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October Prime Day deals on Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs are on

Amazon's October Prime Day offers the best deals on Thunderbolt hubs, docks, and USB-C dongles to expand your PC.
Mark Hachman
By Mark Hachman
Senior Editor, PCWorld Oct 11, 2023 4:20 pm PDT
USB-C hub
Image: Unsplash / Lasse Jensen

Amazon October Prime Day deals on Thunderbolt docks, USB-C hubs, and dongles continue, but they’re becoming last-minute sales as the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days wind down.

Below you’ll find our curated list of the best October Prime Day bargains on Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs from Amazon as well as other retailers. We’ll also explain why we chose these deals, and offer additional advice on what to buy and why. Check out our top picks for the best Thunderbolt docks and the best USB-C hubs for additional context and information.

Best Prime Day deals on Thunderbolt docks

Amazon is limiting its best deals to Prime members, so consider signing up for the free 30-day trial.

We have four top deals to recommend. The standout deal won an Editor’s Choice award: Our review of the Belkin Thunderbolt Dock Core revealed it to be an excellent little portable Thunderbolt dock, now at a massive discount. The Kensington SD5700T also won an Editor’s Choice award, though you may have to invest in a couple of display cables.

Our third deal is on the Anker 778, which we haven’t reviewed yet. But we have reviewed the slightly less-featured USB4 variant, the Anker 568, and it too won an Editor’s Choice award.

We haven’t reviewed the StarTech dock, either, but we have significant experience with DisplayLink docks. This is a quad-monitor dock promising support for four 4K docks — yes, we believe it can probably achieve that, but it may be overkill for many people, too! It’s a premium dock at a good discount and is our fourth recommendation.

We haven’t reviewed the second Belkin dock, and it hasn’t received much attention — the reason for the discount, possibly. But boy, that’s a nice port selection, and this dock is at its lowest price of the year.

The Anker 577 and the Monoprice dock have also escaped our lab bench, for now. (We have reviewed other Anker and Monoprice docks and dongles, though, so we can vouch for the quality.) Keep in mind that the Monoprice dock supplies only 60W of charging power. That’s not bad for a general-purpose PC, but laptops with a discrete GPU or just a powerful charger may not be able to use the dock as the primary source of power.

IVIIN is a name we haven’t heard of before in the Thunderbolt dock market, and though the price is terrific ($200 is common, so $144 is a good bargain for the specs), this dock is a bit of an unknown factor. As for the CalDigit deal — that’s mainly for the Mac market, since it features just one DisplayPort display port. (It also has three upstream Thunderbolt connections.) Still, it’s a good deal on a very premium docking station. Here’s Macworld’s review of the CalDigit TS4.

Best Prime Day deals on USB-C hubs, docks, and dongles

Our pick for the best overall USB-C hub is the Anker 7-in-1 hub, which won an Editor’s Choice award. The Anker dock at the top of our list is the smaller 5-in-1 model, so we’d recommend it based on that factor alone.

Anker’s Triple Display 564 dock supplies the capabilities of Thunderbolt via DisplayLink, a compression technology we’ve been impressed with. Anker’s price is still a little high, but it does include laptop charging. Wavlink’s deal meets the price we’ve hoped these devices would achieve, though.

We’ve used the Hiearcool dongle before, and it’s solid.

We haven’t used the Acodot hub, but the price is right. The TOTU hub and the Acodot are fairly close in concept, though the TOTU features more of a compact design and the Acodot seems to have better ratings. The TOTU is at its lowest price of the year.

What to look for when buying a Thunderbolt dock or USB-C hub

Though we consider a Thunderbolt dock and a USB-C hub to be two separate product categories, they share similarities. Both use a USB-C output from your laptop. The difference is that some laptops use this port as a generic USB-C port, and others route the high-speed Thunderbolt 3 or 4 protocol through the USB-C socket. The former allows for typically 10Gbps of throughput, useful for USB keys, external storage, and perhaps an external display.

Thunderbolt (either Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4) allows for 40Gbps of throughput, designed for high-speed external SSDs and multiple displays. Our roundups of the best USB-C hubs and the best Thunderbolt docks explain further in much greater detail. Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 are close enough that you can save money by buying the older technology that retailers are trying to get rid of. Thunderbolt 5, which will deliver 80Gbps, isn’t quite here yet.

