Thunderbolt 4 docks and hubs turn your thin and light laptop into a desktop, allowing you to connect monitors, external storage devices, and peripherals using a single USB-C cable. This gives you the portability of a laptop while having the flexibility of a desktop PC experience. In this article, we review the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 hub and tell you everything that you need to know about it.
While docks are bigger and typically provide more variety when it comes to ports, hubs are typically smaller and can have fewer ports. You can think of hubs as an extension of your laptop’s TB4/USB4 port rather than a full-fledged dock
Table of Contents
Initial Impressions And Specifications
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C is a fairly compact hub that sits flat on your desk. It has a neutral black color and comes with a USB-C to HDMI adaptor out of the box. The hub does need power, so it comes with its own power brick, which is fairly large and even bigger than the hub itself. You will need to get creative with cable management if that is something you are concerned about. Plugable also includes a USB-C (Thunderbolt4/USB4) cable in the box, allowing you to connect your laptop to the hub.
Pros:
- Compact design
- Supports dual 4K or single 8K displays
- 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Includes USB-C to HDMI 2.0 adapter
Cons:
- No USB-A ports
- Large power brick
- No SD card reader
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C has solid build quality. At the front, you get a Thunderbolt host port that supports 60W of power delivery. This is not the highest power delivery that you can get, but it is decent enough to charge laptops such as the MacBook Air and even some demanding gaming laptops. The Thunderbolt 4 ports are backward compatible, so they will work with Thunderbolt 3, USB4, and USB-C devices. The hub also has an LED light at the front, but there is no power button. The LED light turns white when the hub is powered on, and it turns green when it is properly connected to your laptop. This provides a quick way of knowing when the hub is on and when it has connected to your laptop.
At the back, you get three Thunderbolt 4 ports that support 15W of power delivery. The hub can support a pair of 4K displays at 60 Hz or a single 8K display at 30 Hz. 40Gbps data transfer speeds are supported. The power input is also at the back.
Unlike some other docks and hubs, this one does not have USB-A ports which could be a dealbreaker for some. But you can plug a USB hub into one of the TB4 ports since it is backward compatible with older devices. This is, of course, going to take up one of the TB4 ports, which is not ideal if you are planning on using two monitors and high-speed external storage devices. The hub does allow you to daisy chain up to six devices to make up for the lack of port variety.
There are rubber feet at the bottom of the dock to help it stick to surfaces and not slide off. The sides do not have any ports. Overall the design is very clean and minimal.
Since the hub has its own power, when it is not connected to your laptop, you can use it to charge devices. As mentioned before, the Thunderbolt 4 host USB-C port on the front provides 60W of power, while the other TB4 ports on the back each provide 15W of power. So you can connect devices accordingly to charge them.
Performance
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C claims to deliver 60W of power via the front TB4 host connector. Our testing showed 55W of power delivery which is very close to what is claimed. Furthermore, we found that this was enough to charge laptops such as the MacBook Air M1, a typical Dell Latitude laptop, and the more demanding Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (2021). While there are other docks that do provide more power, the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C does a decent job and should be fine in most cases, but you will need higher power delivery for more powerful laptops.
To test the transfer speeds, I moved 23GB of files, and that took less than 30 seconds, similar to Anker’s Mini Dock. I was also able to move pictures and videos from my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra via USB-C while the device was charging.
Since there are no USB-A ports on the hub, I used a USB-A hub and connected it to the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C. I then connected my Corsair Void RGB headset, Logitech keyboard, Cougar mouse, and a random microphone to see if everything worked. And all the peripherals performed as expected, with no drop in audio quality or unresponsiveness when using the keyboard or mouse.
With that said, there is enough room on the front of the device for a USB-A port and even an SD card reader, and that seems like a missed opportunity. While the laptops that I used did have a few ports, I know that some modern laptops, like the MacBook Air, only feature USB-C ports, so having a few USB-A ports on a dock or hub would be a major plus point.
What I Like
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C has solid build quality and is made of aluminum, so it will not get fingerprints all over it. Plus, it feels like it can take some abuse. The hub can be used horizontally or vertically, which is a nice feature to have. The small LED light indicates when the hub has power and when it is connected to the host computer. You get a TB4 cable and USB-C to HDMI adaptor out of the box. So you can easily connect at least one display without getting additional accessories.
