Thunderbolt 4 Dock - Razer vs Kensington vs OWC vs Sonnet?

[Chevron]

At first glance these four Thunderbolt 4 like very similar in terms of ports and functionality - it may be the case that you can't go wrong with either of them - but which would you choose?

Razor
Kensington
OWC
Sonnet

I plan on getting a 16" MacBook M1 Max and the predominant use will be for music production.

I will connect 1 x 4k monitor, 2 x Audio Interfaces via USB A, MIDI Controller via USB A, iLok dongle via USB A, text keyboard, Ethernet switch with control surface plus internet, and of course TB connection to MBP for power and data.

For external storage, the plan is to get an OWC ThunderBay 4, which will likely connect to another TB port on the MBP. Or maybe ot the Dock if it makes sense to do so.

I am pretty much settled on the Kensington, however still open-minded and looking at the finer details....

Cheers

 

[Ifti]

I have several external SSD drives and arrays. My main two being OWC Thunderblade drives. I wanted to connect the Thunderblades to my MBP via a single port as I only ever use one drive at a time when editing, but have libraries across both that I may access.

Hence I had been using a CalDigit Element Hub:

Very nice hub but in the end I went for the OWC version - just because it matched with my OWC drives! lol

OWC Thunderbolt Hub Docking Station Grey/Black Thunderbolt 4 USB-A

Actual display supports varies upon computer specifications. Supported Intel-based Mac models and Thunderbolt 4 PCs support two displays over a Thunderbolt port. The following Apple M1 Mac models support a single display over a Thunderbolt port: - MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) - MacBookPro17.1 ...

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Chevron]

I have several external SSD drives and arrays. My main two being OWC Thunderblade drives. I wanted to connect the Thunderblades to my MBP via a single port as I only ever use one drive at a time when editing, but have libraries across both that I may access.

Hence I had been using a CalDigit Element Hub:

Very nice hub but in the end I went for the OWC version - just because it matched with my OWC drives! lol

OWC Thunderbolt Hub Docking Station Grey/Black Thunderbolt 4 USB-A

Actual display supports varies upon computer specifications. Supported Intel-based Mac models and Thunderbolt 4 PCs support two displays over a Thunderbolt port. The following Apple M1 Mac models support a single display over a Thunderbolt port: - MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) - MacBookPro17.1 ...

www.amazon.co.uk

I hear you on the aesthetics : )

I was considering the CalDigit Element hub, however I need Ethernet and prefer 90W charging to the 60W the Element supplies... So the bigger boys are more what I after.

 

[Ifti]

I hear you on the aesthetics : )

I was considering the CalDigit Element hub, however I need Ethernet and prefer 90W charging to the 60W the Element supplies... So the bigger boys are more what I after.

Understandable - I generally only needed more TB ports so with with a hub rather then a dock.

I do use 10GBe for networking, and this was the only one I came across that supported 10GBe, but had a fan, which I found a little annoying with more longer term use:

Note its TB3 though, not TH4.
Ended us using a TB3 to 10GBe adapter in the end which is silent!

Generally they all do pretty much the same thing and perform equally as well. I tend to lean towards CalDigit or OWC as they are the ones I've used the most in the past and have rarely had issues with!

 

[altdimension]

I got the Razer TB4 dock last week and have it connected up to my MacBook Pro (2020 10th-gen Intel). AMA

Has worked a treat and I would recommend it, however... I don't seem to be getting full ethernet speeds. I have a 1gig connection and before I was connected via a dongle and would consistently see the full 1gig on speed tests, now I can only seem to reach 700-meg. Not a big issue tbh but worth noting.

 

[macphoto861]

There are several docks that look good, but they only deliver 60w. I personally don't care about fast charging, but I do need it to keep up with the power demand from the computer. 60w would surely be enough to power it when mostly idle and doing light tasks, but is it sufficient when the CPU (and possibly the GPU) are maxed out? My previous MBP (i9) would pull just a tiny bit of power from the battery during these kinds of operations with an ~85w dock. It's been said that these new M1 MBPs are considerably more power efficient, but will 60w be enough?

 

[_alxmac]

Can you turn off the rave lights on the Razer?

 

[Hammie]

I don't understand why all these companies put the upstream port on the front panel. I prefer the cleaner look of the upstream port in the back of the dock.

I went with the Caldigit USB-C HDMI Dock. Primarily because I am using dual displays and because of the rear upstream port. I have not done any hard testing (nor will I) but it has worked for me in every way needed.

 

[dallegre]

I had the OWC and Sonnet on order, ended up with the OWC because it came in stock first. I suspect these docks are all pretty much identical internally. I have an external monitor, two USB A drive enclosures, and a little audio interface attached at this point and plan to move to a Thunderbay 4 pretty soon. Have had zero issues, although I'm not pushing the throughput too hard with my current setup.

Agree with Hammie that a rear upstream port would be preferrable.

 

[andrewj]

I use the OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock with my 2019 MBP 16. One reason is it has two Thunderbolt outputs, which I use with two monitors. It works fine. I previously had a Caldigit (older generation) that had a Thunderbolt output and a HDMI output, but I wasn't able to get that to work with two monitors. I don't know if having two different type video outputs confuses the system.