Razer, of all companies, made the best value Thunderbolt docking station — and you don't even need Thunderbolt

[Windows Central]

The Razer USB4 Dock boasts all the capabilities of a full-fledged Thunderbolt 4 docking station, but with a lower price and wider compatibility with more devices.

Razer, of all companies, made the best value Thunderbolt docking station — and you don't even need Thunderbolt : Read more

 

[serdezdezen]

I think most Thunderbolt 4 docks are cross compatible with USB 4 devices.

I use my Lenovo Thunderbolt 4 docks almost exclusively with AMD USB 4 devices and have never had an issue.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

I think most Thunderbolt 4 docks are cross compatible with USB 4 devices.

I use my Lenovo Thunderbolt 4 docks almost exclusively with AMD USB 4 devices and have never had an issue.

Most are, as I mention, but it's not guaranteed. Not all Thunderbolt 4 docks and accessories are compatible with all USB4 devices. A full USB4 dock not only costs less, you don't have to worry about compatibility at all, it should work with all Thunderbolt 4/5 and USB4 devices equally.

 

[RiftBlade]

Most are, as I mention, but it's not guaranteed

Thunderbolt 4 is purely a certification for USB4 devices. There is nothing that USB4 guarantees that Thunderbolt 4 doesn't.

you don't have to worry about compatibility at all, it should work with all Thunderbolt 4/5 and USB4 devices equally.

MacBooks with Thunderbolt 4 ports are included in "all Thunderbolt 4" devices, however this dock will get stuck in display mirroring mode with a Mac due to Apple boycotting MST (the method that this dock uses to drive multiple displays). Thunderbolt 4 requires that docks support multiple DP tunnels, which enables multiple screens on MacOS (although with many docks the displays need to be connected in specific ways for that to work).

So it doesn't work with all Thunderbolt 4 devices equally.

This also doesn't work with Thunderbolt 3 backwards compatibility (which is optional in the USB4 specification but required to receive Thunderbolt 4 certification). So it is also necessary to worry about compatibility in that regard.

On the other side I am not aware of any cases of Thunderbolt 4 docks not working with USB4 devices in practice (there are theoretical ways that things can be incompatible if laptops don't implement certain optional USB4 features, how in practice all laptops do and Microsoft mandates most of those features for laptops that ship with Windows).

This dock uses the same main chips (Via Labs VL830 USB4 controller and Synaptics VMM6210 for the display outputs) as much cheaper docks like the Anker 556. Compared to the Anker 556 this Razer dock gains 1 USB-C port, 3 USB-A ports, and a MicroSD/SD card slot. Although it has the same total bandwidth available so those additional ports share bandwidth with everything else on the dock (same as if you plugged a cheap 4-port USB hub into the dock).

Are those additional 4 ports + MicroSD/SD card slot really worth paying 2.3 times as much for? I don't think so, which means that this isn't the best value dock.

At the price of this dock I'd recommend the Dell WD22TB4 or the Kensington SD5700T instead. Those have fewer but more capable ports paired with a more capable controller.

Edit: The Cable Matters 16-in-1 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Dock seems to offer objectively better (ie. equal or better in all ways) specifications while being $10 cheaper (on Amazon US currently). To be specific it offers quad display on Windows/Linux and dual display on Mac (double in both cases), two additional USB-A ports (10 Gbps and 5 Gbps), 2.5 Gbps Ethernet (using the universal implementation), more total bandwidth (due to a superior controller chip), and proper backwards compatibility with Thunderbolt 3 laptops. Although if you want more capable (ex. USB 40 Gbps output) but fewer ports then the Dell WD22TB4 or Kensington SD5700T that I mentioned above are better choices.

 

[rahzin]

So question on this then. I've got a 2021 Razer Blade 15 with a Thunderbolt 4 port, but technically no USB4 support. Will a this dock do everything advertised when plugged into a Thunderbolt 4 port but without USB4 support on the device?

 

[RiftBlade]

So question on this then. I've got a 2021 Razer Blade 15 with a Thunderbolt 4 port, but technically no USB4 support. Will a this dock do everything advertised when plugged into a Thunderbolt 4 port but without USB4 support on the device?

Thunderbolt 4 isn't a port. Thunderbolt 4 is a certification for USB4 ports that include certain optional features of USB4 and have been put through a certification process.

So your laptop does have a USB4 port and this dock will function fully.

The only Thunderbolt 4 laptops this dock won't work fully on are MacBooks. There are 2 different protocols for driving multiple display outputs over USB4/Thunderbolt and the one that Apple supports is different from the one that this dock supports. However afaik all Windows and Linux machines with USB4/Thunderbolt ports support both protocols.

Keep in mind that this dock's main controller chips (and therefore it's overall bandwidth and capability limitations) are the same as used in much cheaper docks like the Anker 556. This just has more ports. So consider that before deciding that this is the dock you want. If you are interested in higher capabilities (at the same price as this dock) I suggest looking at the Dell WD22TB4, Kensington SD5700T, or Cable Matters 16-in-1 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Dock instead.

 

[rahzin]

Thunderbolt 4 isn't a port. Thunderbolt 4 is a certification for USB4 ports that include certain optional features of USB4 and have been put through a certification process.

So your laptop does have a USB4 port and this dock will function fully.

The only Thunderbolt 4 laptops this dock won't work fully on are MacBooks. There are 2 different protocols for driving multiple display outputs over USB4/Thunderbolt and the one that Apple supports is different from the one that this dock supports. However afaik all Windows and Linux machines with USB4/Thunderbolt ports support both protocols.

Keep in mind that this dock's main controller chips (and therefore it's overall bandwidth and capability limitations) are the same as used in much cheaper docks like the Anker 556. This just has more ports. So consider that before deciding that this is the dock you want. If you are interested in higher capabilities (at the same price as this dock) I suggest looking at the Dell WD22TB4, Kensington SD5700T, or Cable Matters 16-in-1 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Dock instead.

Thanks for the info, I did not realize that Thunderbolt 4 means USB4. I'm primarily looking for a dock that does 100w charging, has a 3.5mm jack, and has DP/HDMI connections. Seems like the Cable Matters one you mentioned checks all those boxes, so I'll take a look at that.

Also, I was under the impression that Thunderbolt 4 includes mandatory 100w charging in the spec. Interesting that the Kensington dock only chargers at 90w but still claims to be Thunderbolt 4. Does the wattage requirement only apply to the device being charged?

 

[RiftBlade]

Also, I was under the impression that Thunderbolt 4 includes mandatory 100w charging in the spec. Interesting that the Kensington dock only chargers at 90w but still claims to be Thunderbolt 4. Does the wattage requirement only apply to the device being charged?

Yep.

It requires that the device being charged supports charging at at least 100w or the maximum power that the device can support, whichever is lower.

For example if you have a thin laptop that can only charge at 60w then the Thunderbolt port on the laptop only needs to support 60w, however if you have a massive gaming laptop with a 300w charger then the Thunderbolt port must support at least 100w. However companies can't choose to limit the Thunderbolt port to less than 100w if the laptop is capable of taking more through a different port.