Put simply, USB-C hubs and dongles are relatively cheap, rarely climbing over $60. Prime Day is an opportunity to pick up a USB-C hub with inputs for USB expansion, Ethernet, SD cards, and more for very little — all ports that your laptop might lack. Just don’t go too crazy: All of the devices that the USB-C connects to will transfer data over the same 10Gbps port. That’s fine for a keyboard, mouse, and a hard drive which will power on, send data, and turn off. But sending a fire hose of simultaneous Ethernet, storage, and display data won’t work. You’ll need a Thunderbolt dock (and a laptop port) instead.

Thunderbolt docks require more care. Here, consider what you want to do: Connect a pair of 4K displays with HDMI? Look for Thunderbolt docks with a pair of HDMI ports. DisplayPort connections will work, but you’ll need a cheap intermediary cable. Thunderbolt docks have historically been in short supply, so this is an opportunity to pick up a pricey accessory at a discount. They’re almost a must-have for a home office.

FAQ

1.

I have a USB-C port on my laptop. How do I know what to use with it?

Consult your laptop’s manual. A Thunderbolt port may be labeled with a small lightning-bolt logo, but that icon can sometimes be used to signal that the port can be used for charging, too. If nothing else, a USB-C dongle/hub will always work with a USB-C port.

2.

I still don’t understand the difference between USB-C and Thunderbolt. How does it all work?

USB ports have been around for years. USB-C replaced USB-A (the square port) because USB-C was more versatile: The port connector was both reversible and allowed for higher speeds. USB-C ports can be rated for either 5Gbps or 10Gbps, just like a normal USB-A port. Some USB-C ports connect to a Thunderbolt chip inside your laptop, though, and this allows the port to run at a higher 40Gbps speed. Physically, the connector looks exactly the same. It’s just what it can do that’s different.

3.

What’s the difference between a USB-C hub and a Thunderbolt dock?

Speed and features. A USB-C hub connects to a single 4K (or 1080p) display, and provides a mix of ports: USB-A, SD card slots, and so on. You can usually plug your laptop’s USB-C power cable (if it uses one) right into it.

A Thunderbolt dock supplies even more bandwidth for more ports. There are two key differences: It has enough bandwidth to drive a pair of 4K displays, and many docks come with their own power supply that can charge your laptop as well as your phone. All that occurs via the Thunderbolt cable that connects your laptop to the dock.

4.

My laptop has USB4, not Thunderbolt. Can I use a Thunderbolt dock?

Yes and no. Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4 all run at 40Gbps across the same connector. USB4 is identical to Thunderbolt 4. But if your laptop runs USB4, it won’t “understand” Thunderbolt 3 protocols.

USB4 laptops are still extremely rare, and have an AMD Ryzen chip inside.

5.

Is Thunderbolt 4 better than Thunderbolt 3?

Physically, they use the same USB-C cable. Functionally, they’re almost the same. Thunderbolt 4 was released almost as a patch to Thunderbolt 3, ensuring that everything worked properly. If your laptop has Thunderbolt, you should probably be able to buy either a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 dock without any problems. Since Thunderbolt 3 is being phased out, you’ll probably find more discounts on the older Thunderbolt 3 hardware. (For the gory details, see our roundup of the best Thunderbolt docks.)

6.

I own a desktop PC. Do I need a Thunderbolt dock?

Possibly. Historically, the back of a desktop has been chock-full of I/O ports, especially DIY models that you build yourself. Desktops usually have extra room for internal SSDs, SD cards, and so on. However, if your desktop lacks these things, and includes an external Thunderbolt port, you can always add these additional components externally via Thunderbolt.

7.

Some of these docks have had bad reviews on shopping sites. What gives?

Read the user reviews closely. While Macs adopted Thunderbolt first, some of the Apple M1 silicon couldn’t keep up with Intel Thunderbolt controllers used by Windows PCs, and the Apple MacOS experience suffered as a result. If a Windows user complains, pay attention; otherwise, you can dismiss them.

This roundup was updated at 4:20 PM on Oct. 11, 2023 with the latest October Prime Day / Prime Big Deal Days deals for 2023.

, Senior Editor

As PCWorld's senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.

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