At a look

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Rugged, well-engineered
• Can sit vertically on its stand to save lots of house
• Yes, it really works: Four 4K shows are attainable
• A surplus of ports

Cons

• MSRP is actually too costly
• Mislabeled USB-A charging port doesn’t ship
• Average storage efficiency

Our Verdict

The Kensington Thunderbolt 4 and USB Quad Docking Station (SD5800T) delivers ports aplenty, however could also be too costly at some retailers. Otherwise, it’s wonderful.

Price When Reviewed

379.99

Best Prices Today: Kensington Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Quad Video Docking Station (SD5800T)

$229.99

The Kensington Thunderbolt 4 and USB Quad Docking Station (SD5800T) feels a bit like one other verse in a well-recognized tune: A brand new dock arrives, loaded to the gills with ports; nonetheless, all of that flexibility arrives with a steep value premium, too.

Kensington and Plugable seem on the prime of our present record of the best Thunderbolt docks. This is our first alternative to assessment Kensington’s ultra-premium 16-in-1 SD5800T Thunderbolt 4 dock, which seems just about similar to the Plugable TBT4-UDZ — which we’ve written about however haven’t but formally reviewed. Given the potential for an eventual head-to-head shootout, it’s price noting that the SD5800T’s MSRP is technically $379, however that Amazon lists it as $299, the identical as Plugable’s dock. (And at press time, Amazon has the worth of the SD5800T minimize to simply $229.)

In any occasion, that is Kensington’s dock to purchase if you’d like all the pieces: 4 4K shows (two DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1), plus a boatload of USB-A and USB-C ports. Of course, you’re not obligated to attach 4 shows; you possibly can select two shows as an alternative, content material within the information that you may favor no matter cable (HDMI or DisplayPort) you want.

Some of the fundamentals want explaining. Virtually all Thunderbolt 4 docks will hook up with USB4 ports and not using a hitch. Kensington’s prolonged, formal product title spells this out. Because Intel refuses to certify non-Intel (learn: AMD Ryzen) laptops for Thunderbolt, Ryzen notebooks use USB4 ports as an alternative. They’re primarily similar.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Kensington accomplishes a quad-display orientation through a mix of the 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 port plus a know-how referred to as Display Stream Compression (DSC), which makes use of an industry-standard compression know-how to eke out extra bandwidth. DSC is much like DisplayHyperlink, a compression know-how designed by Synaptics, and the inspiration of an entire class of excellent DisplayLink docks, which we embody in our greatest Thunderbolt dock roundup. DSC doesn’t require the software program driver that DisplayHyperlink does, however DSC generally is a little iffy on any laptop computer that makes use of a Twelfth-gen Core processor or older.

Kensington’s SD5800T sits atop the premium Thunderbolt dock market with stable stability, a boatload of ports, and the facility to hook up with 4 shows directly. It’s an outstanding dock, however feels a bit overpriced at its default value.

The backside line is {that a} Thunderbolt dock was designed for a pair of 4K, 60Hz shows, and DSC or DisplayHyperlink will increase that to 4 4K shows as an alternative. If you’re keen on a number of screens, that’s actually cool.

Kensington Thunderbolt 4 and USB Quad Docking Station (SD5800T): The ports

On the entrance of the SD5800T there’s a microSD and SD card slot for photographers (SD 4.0, UHS-II) alongside a 10Gbps USB-A port and a 480Mbps USB-A port, clearly marked for charging a smartphone at a rated 1.5A. There’s additionally an influence button, a headphone jack, and a 3.25-foot Thunderbolt 4 wire that provides a rated 98W to your laptop computer. On the rear, Kensington features a Kensington nano- and full-sized safety slot (natch), the facility port, the 4 show ports, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, a 10Gbps USB-C charging port rated at 1.5A, plus 4 USB-A ports evenly break up between 10Gbps and 5Gbps.

Mark Hachman / IDG

That’s rather a lot, and the design hides a number of execs and cons. For one, did I point out that the dock might be mounted vertically? Kensington’s SD5800T measures 7.68 x 4.09 x 1.42 inches (and 1.34 kilos, if it issues) however might be propped vertically on a stand to save lots of house. (The dock has rubber ft for mounting flat, nonetheless.) Even with cords sprouting from a number of ports, it sat completely steadily on my desk. The ports are well-spaced, as effectively.

What I don’t like in regards to the design is the way it places the USB-C charging port on the again; should you’re a stickler for group, you’ll need it on the entrance, nearer to you. I don’t like the dearth of an LED-lit energy button, both.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Kensington Thunderbolt 4 and USB Quad Docking Station (SD5800T): Performance

The query I at all times ask of a quad-display dock just like the Kensington SD5800T: Does it ship what it guarantees? The reply is: Well, it relies upon. Because of the vagaries of various {hardware}, you possibly can most likely anticipate completely different capabilities relying on how new your laptop computer is. As at all times, the more moderen the {hardware}, the higher.

Here’s a synopsis of how the Kensington SD5800T carried out on numerous laptops, simply for instance the variations. It’s essential to notice, nonetheless, that although the shows took a number of seconds to attach, I by no means skilled any glitches or disconnects. It’s additionally essential to notice that the guide states that the dock can ship “up to 4K @ 60Hz” efficiency throughout 4 shows. (Emphasis mine.) Kensington additionally guarantees that the dock can energy a single 8K show at 60Hz, however we lack the {hardware} to check that.

The dock’s USB-C charging port delivered 7.45W, sufficient to fast-charge a smartphone. But the front-mounted USB-A charging port delivered simply 0.5A (or 2.4W), which doesn’t come near the promised 1.5A. The two front-mounted ports ship the identical quantity of energy, though one claims to be a charging port! The SD800T delivered a peak output of 94W to the laptop computer, which is shut sufficient to the rated output to be acceptable.

Streaming and information switch efficiency was acceptable. Thunderbolt docks at all times ship a bit much less information throughput than DisplayHyperlink; the 130.74MBps was about on par with different Thunderbolt 4 docks that I’ve examined, such because the Anker 777. The dock dropped 7 out of 10,000 frames whereas streaming. A take a look at by which I copy a folder containing gigabytes of information from an SSD down by means of to the dock to the desktop accomplished in 1 minute, 8 seconds, which is among the many slower performers. The SD card slots labored as anticipated, and there have been no pops or dropouts from the headphone jack.

Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 docks have a tendency to supply related efficiency; Thunderbolt 4 docks are a bit extra secure, which is why you see a mixture of Thunderbolt 3 and 4 docks amongst our greatest picks.

Should you purchase the Kensington SD5800T?

At $299, the SD5800T is a troublesome promote. At $379, I’d skip it altogether. At $229, your ears ought to perk up. I like the pliability of the SD5800T greater than our current finest decide, the Kensington SD5780T, which is why the bountiful Plugable TBT3-UDZ continues to be amongst our most well-liked Thunderbolt docks. I don’t just like the SD5800T’s mislabeled charging port, nonetheless, and our assessment is muddied by the way it interacts with numerous {hardware}.

Nevertheless, the Kensington Thunderbolt 4 and USB Quad Docking Station (SD5800T) continues to be a well-designed Thunderbolt 4 dock with some slight blemishes. Use the obtainable value to information your shopping for choice.