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One of the first things any professional or enthusiast will need when building a powerful or simply usable system using a laptop is a dock. Today’s laptops don’t offer as much for connectivity anymore because they keep getting thinner and thinner, which sacrifices connectivity (ports) to achieve this. Now you are limited to a few USB ports and may not even have an Ethernet connection. So a dock comes into play to deliver all of these ports back into the mix with, and then some (giving you a desktop-like experience).
Of course, then you have to buy the right dock for the laptop. Does the laptop have USB-C or does it have Thunderbolt 3 (TB3)? If it has TB3, then it will support either dock type, but TB3 is where the performance will be. If you have a USB-C laptop, then you have to get a USB-C dock, which won’t be as fast but will still be plenty versatile. If you have two laptops, and one is USB-C and the other is TB3, then you get one of each (which can get real expensive) or compromise with a single USB-C dock used between them. Then you have another “or” to throw in–or, you can buy into Kensington’s new SD2500T TB3/USB-C Hybrid Nano Dock that can do both!
Kensington’s new dock can work as a TB3 dock or work as a USB-C dock, which makes it stand out a bit when it comes to universal compatibility. You see, usually, a TB3 dock won’t do much or work at all if plugged into a USB-C port that doesn’t support TB3. A TB3 port is backward compatible, but USB-C is forward compatible with a technology it doesn’t support. So to have a dock that can auto-switch between the two is a big win.
The design of the dock is quite familiar with many docks out there in the wild. Rectangular in shape, stackable, ports on both the front and back and a power cable that runs to the wall. What makes it different is how small it is.
It’s about the size and shape of a large smartphone (ie, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus), and about 50% taller. It can easily be slid into a pocket, therefore it can easily be slide just about anywhere else (a backpack or briefcase, for example). Unless you’re wearing skinny pants–then you might have some conversation-starting bulk.
Of course, you won’t be traveling around with it in your pocket since it does require an AC adapter/brick, so additional storage is needed. We’ll speak more about that toward the end.
When it comes to weight, it nearly matches one of those phones as well, weighing in at 11.5oz. We weighed various Samsung S8/9/10 models got weights averaging around 3-4 oz less than this, so it comes close.
The shell is aluminum making for a durable design, with plastic for the sections surrounding the ports on both sides. It feels like it could make it through war and back in one piece.
The front side contains a slot for both an SD and microSD card, as well as a headset connection (both headphones and microphone combined), a USB-C port, and two regular USB ports (USB-A). All three of these USB ports are USB 3.2 Gen2.
The backside of the dock contains another normal USB port (also 3.2 Gen2), a gigabit Ethernet port, two DisplayPorts (v1.4), another USB-C port (this is to connect it to your laptop/desktop), and a connection for the power plug (AC).
The biggest highlight to take away from both sides is that everything is modern. The DisplayPorts are 1.4 (capable of dual 4K displays or a single 8K display when connected via TB3), all of the USB ports are USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps), and the SD slot is UHS-II to keep up with today’s faster cards (up to 280-290MB/s for us). All of this makes for a wonderful combination, leading to the ultimate connectivity experience.
Of course, to get the most out of all of it, you will want to pair it with a laptop/system that supports TB3, because that is where the speed is at. This grants you up to 40Gbps between everything. Where if you connected to a laptop with a USB-C port that doesn’t support TB3, you’d be limited to up to 10Gbps. Either way, you still have plenty of speed to work with, plenty of connectivity, and a dock that can bounce between laptop models regardless of what their USB-C connection supports.
Another bonus to point out is that the only connection you need for power is the AC cable. Some docks only pull enough power to power itself. However, when it comes to also powering the laptop connected (and sometimes other connected devices), you sometimes also have to connect a USB-C to power-source cable to bring in the extra power needed to do the rest. In this case, you just need the plug to the wall that it comes with. All of your USB ports are open for whatever use you need them for.
That also means you don’t need the power cable for your laptop (which is helpful if your model uses its USB-C connection with its power cable). You simply connect your laptop to the dock, and the dock will, in turn, send power back to the laptop keeping it charged along with providing you with all of the connectivity.
The only catch falls into two parts. For one, your laptop has to support power over USB-C for charging. Not all models do. So if yours does not, then you will still need the laptop’s power cable plugged in to keep it juiced with. The way to know (if you don’t already) is when you plug the dock into the laptop (without the laptop’s power cable plugged in), if the laptop begins to show are charging, then you know it supports this. The other catch is that your laptop’s power requirements would have to be 60W or less. You can check the laptop’s power adapter to determine what’s its output is. If the laptop requires more than 60W (which is what this dock is able to provide–up to), it will either not charge, or it will charge slower than normal (which may or may not be able to keep up with what you are using it for).
So not all laptops will benefit from the ability to charge using this. We have a number of models that will work just fine, however, we have many modern Dell laptops that require 65W, therefore they would not charge fully with this. So it is a matter of balancing everything to what you need.
It comes with the basics to get you started. Which includes a TB3 cable to connect between the dock and the laptop/system. The cable will work the same in USB-C scenarios where the port does not support TB3.
The AC adapter that goes to the wall features a huge brick to it. By Huge, I mean, it is bigger than the dock itself. It’s absolutely huge, which means you have to consider this if you plan to travel with it. Thankfully, most docking situations are “sit and forget” since the laptop usually comes to the dock, not the dock to the laptop. So normally this would be part of a setup at home or work that is left there for when you need to tap in and make use of everything. It’s just so, huge. This would have been an issue if it didn’t pull enough power to charge your laptop and everything else with it.
Our Conclusion
So did we like this one? I would say we did indeed. It is small and takes up very little space on your desk. The power brick is huge, but that is usually hidden underneath or somewhere else out of sight. What matters is that your deskspace is kept neat.
What wins us over is that set of features. All USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, DP 1.4, UHS-II SD reader, and of course, Thunderbolt 3. The fact that it will also act as a USB-C hub for non-TB3 systems is a thick layer of icing spread all over that cake. It really does have a lot going for it.
It may not be as fast as some of its larger brothers out there, but it can still handle plenty of bandwidth between everything connected. In this case, it’s all about giving you as much as possible while reducing the footprint on the desk all the same. They seem to have done a good job at this.
We will learn more as we continue to use it. If we find anything else that comes to mind, we will make sure to update the information here.
Note: The below link on Amazon currently shows as unavailable as the product has not launched into the market yet. So keep an eye on it as it will become available sometime within the first week of December. In the meantime, you can pre-order it directly from Kensington here. (11/19/2020)
Our Rating | Average Price* $199 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
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Kensington Nano Security Slot
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