The TB4 ports at the back deliver 15W of power, while the host connector at the front delivers 60W. During my testing, all ports worked as intended and were able to charge devices without any issues. The hub is a nice extension for my laptop’s TB port and provides additional options for expansions. While I only use a single 4K display, I could use another one if I wanted to, which future-proofs the hub and my setup. This means that I do not need to get another hub or dock if I plan on using an additional 4K monitor, and I can even upgrade to an 8K monitor down the line.
Since the hub supports Thunderbolt 4, you can use it to connect your laptop to an external graphics card. You could use a solution such as the PowerColor Gaming Station with the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano, but there are other similar enclosures and graphics cards that you can use as well. It is worth mentioning that the 40Gbps bandwidth is shared amongst the connected devices, so if you have a couple of demanding devices connected at the same time, then you might see dips in performance. Also, you might not be able to take full advantage of the performance of a high-end graphics card such as the RTX 4090.
Drawbacks
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C is an extension of your laptop’s TB4/USB4 port rather than a dock. What it essentially does is takes that single port and split it into three. This can be important, seeing how laptops are getting thinner, and manufacturers are ditching ports such as ethernet, USB-A, and even HDMI. While the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C does give you two additional USB-C ports, it does not solve the problem of not having other ports. The hub is backward compatible, and you can add other hubs to it, but that can quickly get overly complicated and messy and is not the ideal solution to the problem.
While this might not be a dealbreaker for most, I, for one, would have liked a hub that not only has USB-A and an SD card reader but ethernet as well since these are ports that are becoming less common on modern laptops but are still widely used.
Furthermore, while the hub itself is fairly compact, it is not ideal for travel since it comes with a large brick. I do not see myself or anyone else traveling with an additional power brick in their backpack. So, this hub is best suited for a permanent workstation.
Compatibility
The hub works with Thunderbolt and USB4 Macs powered by both Apple Silicon and Intel chips (macOS 11+). M1 iPads are also supported, but M1-powered Apple devices only support a single external display. It is also worth mentioning that Plugable products do not support the Apple SuperDrive. Apple SuperDrive has strict power requirements that can only be met by connecting the SuperDrive directly to the host laptop.
Thunderbolt 4 PCs with Windows 10+ are supported, including the ones based on the Intel Evo platform. Thunderbolt 3 Windows systems are not recommended for this hub since functionality can be limited. You will not be able to take full advantage of the hub if your laptop only supports Thunderbolt 3 and is not Thunderbolt 4 compatible.
The three Thunderbolt ports on the back of the hub will depend on the functionality of the host laptop. If the host laptop supports TB4, then the hub ports at the back will function as TB4 ports. But if the laptop only supports Thunderbolt 3, then the ports at the back of the hub will function as TB3 ports.
Whether you are using Windows or macOS, the hub does not require any drivers to function. The Intel Thunderbolt software might require authentication, but in most cases, this is done automatically.
Price And Functionality Vs. The Competition
For $50 more than the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C, you can get the CalDigit Element Hub, which also features three Thunderbolt ports, but they provide 18W of power delivery each. It also offers four USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2) ports with 10Gbps speed. It still does not have an SD card reader, but you do get the additional USB-A ports.
The cheaper alternative is the OWC Thunderbolt Hub which also has three Thunderbolt ports and a USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2) with 10Gbps. It supports dual 4K displays and has a lock slot. While it does have similar specifications, it’s made of more plastic than the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C, so it does not feel as solid. But it does not cost as much either.
Plugable is a bit late to the market, and while their products are good, there are a variety of hubs and docks out there that have the same level of functionality but at a lower price.
Conclusion
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C is a compact hub that is compatible with a variety of devices, old and new. If you can make do with the lack of an SD card reader and USB-A ports, then this is definitely a great solution that allows you to turn your thin and light laptop into a desktop PC. This small accessory is ideal if you have a modern laptop and need a few more ports.
The only drawbacks are the lack of USB-A or an SD card reader. It also has a big power brick which is larger than the hub itself. So the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C is recommended for permanent workstations.
Compared to the competition, it is not very expensive, but you can find some similar options for slightly less. They will not have the same build quality, though, which is another thing that you need to keep in mind when pulling the trigger.
