There’s nothing like having a neat and efficient workstation, and for on-the-go digital ads, this means you must have a laptop you can take anywhere. However, when in your personal workspace, having a docking station to connect it to all your peripherals makes a big difference in your workflow.
There is a part of the laptop design process that one might consider quite complicated. On the one hand, you want the device to be slim and portable to make it as easy for the user to carry around as possible. At the same time, the desire to place all the necessary ports to maximize compatibility can complicate the equation. For a photographer or videographer who has to work on-site or on the go, a powerful laptop is the only way to get the job done. However, there’s nothing like an organized desk with a wide selection of monitors and accessories to make tedious editing work more productive. That’s when a well-equipped and well-designed docking station or hub is needed.
Ugreen 9 in 1 docking station
This new docking station from Ugreen measures 19.99 cm x 11.50 cm x 5.20 cm horizontally with a gray matte aluminum cooling housing. The front edge houses two USB-A 3.1 ports and one USB-C 3.1 port with transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps (depending on device and cable) as well as an indicator lighted power button on the right edge. Both sides are distributed for ventilation, the top has nothing but the subtle Ugreen logo, and the bottom has rubber pads for friction on the surface where the center is located.
On the rear panel are an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, two sets of full-size HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 capable of 4K 60 Hz output to two external displays simultaneously, the main USB-C input port for machine connectivity. laptop and one USB-C port The C power supply port is capable of up to 100 watts with power delivery depending on the power source used with it. These two ports allow the dock to power the laptop if it has USB-C charging capability.
The package also includes a single USB-C to USB-C cable that is ideal to use to connect a laptop, and once plugged in, the device has an included driver installer to optimize compatibility.
Applications and User Experience
The Ugreen 9 in 1 docking station It certainly has a desirable design in itself that suits the taste of users who want to keep their desk tidy. However, a horizontal layout often means taking up more space than if the center could be kept vertically instead. However, such an orientation would be discouraged due to the fact that the vents placed on the side panels would clog if kept upright.
This versatile hub offers a good variety of ports in terms of compatibility with monitors and other peripherals such as keyboards, editing consoles, and graphics tablets. However, it does not provide options to read and write to the memory card. The brand offers some alternative choice about having a card reader through variants that don’t have a lot of display options, but with more features Ugreen 12 in 1 docking station that we consider as well as last year. However, for this particular model, one would have to use the laptop’s built-in card reader (if available) or use one of the ports to connect a dedicated card reader.
One of the obvious benefits of this docking station is the ability to scale the display up to two 4K 60 Hz displays simultaneously and even make the laptop compatible with such configurations when it wasn’t initially available. through the built-in features of the device. This allows users to connect to both displays along with other devices, plus the ability to power a laptop with just one cable. The fact that the main USB-C port also delivers power coming from a 100 W power supply is a very handy feature that can allow users to bypass the power brick if the consumption rating falls within that range. This generally means that most MacBooks can be powered directly using the hub’s output if the original power source is connected to the docking station’s port instead. However, there are still laptops that are not fully charged with 100 W output power, such as MacBook Pro Specified Higher and other more demanding creator laptops like ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16″ which I personally use. Instead, the input power from the hub will at least delay the consumption of the reserve battery or keep it stale, depending on how heavy the current tasks are.
In addition to options for using multiple monitors, this dock also makes using multiple external storage more convenient and less cluttered on the desk. Three 10 Gbps options (one USB-C 3.1 port and two front-facing USB-A 3.1 ports) can efficiently connect external hard drives and solid state drives to go along with display connectivity with just one USB input -C only on laptop. Personally, since I use portable SSDs to keep my raw files and Lightroom catalogs and avoid increasing internal storage, this docking station offers more than just access. files but also back them up to my larger hard drive.
In addition to not having a memory card reader, the 9-in-1 dock also lacks a dedicated 3.5mm auxiliary port. While audio can be routed through the display options, there’s no way to reroute it to the speakerphone from the hub itself. Finally, a small but notable aspect about the arrangement of ports is that although it is good that the HDMI, DP, Ethernet and power ports are all on the rear, where they can be hidden behind a desk without a problem. need to cross. it would be better if the main connection of the laptop was placed at the front along with the other USB ports for the simple reason that the splitter would probably be used behind the laptop and somewhere in front or next to the screen(s).
Conclusion
The Ugreen 9-in-1 docking station is a great choice for anyone using multiple USB devices and multiple monitors simultaneously. It offers a variety of configurations to simplify connecting display and storage devices to a compatible laptop, while minimizing the number of ports used and the many cables plugged and unplugged. time.
What I like
- Dual simultaneous expansion 4K 60 Hz display option
- Fast transfer speeds on USB 3.1 . ports
- Power supply 100 watts
What can be improved
- No memory card reader and audio output
- Horizontal configuration takes up more space on the desk
