Hardware

Review: Kensington Docking Station Is a Dream for Hybrid Workers

The SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 supports multiple devices with excellent bandwidth for video and audio.

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John Breeden II is an award-winning reviewer and public speaker with 20 years of experience covering technology.

Docking stations have been around for a long time. Over the years, they have found a lot of use, especially for workers who are out in the field part of the time, then back in an office for paperwork or other duties. Early docking stations generally allowed laptops to connect to a desktop monitor or computer, though users sometimes needed thumbscrews and serial ports to connect everything. In a lot of ways, those devices were clunky, but they got the job done.

To say that the Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 dual 4K docking station is improved from those older models is an understatement. In fact, the SD5700T is one of the most advanced docking ports on the market. It comes packed with four Thunderbolt 4 ports that can transfer large amounts of data, audio signals and high-resolution video.

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Attaching peripherals such as laptops and tablets to the docking station takes only a single step. Merely connect a Thunderbolt 4 cable to a USB-C port on your computing device (most Windows 10 or 11 laptops have a Thunderbolt port). The cable will also connect to other ports using an adapter, and it’s backward compatible with older Thunderbolt ports.

The docking station supports up to two monitors at a time. When using a true dual-monitor setup, each video feed can be at 4K and 60 hertz. If using a single monitor, the feed can be at 8K (if the monitor supports it) but only 30 hertz.

Kensington SD5700T Is Packed with Extras

While the Thunderbolt 4 ports are the stars of the show, the docking station also has some useful extras. The first is a UHS-II SD 4.0 card reader, which can help transfer data quickly from peripheral devices. The combination microphone and headphone port at the front of the device supports videoconferencing and audio accessibility, and it can be great for quiet areas where the sound might distract others.

Another nice touch: The dock provides up to 90 watts of power through its Thunderbolt ports and is optimized to ensure that whatever is plugged in gets the maximum power required for quick charging.

As expected from a device made by Kensington, the docking station supports the use of a Kensington lock to protect it from theft. An optional mounting bracket enables it to be fully locked down or positioned in an out-of-the-way spot.

Given all that Thunderbolt 4 can do, there is good reason to believe that the standard has topped out for a while. At least one Thunderbolt 4 port now routinely ships with most Intel-based desktops, laptops and tablets. It’s also standard on new Mac desktops and Apple iPad devices. Thunderbolt 4 is an amazingly advanced technology and should be around for a long time.

SPECIFICATIONS

CONNECTIVITY: 11 ports (four Thunderbolt 4, four USB-A, Gigabit Ethernet, audio combo jack, UHS-II SD 4.0 card slot)
MAX RESOLUTION: 8K at 30 hertz
DATA TRANSFER SPEED: Up to 40Gbps
CHARGING POWER: 90W
DIMENSIONS: 7.7x3.0x1.2 inches (zero-footprint mounting option)

Is Thunderbolt 4 Worth the Upgrade?

The Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 dual 4K docking station is one of the first devices to support multiple Thunderbolt 4 ports. Unless devices suddenly start requiring exponentially more bandwidth, it could be the standard for quite some time.

Thunderbolt ports came into favor several years ago with the introduction of the original standard, which supported two data channels, each capable of throughput of 10 gigabits per second. They were bidirectional too, so they could handle 10Gbps streaming into and out of devices at the same time. Thunderbolt 2 allowed those separate channels to merge, so it could support up to 20Gbps flowing in a single direction — perfect for applications such as streaming video.

Thunderbolt 3 was another step up and made use of the USB-C connector found on most new PCs and Macs. Then Thunderbolt 4 came along. Today, it’s the hands-down pinnacle of ports.

The Thunderbolt 4 standard supports up to 40Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth, so it’s ideal for compute-intensive tasks such as PC-to-PC data transfers and large file backups. It carries both video and sound, and it supports up to 4K display resolution at 60 hertz, mirroring the DisplayPort standard.

Thunderbolt technology can also transfer power to connected devices, making it a great choice for use in docking stations such as the Kensington SD5700T.