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Best Black Friday Thunderbolt dock deals: Nov. 24

Republished By Plato
Republished By Plato

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Belkin Connect Thunderbolt 4 Core Hub

Image: Foundry

Black Friday deals on Thunderbolt docks are on fire, allowing you to buy docking stations to expand the ports on your laptop at some really insane prices.

We’re busy scanning retailer sites, looking for the best Black Friday deals on Thunderbolt docks. Our list of deals below is roughly ranked in order of preference, followed by an explanation of why we picked them. For more context, scroll down to our FAQ, where we explain how much you should pay for a Black Friday Thunderbolt docking station deal, what features to consider, and more.

For even more deals, check out PCWorld’s Black Friday deals page.

Best Black Friday Thunderbolt dock deals

I recommend the top four entries here: HP’s Thunderbolt G2, the Targus USB-C dock, OWC’s Thunderbolt Go, and Plugable’s 14-in-1 dock. We’ve reviewed quite a few Thunderbolt docking stations in our list of the best Thunderbolt docks, but many of these don’t make the list. The exception (kind of) is the HP G2 dock. I personally reviewed the HP G4, and it was excellent. The G2 swaps HDMI ports for DisplayPort connections, so that means you’ll have to buy two $14.99 DisplayPort-to-HDMI cables if you only have HDMI connections on your display. Otherwise, the discount is insane!

The Targus USB-C dock uses DisplayLink to approximate the capabilities of a Thunderbolt dock. I love DisplayLink docks, though I haven’t tested this one myself. Customers rave over it, though.

I still have a soft spot for the OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock, which eliminates the external power brick entirely. Anker’s Thunderbolt docks have sometimes been a little questionable — I liked the Anker 568, but not the Apex, which is 11% off at Amazon at $187 — and my colleagues at TechAdvisor were iffy on the Anker 778 currently on sale. But one of its minuses was its high price tag, which this deal solves in a big, big way!

Plugable’s dock, also known as the TBT3-UDZ, has been one of our favorite Thunderbolt docks for a while now, and our review shows why: ports galore, strong charging, you name it. It’s the Cadillac of Thunderbolt docks, and it’s on sale for cheap.

Pay attention to the Belkin Thunderbolt Dock 3 Plus deal — the price is excellent, but some customers have complained that one of the DisplayPort ports doesn’t function properly. (We haven’t tested this dock ourselves.) Just make sure to test this dock within the return window to ensure you don’t have a bad unit. The Kensington SD2500T is about the same price point: older hardware, with only DisplayPort options, and 60W charging might be a little low for newer notebooks. It’s otherwise perfectly fine and customers love it.

Our colleagues at TechAdvisor have reviewed the HyperDrive dock — it looks capable, and the discount is pretty good.

The Belkin Dock Core, I continue to really like, especially as a travel dock — but it’s not powered, so you’ll have to use a USB-C charger with it. Your laptop’s should work. But they dropped the price further…now half off! Maybe Monoprice noted our mention as well, the discount has jumped from 15 to 38 percent off! (As for the Monoprice — well, Monoprice makes basic hardware, and it continues to do the job.)

As always, remember that Thunderbolt docks don’t play well with some Macs — and Mac buyers tend to downvote products because of that.

More great Black Friday tech deals

FAQ

1.

When is Black Friday?

Officially, Black Friday takes place on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Cyber Monday is the following Monday, or Nov. 27, 2023.

2.

What should you pay for a Black Friday deal on a Thunderbolt dock?

Prices vary, naturally, but we saw prices range from about $160 to $220 or so during the October Prime Day sale on Thunderbolt docks. We’d hope for more of the same.

In 2023, you benefit from one key trend: Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 are roughly the same in terms of throughput and features. But retailers hate keeping old hardware on the shelves. It’s likely that you’ll still see substantial sales on older Thunderbolt 3 hardware, with lesser discounts applied to Thunderbolt 4 docking stations.

3.

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.

4.

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.

5.

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.

DisplayLink docks use compression hardware to give you the benefits of a Thunderbolt dock over a USB-C cable. You may see some of those docks sneak in.

6.

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 rare, and have an AMD Ryzen chip inside.

7.

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.)

8.

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.

9.

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 story was updated at 6:48 PM on Nov. 24 (Black Friday) with updated pricing.


Author: Mark Hachman, 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.

Recent stories by Mark Hachman:

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