Price When Reviewed

$54.99

Best Prices Today: Monoprice 13-in-1 Dual-HDMI + DP MST Dock

$54.99

This Monoprice docks lands squarely in the midst of the messy actuality that’s USB-C {hardware}: quite a few acronyms, ports, and options. What can this Monoprice 13-in-1 Dual-HDMI + DP MST Dock do? An honest quantity, although it relies on your PC.

What the Monoprice 13-in-1 dock’s documentation implies is that you just’ll be capable to run a pair of 4K shows throughout this USB-C dock. (The “MST” within the product’s identify stands for “MultiStream Transport,” which signifies that it might energy a number of shows.) At an MSRP of $54.99, this would seem to supply a reasonably inexpensive deal on the planet of USB-C hubs and docks.

Further studying: This evaluation informs PCWorld’s roundup of the best USB-C hubs and docks.

What Monoprice doesn’t let you know is that this dock’s efficiency will rely on which laptop computer you personal: The rule of thumb is the more moderen, the higher. A Microsoft Surface Book 2 with an Eighth-gen Core chip inside didn’t produce any output over its USB-C port; a number of latest Samsung and Surface laptops with Twelfth-gen and Thirteenth-gen Core chips inside labored properly, although.

So what’s the most effective you possibly can count on? Monoprice’s in-box documentation is complicated, however the precise product page is considerably clearer: If you’d like to make use of a single exterior show, you possibly can run it at 4K, 60Hz. (Our exams verify this.) With two shows you possibly can run one at 4K30, and the opposite at 1080p60. Three shows? All of them should be run at 1080p.

Mark Hachman / IDG

But even on paper, it’s muddier: One HDMI port helps 60Hz; the opposite, 30Hz. Which one? Pull out the documentation. And in actuality, once I linked two exterior shows — irrespective of the configuration — one displayed 4K30, and the opposite defaulted to 1440p, at 60Hz. That’s higher than anticipated, nevertheless it’s nonetheless complicated.

In half, that’s as a result of I had linked the shows, by way of the dock, to my PC’s Thunderbolt port, which makes use of DisplayPort 1.4 as a transport protocol. If you have got a PC or a laptop computer with DisplayPort 1.2 (and few individuals know in the event that they do, offhand) count on even slower speeds. Without your laptop computer’s documentation in hand, you’re rolling the cube.

Get previous that, although, and this Monoprice dock simplifies itself. The dock saves cash by not supplying an influence brick, however attaching your laptop computer’s USB-C charger to the enter port works effective — as much as 100W of energy supply. Just notice that the dock and any bus-powered units you have got connected will eat up a few of that energy, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

What ports does the Monoprice 13-in-1 dock embrace?

Otherwise, there’s a number of ports: 5 USB-A ports (three transferring knowledge at 5Gbps, and two at legacy 480Mbps speeds), SD and microSD readers (each transferring knowledge at a poky 104MB/s, or UHS-I speeds), an audio/mic jack, and gigabit Ethernet, plus the HDMI and DisplayPort ports.

Just keep in mind that every little thing is being transferred over the 10Gbps USB-C bus, so it’s possible you’ll discover slowdowns or stuttering when downloading one thing over Ethernet, transferring knowledge on a tough drive, and displaying it on a number of displays. That’s not the dock’s fault.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Monoprice’s dock doesn’t undergo from any thermal points; the plastic chassis will get heat, however barely so. It measures 5.5 x 2.2 x 0.65 inches.

This 13-in-1 dock is priced pretty aggressively, too. We’re seeing 8-in-1 docks priced at about $25 to $35, relying on the configuration; the $54.99 feels applicable. This is actually extra of a high-powered dongle than a real USB-C dock, anyway.

Monoprice’s 13-in-1 dock is priced $5 lower than Lasuney’s providing, at present our choose for best full-featured USB-C hub. We’re going to carry to that choose for now, however the characteristic set may be very comparable between the 2. Make positive you evaluate costs on each that will help you resolve.