Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock review: Double the 4K, double the fun

Laptops are fantastic little productivity machines for when you're on the go, but when you want to get some serious work done at your desk, screen size can become a big trouble. Certain, you lot tin can run your laptop into a monitor to get some more than screen real estate, only yous're adequately express on the ports you take at your fingertips. That's where display docks come in.

Plugable's USB iii.0 Dual 4K display dock (UD-6950H) aims to solve your demand for extra screen space while giving you a boatload of extra USB ports to work with. It essentially wants to immitate the expansive number of ports you'd get with a desktop PC, including a boatload of USB ports, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Best of all, information technology can extend your screen beyond ii 4K displays at one time — and so long as your laptop can handle it.

And so how does it stand upwardly? I've spent a couple of weeks with this dock hooked upwards to my Surface Volume 2, so let's take a await.

Dual Wielding 4K

Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock

$150 at Amazon

Lesser line: Plugable'southward pedigree shines here, making the USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock (UD-6950H) and excellent option for turning your laptop into a desktop experience. Exterior of a few pocket-size caveats, it's worth checking out.

Pros

Dual 4K at 60Hz
Back up for 5K
Ample USB ports
Ethernet

Cons

Expensive
Plastic exterior feels cheap for the cost
Huge wall wart

What you'll like almost the Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K brandish dock

Plugable has fabricated a name for itself in the globe of USB docking stations, and the company's experience is on display here. The Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock (UD-6950H) brings with it a bevy of ports and works flawlessly for what it'southward designed to do: extend your brandish. What'south even better, you can run 2 4K displays or i 5K monitor off of a unmarried USB 3.0 connectedness.

Up front end, y'all get admission to four additional USB 3.0 ports, along with one audio in and one audio out port. Effectually dorsum, yous'll find two more than USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet port. In other words, y'all'll exist set up to easily turn whatever laptop into a desktop-like experience with a bevy of USB ports, hardwired net, forth with headphones and a microphone.

Also on the rear is where virtually of the muddy work gets washed. At that place are two HDMI ports and two DisplayPort outputs. Yous can sew together to 2 4K displays over either type of port at refresh rates of upward to 60Hz. Alternatively, you can run a single 5K display at 60Hz, but you'll have to hook it up to both DisplayPort outputs.

Getting up and running was relatively fast as well, although you lot'll take to install a divide DisplayLink driver from Plugable'southward website before the dock will work. One time you lot've installed the driver and run your cables, your continued monitors volition take over. From there, you can customize how you want Windows to handle the external displays in your PC'southward display settings.

In my testing, the dock produced a solid film for any productivity tasks and general spider web browsing I threw at it without whatsoever hiccups. Colors were reproduced well and in that location weren't any hitches with motility on the screen. Existence able to connect upwardly to half dozen additional USB accessories while pushing video out to carve up displays over a single cable running from my laptop felt a trivial magical.

What y'all'll dislike near the Plugable USB iii.0 Dual 4K display dock

While the Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock (UD-6950H) works bully for what information technology's designed to do, there are a couple of modest annoyances that are worth noting.

One of my biggest pet peeves in 2022 is electronics that come with big plugs. This brandish dock is powered externally, so you accept to have it plugged in and switched on to work. While that's fine in and of itself, the wall wart that you're required to use hands eats up the space of two plugs on a ability strip.

I would have much rather seen Plugable adopt an approach similar to most laptops, where a smaller plug is extended from a brick that sits betwixt the dock and the power strip.

The dock as well packs a ton of ports, but it would accept been keen to see an SD menu slot tagging forth as well. You tin always purchase an additional USB adapter and use one of the six USB ports included on the dock, but the absence of a dedicated slot is disappointing. Then again, a lot of laptops include an SD card slot already, so your mileage may vary.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that, given the price, the plastic build feels a little cheap. It doesn't feel like information technology'due south in danger of falling apart, to be sure, but I'd expect something a little sturdier for $150.

So should you purchase the Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock?

For what it'southward designed to practice, the Plugable USB three.0 Dual 4K brandish dock (UD-6950H) is an fantabulous selection. The option to run two 4K displays off of a single USB 3.0 port, while adding half dozen more USB ports, audio, and ethernet connectivity, is pretty alluring. If you lot don't want to invest in a total desktop PC setup, then this is a solid way of getting that desktop experience with just your laptop.

The only major snag is that toll: $150 isn't inexpensive, though the dock tin sometimes be found on Amazon at a meaning discount. All the same, if you're simply going to claw up to a monitor occasionally, you might be ameliorate served using a USB-C to HDMI cable, or something like, to run your laptop directly into your display. That's particularly true if you're looking to do any sort of gaming, which is a scenario Plugable recommends against with this dock given a range of potential problems you may encounter.

Plug it in

Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K brandish dock

Dual 4K

If you lot demand to add some actress screen real estate, plenty of USB ports, and ethernet to your desktop, so the Plugable USB 3.0 Dual 4K display dock is a very capable pick.

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