, even if the mix is not ideal, and that it can deliver 98W of power to a connected laptop.
But the only future-proofing feature that Startech has integrated is the 2.5 GbE port.
We prefer metal cases for desktop docking stations for a number of reasons, and this one is made of plastic. While making it out of plastic would have saved money, that saving wasn’t passed on to customers.
Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station: Testimony
| Value | More expensive than it should be | 3 / 5 |
| design | Design A well thought out layout, but the exterior is made entirely of plastic. | 4 / 5 |
| Features | Strangely, this design is not ideal due to the USB Type-A fixation and missing Thunderbolt downlinks | 3 / 5 |
| Performance | Lots of monitors for PC owners, fewer for Mac users | 3.5 / 5 |
| In total | Given the high price, we expected more Thunderbolt in this dock. | 3.5 / 5 |
Should you buy a Startech Thunderbolt 4 Multi-Display Docking Station?
