Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Professional Multimedia Docking Station Review

This Thunderbolt 4 docking station from Satechi is for users who want multiple external displays and the most options.

Windows laptops can connect to up to four monitors using the built-in DisplayPort and HDMI ports. MacBooks are limited to two screens, but you can choose between video ports as you wish.

The design is flexible, as the docking station can be horizontal or vertical in the included stand. It’s taller than the compact, compact Caldigit TS4, but it’s shorter than most horizontal docks we’ve tested.

We like the power button, which is a rarity on docking stations despite the advice not to keep a laptop battery charged all the time. A power button means you can let this battery rest at least overnight.

Foundry

Specifications and features

• One upstream Thunderbolt 4 port (40 Gbps, 96 W)
• 2 HDMI 2.1 video ports
• 2 DisplayPort 1.4 video ports
• Three USB-A ports (10Gbps, 5.5W)
• Two USB-A ports (5Gb/s, 5.5W)
• One USB-A port (480Mbps, 7.5W)
• One USB-C port (10Gb/s, 7.5W)
• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
• UHS-II SD card reader (320 Mbps)
• MicroSD UHS-II (320Mbps) card reader
• 3.5mm combo audio jack (front)
• 135W power supply

Satechi

It’s all in the displays

The Pro Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Media Dock is big on displays – with four built-in video ports – and USB-A, but shy on Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C ports.

In fact, it’s alone in all the Thunderbolt 4 docks we’ve tested having no downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Thunderbolt 4 (TB4) docking stations have an upstream connection to the host (usually a laptop) and up to three downstream ports for other devices (TB4, TB3, or USB-C). Some TB4 docking stations ditch one or two downstream ports to include one or two video ports, knowing that most users will end up using at least one to connect one or two external displays.

Having a dedicated video port means you won’t need a special adapter to connect the TB4 port to your monitor, although Thunderbolt to a USB-C monitor will do.

The Satechi Pro Dock goes all the way and offers two premium DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 ports each, allowing for up to four external displays. If all of those displays are HDMI, you’ll still need a few adapters, of course.

HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 are high-end video technologies and are big improvements over docking stations that only offer HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2. You’ll get more monitors at higher resolutions with these two video standards.

A single connected display can be up to 8K (7680-x-4320) at 30Hz – make sure the cable also supports 8K. Two 4K displays can run at 60Hz.

Indeed, the four screens can be in 4K 60Hz if you connect a Windows computer.

Macs are unfortunately limited to just two external displays unless you install the DisplayLink software drivers.

Windows supports Multi-Stream Transport (MST), which allows up to four displays in extended mode. The macOS supports Single Stream Transport (SST) so it can stream video in extended mode to only two screens, but it can mirror the other two i.e. display the same screen as the computer portable.

Since there are docks more suitable for two external displays, we do not recommend the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Dock for Mac users. It’s certainly a flexible solution, giving Mac users the choice between HDMI and DisplayPort, but two of the ports will remain vacant, and we’d prefer an extra Thunderbolt 4 port or two instead.

For Windows users, support for up to four displays makes this docking station a compelling solution, especially with its other fast USB, SD and Ethernet ports.

Foundry

Thunderbolt and USB weakness

While the video ports are top notch, the spread of USB and Thunderbolt is weaker.

First, the lack of Thunderbolt 4 docks means you can’t even connect a Thunderbolt 4 hub to compensate for the lack of 40Gbps connections.

10Gbps data transfer might just be all you need, and the Multimedia Pro Dock has four of them, but three of them are old-school USB-A. There’s only one 10Gbps Type-C port, which feels a little dated.

if you want more Thunderbolt ports, read our roundup of the best Thunderbolt 4 hubs and docks.

As the dock mainly offers great direct video options, we shouldn’t dwell too much on USB and Thunderbolt, but the lack of Type-C ports is a trade-off that needs to be acknowledged.

Limited load

Charging on the laptop is impressive at 96W, which is enough even for large laptops.

But only the front-mounted USB A (2.0) port and the rear USB-C port can supply enough power to a connected device other than the laptop. And both are limited to 7.5W, which is fine for charging a phone and running a player, but not much else.

If there was a Thunderbolt port, you’d get at least 15W from the dock, but most included USB ports are limited to a fairly weak 5.5W.

You also cannot use the docking station to quickly charge a phone. To be fair, if you want to charge your phone, forget about using the docking station and choose a dedicated USB-C charger or a USB-C phone charger.

The docking station comes with a 135W power supply, so there’s at least some excess power even when the laptop is sucking close to 100W of it. However, the docking station itself may require be 25W, so a more powerful power supply would be needed if Satechi were to make the ports more friendly for charging the device.

For ultimate charging power, you can’t beat Caldigit’s TS4 which comes with a 230W power supply and a full range of USB ports that can charge up to 20W.

The lack of charging ports only affects connected drives that need to be powered by the docking station, so if that’s not an important factor for you, this charging limitation should put you off the docking station Satechi Multimedia Pro which has other benefits that might outweigh. This.

Satechi

Ultra-fast Ethernet

The latest generation of Thunderbolt 4 docking stations go beyond the current wired network access dominance of Gigabit Ethernet.

The Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Dock, like the recent Sonnet Echo 20, Plugable Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Quad Display and Caldigit TS4 Dock, features a 2.5GB Ethernet port which when connected to a supported network, can offer up to 2.5 times more data. transfer performance.

The main point here is that you’ll still get Gigabit Ethernet speeds unless you’re in a 2.5Gb or 10Gb network, and those aren’t too common right now, but appreciated for the professional future and fully backwards compatible.

portable storage

Once the preserve of photographers, memory cards are now a very affordable way to add decent storage capacity to your laptop/docking setup.

Manufacturers charge a lot for installing a high capacity SSD in their laptops. Buying portable storage is therefore a great way to save money and expand the functionality of your system.

A 512GB MicroSD card can be found for around $75 / £75, although the price of the memory card is quite volatile.

Satechi has included the fastest UHS-II versions of SD and MicroSD memory card readers, where some docking stations just have the larger SD variant and sometimes UHS-I. UHS-II is three times faster (312 Mbps) than UHS-I (104 Mbps).

Having both formats is handy if you swap between the two card sizes often, but having only the SD card is fine, as common adapters ensure that MicroSD is suitable for SD readers.

In addition to being smaller, MicroSD is often cheaper with higher capacities.

Price

The Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Dock costs $349.99, which is cheaper than the $399.99 Caldigit TS4 and close to Kensington’s SD5700T ($369.99).

At the time of writing, it is not available outside of the United States, but international releases are planned.

However, it is not fair to compare these docks. The Satechi TB4 docking station targets a different market: Windows professionals who need three or four monitors, rather than those who need multiple Thunderbolt ports.

The TS4 has a DisplayPort so works well with a single or, using one of the TB4 ports, a second 4K display, but if you want more monitors, the Satechi Multimedia Pro Dock is a more flexible solution.

Verdict

If you want Thunderbolt 4 downstream ports, this isn’t the docking station for you, as the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Docking Station is a solution for modern Windows professionals who need a setup to multiple monitors. Its support for four 4K displays at 60Hz is impressive, and with four high-end video ports, you can connect directly without an adapter.