Review: The Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 Is Ideal for Hybrid Work

The dual 4K docking station supports multiple devices with incredible video and audio bandwidth and power.

Twitter

LISTEN

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Docking stations have been around for a very long time. Over the years, they have found a lot of success in government use, particularly where workers are likely to be out in the field part of the time and 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 had to use 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 today. It comes packed with four Thunderbolt 4 ports that can transfer large amounts of data, audio signals and high-resolution video.

Click the banner below to begin future-proofing your network.

Augmenting Laptops with Peripherals Is Easy

Attaching peripherals such as laptops or 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 of the video feeds 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.

The Thunderbolt 4 Supports Videoconferencing

While the Thunderbolt 4 ports are the stars of the show, the docking station also has some nice extras that federal workers may find useful. The first is a UHS II SD 4.0 card reader, which can be used to transfer data quickly from peripheral devices (for instance, when a Federal Emergency Management Agency field worker takes pictures of storm damage using a digital camera). The combination microphone and headphone port at the front of the device supports videoconferencing and audio accessibility and can be helpful in 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 amount of power required for quick charging.

As expected from a device manufactured by Kensington, the docking station supports the use of a Kensington lock to protect it from theft. An optional mounting bracket allows 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 iPads. 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)

Why Is Thunderbolt 4 So Special?

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. The first Thunderbolt cables supported two data channels, each capable of 10-gigabit-per-second throughput. 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 was able to make 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 or large file backups. It carries both video and sound, and supports up to 4K display resolution at 60 hertz — mirroring the DisplayPort standard.

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

More On Conferencing, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets,