Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Dock review
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: 30-second review
Typically, Thunderbolt 4 docks are more expensive than TB3 or USB-C docks. However, the first thing most potential customers of the Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking will notice is that the device is not expensive and is one of the cheapest available.
However, the relatively low price doesn’t seriously compromise the quality of the dock, which features an all-metal exterior and a total of thirteen ports.
It also comes with a power button (there’s none on the base) and comes with a chunky power supply that can charge a connected laptop with 96W of power through the base.
Up to three monitors can be connected (assuming your laptop supports that many monitors) using Thunderbolt downlinks along with adapters (not included) and two HDMI outputs.
One limitation of the device is that it only has one Thunderbolt downlink, limiting its use with Thunderbolt peripherals. Another problem is that if many ports are used simultaneously, the available 40Gbps connection will be stretched thin.
If none of these work for you, this is a well-made and less expensive dock compared to the cost of a Thunderbolt dock.
Make sure you have Thunderbolt and not just USB-C ports before buying to avoid disappointment.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Price and Availability
- how much does it cost? $199/£159.02/€185.71
- When will it be released? Available now
- Where can you get it? directly from Paulinck or through an online reseller
The UTD45 or WAVLINK Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station (also known as the WAVLINK Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station) costs $199 (USD), £159.02 (GBP) and €185.71 (Europe) when purchased directly from Wavlink.
Standard online prices are the same if you buy from amazon.comalthough there’s currently a sale going on, with an additional $20 coupon reducing the price.
The only Thunderbolt docks that come close to that price are the OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock ($229.99) and the Kensington SD5760T Thunderbolt 4 Dual 4K The docking station costs $206.12. However, Wavlink undercuts the advantages of both.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station: Specifications
| compatibility | TB4 |
| Number of ports | 13 |
| port | 1x TB4 upstream PD 96W, 1x TB4 downstream, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C PD 20W, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x TRRS audio input/output socket hole, 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 Ethernet port, 1x SD 4.0 card reader (320MBps), 1x MicroSD 4.0 card reader (320MBps |
| Downstream power | 15W Thunderbolt port, 30W USB-C |
| upstream power | 98W lightning |
| size | 217.7 x 83.1 x 31.1 mm (width x depth x height) |
| weight | ?545g |
| Accessories | Adapter 160W 20V 8A, 80cm Thunderbolt 4 cable |
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Design
- Durable
- many ports
- There is only one downlink
Picking up the UTD45 (which I’ll be referring to from now on), the exterior of the device is made of cast aluminum, which is cool to the touch.
Unlike some plastic bases, this one is almost certainly designed to handle the abuse of office use, and the metal construction helps keep everything inside cool.
Slot vents on the underside and sidewalls allow for some air exchange, but we’re assuming all cooling is passive since it produces no fan noise in use.
One feature that seems to be missing from many docks these days is a power button, but the UTD45 has one on the front that powers the dock when you connect it to your system.
In addition to the power button, there’s a Thunderbolt uplink on the front that doubles as a charging source, with 96W of power behind it. Included in the SD 4.0 specification are two 10Gbps USB ports (one of each type), a TRRS 4-pole phone, and two SD card slots for SD and Micro SD.
This is a personal preference, but a Thunderbolt uplink on the back might be better. One curious thing about this port is that Wavlink provides a screw-in retainer to ensure it doesn’t accidentally come off. This seems a bit redundant considering the friction fit of USB-C connectors is usually enough to stay connected.
The rest of the ports are on the back, including dual HDMI 2.1, 2.5GbE LAN, three USB-A ports, and a single Thunderbolt 4 downlink.
Two weaknesses of this design are that it only has one terabyte downlink, and some customers prefer a DisplayPort connection. You can work around the latter by using a single downlink with a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort adapter, but this will use the only Thunderbolt connection available.
Most laptops won’t drive more than a few monitors with any good fluidity, and most monitors have HDMI inputs, so this might not be a big issue for some people.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Features
- Bandwidth oversubscribed
- Obsession with USB-A
- Power management
Since only the TB 4 downlink and USB ports have 40Gbps of Thunderbolt bandwidth and a potential demand of at least 75Gbps, bandwidth on this port is oversubscribed, as is the case with most docking stations.
Although Wavlink didn’t say it implicitly, it is suspected that this base uses the same Intel The JHL8440 chip is the same as most other TB docks.
Priority is given here to USB over Thunderbolt peripherals, with only one downlink for Thunderbolt and five USB ports. Of these USB ports, only one is Gen 1, while the rest are Gen 2, perfect for connecting external USD storage.
Perhaps more than one USB-C port might be preferable, as the only front-facing port of the type is designed to charge budget 30W phones to achieve that goal.
This power output also hints that the device may be power oversubscribed in addition to being optimistic about bandwidth.
The supplied PSU is rated at 160W, but the TB uplink consumes up to 96W, the downlink consumes another 15W, and the USB-C port may consume 30W. When you add in the other port power requirements and the power overhead of the dock, those numbers don’t add up to 160W.
Assuming you have a large number of USB devices powered, the total power output of the uplink port will adjust since it accounts for by far the largest share of the budget.
Therefore, connecting all 13 ports on the UTD45 may not be advisable for several good reasons.
That’s not to say that other docks are perfectly immune to these issues, but it’s worth noting that even if a dock has all of these connection options, that doesn’t mean that their use is encouraged.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Performance
- better than average performance
- Apple hardware limitations
Evaluating the performance of systems with a large number of ports and various connection methods (such as Thunderbolt, USB, SD card, and LAN) can be ineffective without specific use cases to guide the evaluation.
However, to check if Thunderbolt’s bandwidth is fully exposed, we connected a Thunderbolt SSD (OWC Envoy Pro FX) to the downlink. We tested performance when accessed via the dock using the following command Acer Travelmate P was tested using CrystalDiskMark and AJA systems.
Compared to other docks tested, the UTD45 performed very well. When the drive’s write cache is set to active in Windows, it has a read speed of 2855Mbps and a write speed of 1532Mbps in CrystalDisk.
Like other docks, you can get 8K Shows from Windows but doesn’t apple hardware. ,
On Windows, you can connect up to three 4K/60Hz monitors, or four if one of the monitors is running at 4K/30Hz. Both Windows and Mac systems support 5K/60Hz dual displays. The maximum resolution on PC is 8K/60Hz (7680 x 4320), while the maximum single-screen resolution on Mac is 6K/60Hz (6144 x 3456).
Apple also placed some arbitrary restrictions on early M1 hardware, stating that they could only support two displays, so if you own the device it might be worth checking with Wavlink before buying.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Conclusion
At a moderate cost, this is an excellent docking station designed for laptop users with Thunderbolt ports that primarily use USB peripherals. For those with Thunderbolt peripherals, it doesn’t provide enough downlink and can only connect a single monitor using Thunderbolt or a DisplayPort adapter on that port.
All dock manufacturers try to create a unique balance between the different services they offer in order to attract sales, and UTD45 succeeds in reaching the majority of people who use docks. For some it won’t be ideal, but for many the feature set is fine.
And, most importantly, the price makes for an excellent value proposition.
Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Report Card
| value | Thunderbolt docks are cheap | 4/5 |
| design | All-metal construction and plenty of ports | 4/5 |
| feature | Only 1 TB downlink, but USB is well supported | 4/5 |
| Performance | Good Thunderbolt performance and multi-monitor support | 4/5 |
| Comprehensive | Cheap Thunderbolt dock, but has some limitations | 4/5 |
Should you buy the Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 Dock?
