Thunderbolt 5 Docks Put to the Test

The world of Thunderbolt 5 docks has exploded in recent years, offering a convenient way for users to expand their laptop’s external ports and connectivity options. With the latest generation of Thunderbolt 5 docks hitting the market, we’ve put three popular units through our testing rig to see how they stack up against each other.

Unit Overview

We’ll be focusing on three affordable Thunderbolt 5 docks that carry a street price of less than $400: the Plugable TBT-UDH2, Keychron TB5D-1, and UGREEN Revodok Maxidok. While all three units are relatively compact and feature-rich, they have some key differences that set them apart from each other.

Plugable TBT-UDH2

The Plugable TBT-UDH2 is a relatively compact Thunderbolt 5 dock with a solidly built aluminum chassis. It’s designed to stand vertically, thanks to rubber feet at the base of the unit, but it’s not uncommon to see it laid flat if needed. In terms of ports, the TBT-UDH2 has two USB-C ports up front (one supporting 30W PD), a single USB-A port, microSD and SD card slots, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a single downstream Thunderbolt 5 port (also supporting 30W PD).

The rear of the unit features two more USB-A ports, three additional USB-C ports, two HDMI 2.1 ports, a 2.5 GbE port, and a Thunderbolt 5 upstream port for your laptop. Our main complaint with the TBT-UDH2 is that it only has one downstream Thunderbolt 5 port, and it’s located on the front – we would have liked to see at least two ports, one on the front and one on the back, especially considering this dock is priced under $350.

Keychron TB5D-1

The Keychron TB5D-1 has an aluminum finish in natural colors, which gives it a sleeker look than the Plugable dock. It also includes rubber feet on the bottom and one side of the dock, making it easy to use both vertically and horizontally.

On the front, you’ll find two USB-A ports, one USB-C port (supporting 30W PD), microSD/SD slots, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The rear panel boasts three additional USB-A ports, two HDMI 2.1 ports, four downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, and a single upstream Thunderbolt 5 port for your laptop. For networking, there’s also a 2.5 GbE port.

UGREEN Revodok Maxidok

The UGREEN Revodok Maxidok is the most expensive of the three units at around $390 but offers some key features that set it apart from its competitors. With an internal cooling fan, this dock can run silently during normal operation and keep the electronics cool – although we couldn’t hear the fan running unless we stuck our ear to the side.

The front panel houses microSD/SD slots, three USB-C ports (two of which support a total of 60W PD), and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the back, you’ll find three additional USB-A ports, two HDMI 2.1 ports, two Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports, and one upstream Thunderbolt 5 port for your laptop.

But what really sets the Revodok Maxidok apart is its M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 slot, which supports up to an 8TB SSD. This feature alone makes it a compelling option for those looking to expand their storage capabilities.

Performance Testing

We used a 1TB Micron 2500 Series PCIe 4.0 SSD (MTFDKBA1T0QGN-1BN1AABYY) with the onboard PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot on an Asus Z890 Creator WiFi motherboard as our baseline. We also tested this dock using an Orico Thunderbolt80G enclosure with the Micron 2500 – it supports up to M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4) SSDs.

The results showed that the UGREEN Revodok Maxidok was the fastest unit in terms of storage performance, thanks to its native M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot, achieving around 5,780.54 MBps reads and 4,600.53 MBps writes with our testing rig.

In contrast, the Keychron TB5D-1 and Plugable TBT-UDH2 put up nearly identical numbers using the Orico Thunderbolt80G enclosure, with around 5,400 MBps reads and 4,200 MBps writes.

Conclusion

After putting these three Thunderbolt 5 docks through our rigorous testing process, we found that the UGREEN Revodok Maxidok is the most versatile and worthy of a place on our desk. Its native DisplayPort 2.1 connector, internal M.2 SSD slot, and internal cooling fan make it an excellent choice for users looking to expand their storage capabilities.

While the Keychron TB5D-1 offers two additional HDMI 2.1 ports, which could be beneficial for those with multiple displays, its internal design doesn’t quite match up to the Revodok Maxidok’s offerings.

Ultimately, each dock has its strengths and weaknesses, but if you’re looking for a Thunderbolt 5 dock that can handle your storage needs while also providing some extra features, we would recommend checking out the UGREEN Revodok Maxidok first.

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