Docking station that works with mac and pc

It can be quite fun breaking down a busy docking station to see how it works since so many docks tend to fail in what they promise to deliver. Thankfully, this isn’t one of them. We have been testing out Kensington’s latest SD5350T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station, which touts things like 4K, fast charging and lots of USB to play with.

We are going start off with the over-all design of the unit and then we will run through this as well make our way physically around it, discussing each port (or set of ports). This way we can focus on the pros and cons of every single feature.

Design

The overall design of the unit is a familiar one. Just about all of these have been taking on a brushed aluminum look to blend in with the Macbook line of laptops. It’s modern, looks amazing, and can look equally amazing next to something that doesn’t have the same visual theme. Of course, many PC laptops have been taking on the same design as well over the years, proving that it’s one of the few things that Apple has gotten right (full disclosure, that’s a personal opinion, take it as you want).

There is some good weight to the docking station, with the top and bottom made from aluminum, and the black center running around, plastic. This not only adds to its durability and looks but also to its ability to spread heat (assuming the inside of the dock is designed to make use of this).

On the bottom, you get some sturdy rubber feet to keep it in place where it is sitting, as well as two mounting holes so that you can buy into an optional mount so that it can be attached to the VESA mount-holes on the back of a monitor. That last part is likely not going to affect many, and you can just as easily 3D print a solution to save money to help offset the cost of this baby (which we will get to toward the end).

Performance/Layout

The front-side of the unit contains two LEDs to show power and operation, as well as four inputs. First, you have your SD card slot, which every docking station needs. Sadly, there is no microSD slot next to it, so you’ll need a micro to normal SD adapter card nearby or make use of a USB adapter. The slot works well with cards, although it does come with one caveat. It only supports UHS-I speeds, which kills off any future-proofing for that input. UHS-II cards are starting to become quite popular within the photography and videography communities due to their incredible transfer speeds. Which will become even more important when cards grow further in capacity.

Next, you have two USB 3.1 ports, which are part of a sum of 5 total ports throughout the dock. They are not shy with the 3.1 ports at all on this model, which is wonderful. They are gen 1 ports, so they max out at 5Gbps. The one on the left (which lacks an icon to designate this) offers 2.1A output for charging your devices with. It would have been nice to see a USCB-C port on the front due to the growing demand for these inputs with other devices and adapters, but at least you get access to one on the back.

Finally, you have a 3.5mm TRRS aux input for either headphones, external speakers, or a gaming headset. This way you can get your audio on using the dock, regardless of what you want to use the port for.

Turning it to the left side of the dock, you get two laptop/device lock inputs so that you can lock this down if you are in a situation where you might worry that it could walk away (mobile/vacation, etc). It supports both styles of Kensington locks (both regular and their nano-series). Of course, it won’t support the noble connection if you have a modern Dell you are pairing this with, so you’ll have to live with two different styles of locks if you fall into that scenario.

Continuing to the back-side, you start with the other three USB 3.1 ports. These too are gen 1, thus 5Gbps total throughput. So you plenty of regular USB inputs to play with.

Then you have a gigabit Ethernet port. No dock is a docking station without Ethernet since nearly every modern laptop out there that isn’t a thicker gaming rig, has ditched the Ethernet port in favor of making laptops thinner. It functions well and keeps you connected as you work or play.

Next, you have two Thunderbolt 3 ports. The first one is your accessory port that can supply up to 15W of power and us used for daisy-chaining other TB3 devices, a second monitor (adapter not included), or USB-C devices (this is where I mentioned you at least have the backside for this). The second port is the connection you make to your computer. If your system is a laptop, this port can supply up to 60W of power, allowing it to also charge the laptop while the dock is in use (as long as the TB3 port on the laptop is what is used to charge the laptop with).

Then you have an HDMI 2.0 port which acts as your main graphics solution for an external monitor. Both this HDMI and the TB3 (with a USB-C to HDMI adapter) accessory port, used together, can supply up to two 4K monitors at the same time. Or, you can feed a single 5K monitor. Both scenarios max at 60Hz. We did test it using two 4K LG monitors and it worked wonderfully.

