While most creative designers, video editors, and other professionals prefer a multi-monitor setup with their workstations, a display dock with additional ports can be very helpful in enhancing the workflow. We got the chance to review the Belkin Connect Universal USB-C Triple Display dock and here are our thoughts about the device.
Design
Belkin offers a large line-up of high-quality video adapters and accessories, and the new Connect Universal USB-C Triple Display Dock is one of their latest devices, designed for multi-monitor workstations. The dock is designed to work with MacBooks, Windows laptops, and Chromebooks.
The dock features a wedge-shaped chassis with a matte black finish. The connectivity ports are located on the front and rear sides. The dimensions of the device are 284.48mm X 175.26mm X 78.74mm, and the unit weighs about 1.18kg.
Looking at the front, the power button and the LEDs for the power indicator and USB usage are located on the left side, along with a USB-C 3.0 port, a USB-A 3.0 port, a headphone jack, and a mic port. The addition of the headphone/mic jacks and the USB-C/USB-A ports on the front side is a good design for quick access. The Belkin logo is located on the top left side, and DisplayLink 4K Plug and Play branding is on the right side of the device.
The rear side of the dock features a power connector, an 85W USB-C Power Delivery port, a 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet port, three HDMI 2.0 ports, two DisplayPorts, and four more USB-A 3.0 Gen 1 ports. While the front-facing USB-C and USB-A ports have a power rating of 7.5W, the rear-facing USB-A ports feature a lower power rating of 4W. That said, the USB-C PD port is designed to charge laptops with support for 21W, 38W, 63W, and 85W.
The contents of the package include the Belkin Connect Universal USB-C Triple Display dock, a 150W power adapter, a 1m USB-C to USB-C cable, a quick start guide, and regulatory documentation. The dock also comes with a 2-year warranty.
Features
In order for the dock to work at its full potential, users will first need to install the DisplayLink drivers that are available for Windows and MacOS systems. After the driver installation, you will need to connect your monitors to the dock, and also the supplied USB-C cable between the dock and your system. On a single display configuration with three monitors, the dock supports up to 4K resolution at 60Hz for the first and second monitors, followed by 4K resolution on the third monitor but only at a slower 30Hz refresh rate.
This is the same case when you use dual and triple extended display configurations with three monitors. While the 4K video resolutions for all three monitors are impressive, the 30Hz refresh rate for the third monitor may be a disappointment for some, and this is due to hardware limitations.
We also tried other features, such as the USB-C/USB-A ports for data transfer, where we could copy files quickly at high-speed bandwidth, along with the Ethernet port for high-speed internet connectivity.
Verdict
The Belkin Connect Universal USB-C Triple Display Dock is a good addition for those looking to enhance their workstation productivity with multi-monitor connectivity and high-speed data transfers. The dock features a total of five USB-A ports, one on the front side and four on the rear. There is also an Ethernet port on the rear side, along with a USB-C Power Delivery port with support for up to 85W for charging laptops and other devices.
The dock comes with three HDMI ports and two DisplayPorts on the rear side, where users can choose any of the three ports for a triple-monitor setup with support up to 4K 60Hz resolutions on the first and second monitors, followed by 4K 30Hz on the third monitor. The DisplayLink technology enables the dock for multi-monitor connections, along with data transfers, internet connectivity, and connections with peripherals. The dock is compatible with Windows, MacBooks, and Chromebooks.
