Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 is a great PC, but one thing that it doesn’t have a lot of is ports. Specifically, it has three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. Out of those three, one is USB Type-A, one is USB Type-C, and one is Surface Connect. If you want more than that, you’re going to need a dock. There are two kinds of docks that you can get: Surface Connect and USB Type-C. It’s worth noting that the USB Type-C port is not Thunderbolt, so while Thunderbolt docks will work, they’ll be limited in functionality.
- This is Microsoft's own dock, and it connects via the Surface Connect port. This dock includes 4x USB C, 2x USB A, Ethernet, 3.5mm combo jack, and 199W power supply.
- This USB-C travel hub is also from Microsoft, and the focus is on portability. This hub includes 1x USB C, 1x USB A, Gigabit Ethernet, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 1x VGA.
- AUKEY has a solution that's inexpensive. This hub has 2x USB 3.2 Type A, 1x USB 2.0 Type A, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader, and 100W USB PD.
- The CalDigit Ts3 Plus is a Thunderbolt dock, which is really better for if you're connecting different laptops to the same dock. It has 2x Thunderbolt ports, 5x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 3.5mm audio in, 3.5mm audio out, Gigabit Ethernet, optical audio, UHS-II SD card slot, and supports 87W Power Delivery.
- Plugable has a wide selection of solid docks. This one has 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, 4x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 3.5mm audio in, 3.5mm audio out, 1x HDMI, and 1x DVI.
- This Thunderbolt 3 Dock includes 5x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x Thunderbolt, 2x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 3.5mm combo audio, Gigabit Ethernet, and supports 96W Power Delivery.
Obviously, there are plenty of docks that you can use with the Surface Laptop 4. It’s also worth noting that the Surface Pro 7 is a similar product with the same ports. That means that this list applies to Microsoft’s tablet as well.
If you’re looking for something cheap and portable, the Aukey 8-in-1 hub is a great starting point, one that serves the purpose without breaking the bank. If you have a higher budget, you can get the Microsoft Travel Hub too, for that brand and goodwill to go along. If you want something fully featured that you’d use across multiple different devices, then the Caldigit TS3 Plus is the way to go.
If you don’t choose one of the docks and hubs above, the big thing that you have to look for is if the dock has the ports that you need. As for wattage, the Surface Laptop 4 is a regular ultrabook, so you don’t need to go nuts.
If you’re looking to connect two 4K displays, you might even need two docks, one of which will connect to the Surface Connect port. We did call the Surface Laptop 4’s predecessor one of the best AMD Ryzen laptops, and this generation is no different, but it means that Microsoft didn’t include Thunderbolt on it, even on the Intel model.
The post These are the best docks for the Surface Laptop 4: Surface Dock 2, USB-C Travel Hub, and more! appeared first on xda-developers.
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