Finally, there is your power input for the AC adapter/brick it comes with, which of course, is required to make everything work.

Cost & Accessories

As for cost, it will run you around $300 to $310, making it pricey and up there with some of the best docks, which can get a bit risky. This has lowered the score some since there are a few better options out there and this one lacks a little umph when it comes to data transfer.

Also, this dock (SD5350T) is identical (or so it seems) to the SD5300T model. The only difference is that the SD5300T model comes with a USB-C to HDMI adapter, where this one doesn’t. Kensington’s site even sends you to each listing (shares the same product page on Kensington.com) on where to buy them, based on if you select to include the adapter or not. What adds to this confusion is that the SD5300T is only $240. So as long as there are no other differences between the two models, clearly, we’d recommend the SD5300T over this one.

It does, at least, come with the TB3 cable to go in between itself and your system with. You have that mentioned power brick and cord, and some very simple instructions (it doesn’t take much to figure this out).

Our Conclusion

It nearly hit a 7.0 score, but it held onto the 7.5 because it works well. It comes with plenty of USB 3.1 ports and the overall speed is nice. 4K works perfectly, even if you are running two screens with this dock. You just have to make sure your computer is modern enough to handle it. It is unfortunate that they decided not to include the USB-C to HDMI adapter with this model when the other (more affordable) model that looks to be identical to this one does. We also wish the SD card slot was more modern so that it could support the new/faster cards. However, all of its connectivity seems to work well, regardless. It’s the price that holds the most weight on the final score due to both competition and that SD5300T model that seems to be haunting us. Overall, it is still a very solid docking station that we liked a lot.

7.5 / 10 stars           

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Additional Images:

Specifications:

• Connection Technology

  Thunderbolt 3

• Driverless

  Yes

• Additional Screen Outputs

  2

• Video Ports

  USB-C, HDMI

• Maximum Resolution

  4K

• Power Delivery

  60W

• Operating System(s)

  macOS, Windows

• SD Card Reader

  Yes

• Number of USB Ports

  5

• USB Fast Charging

  Yes

• DockWorks

  Yes

• Best For

  Thunderbolt 3 Laptops & Ultrabooks and Monitors that support up to 4K

• Compatibility

  Windows 10, macOS 10.14 or above

• Card Reader

  SD 3.0 UHS-I with speeds up to 104MB/s

• USB 3.0 Ports

  5x: (2) USB 3.1 Gen1 (front) with one supporting 5V/2.1A fast-charging & (3) USB 3.1 Gen1 (back) supporting 5V/0.9A

• USB-C Ports

  2 x TB3 Ports: one supporting up to 15W and a second supporting up to 60W (host port)

• Audio

  1 x 3.5mm Combo Microphone & Headphone Port (front)

• Data Transfer Speeds

  Supports up to 40Gbps data transfer speed

• Ethernet Speed (Mbps)

  1000, 100, 10

• Maximum Resolution Supported

  Single Monitor: 5K (5120 x 2880 @ 60Hz), Dual Monitors: 4K (4096 x 2160 @ 60 Hz)

• Mounting Option

  VESA Mount Compatible: Mounting plate (K33959WW) for 75mm or 100mm VESA layouts sold separately

• Warranty

  3 years

• Plug & Play

  Yes – no need for drivers or downloads

• Security Slot Compatibility

  Kensington Security Slot, Kensington Nano Security Slot

• System Requirements

  Only compatible with laptops equipped with Thunderbolt 3 ports; not backward compatible with Thunderbolt 1 or Thunderbolt 2. For Windows-based devices, ensure your laptop supports Power Delivery.

• USB-C Power Delivery

  Supports USB-C PD 3.0 (60W of laptop charging)

• Video Output

  1 x HDMI v2.0, Optional Secondary Monitor via USB-C to HDMI video adapter (not included)

• 4K Support

  Yes

• HDMI Adapter Included

  Yes

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.

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