At a look
Knowledgeable’s Score
Professionals
- Rock-solid stability
- The one (?) dock with RGB lighting
Cons
- Common to barely poor efficiency
- Lack of devoted show ports
- A better price ticket than what rivals cost
Our Verdict
The Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma is a surprisingly strong Thunderbolt 4 dock, marred solely by the dearth of show ports and a price ticket that’s aimed on the gamer market.
Greatest Costs Right this moment: Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma
The Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma could be the one Thunderbolt 4 dock available on the market that boasts RGB lighting. However that doesn’t cease it from excelling in different areas, although with a price ticket that’s slightly excessive for our tastes.
As you may count on, the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma trades a little bit of utility for aesthetics. Whereas another docks embody informative labels describing the ports and even their capabilities, Razer’s dock doesn’t. It’s as much as you to learn the guide and decide that there are three 10Gbps USB-A ports, three upstream Thunderbolt 4 ports, a downstream Thunderbolt 4 port, gigabit Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack, and an unspecified SD card reader.
And, in fact, the undercarriage RGB lights. In any case, it don’t imply a factor if it ain’t received that bling, proper?
Additional studying: See our roundup of the finest Thunderbolt docks to find out about competing merchandise.
What are the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma’s specs?
Let’s deal with the performance first. Razer’s Thunderbolt 4 Dock options the three upstream Thunderbolt connections, which makes it, considerably weirdly, extra of a dock for the Macintosh market. Whereas we’re seeing increasingly more shows embody USB-C inputs, Apple-branded shows emphasize them greater than the broader ecosystem of Home windows screens. All which means is that you could have to order some USB-C to Thunderbolt cables to attach the dock to any present shows in your desk. (The linked cables are rated for 4K60 connectivity, which not all cables are.) There’s additionally a 2.62-foot Thunderbolt 4 cable to attach your PC.
In any other case, the dock consists of three 10Gbps USB-A ports, an SD (UHS-II) card reader, gigabit Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The 135W energy adapter provides a rated 90W of energy to the laptop computer, which we couldn’t push previous 76.5W in our assessments. Every USB-A port produced 2.46W, adequate to cost a telephone, albeit slowly.
Mark Hachman / IDG
For fast-charging a telephone, you’ll wish to join your telephone’s USB-C energy cable to the “additional” Thunderbolt port. That port produced 10.86W, sufficient to fast-charge a smartphone. Razer says that the Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma is rated for 2 4K shows at 60Hz, which it certainly helps.
Bodily, Razer’s dock is made out of a jet-black hunk of steel, which tends to draw fingerprints readily. Warmth gained’t be an issue, though the dock does get reasonably heat. Once more, nothing is labeled, save for the snake-like Razer brand on the prime. (The emblem doesn’t gentle up.) The dock is of about common measurement for a Thunderbolt dock, measuring 7.5 inches by 2.9 inches, and about an inch thick. Razer says it weighs about 0.75 kilos.
We usually don’t consider Thunderbolt docks as moveable (except they’re specified as such) however the comparatively small measurement of the related energy brick and dock imply that you could possibly presumably convey it on the street. (The facility brick is definitely smaller than the dock itself.) That’s not at all times the case.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Beneath, although, is the place the magic occurs. When you personal a desktop PC with RGB lighting, you’ll be completely happy to know that that Razer’s Dock Chroma has an RGB strip that may cycle via the spectrum in quite a lot of completely different patterns you can specify, doubtlessly coordinating with different Razer {hardware} through the Razer Synapse app. (Synapse doesn’t seem like essential for the dock to function, however the app will load as soon as you put in the dock.)
I already personal a Razer DeathAdder mouse, one of many few lefty gaming mice. Its RGB pulses on and off, and the Synapse app doesn’t enable me to regulate it. With Razer’s Dock Chroma, you may select very sedate patterns through the Synapse app to both very gently cycle via the colour spectrum, or choose extra aggressive “wave” or “hearth” patterns. You too can create your individual patterns with the associated Chroma software program. Synapse additionally adjusts the quantity of the audio that’s routed via the dock’s 3.5mm jack.
Lastly, the Synapse app additionally controls the brightness of the RGB lighting — so, sure, you may dim it to zero and successfully flip off the RGB lighting totally.
Mark Hachman / IDG
How does the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma carry out?
Razer’s dock gave me no issues in any respect from a stability standpoint, with no random monitor disconnects. It was merely rock strong. The RGB controls labored as anticipated, and the Chroma software program correctly adjusted the lighting and quantity, too.
Utilizing the PCMark storage benchmark linked to an exterior SSD, the Dock Chroma’s accessible storage throughput was 124.79MB/s, about on par with different docks although a bit slower. The benchmark rating, 817, was additionally slower than different docks produced.
Alternatively, my streaming check was rock-solid, with hardly any dropped frames. That check is carried out by itself (streaming a 4K60 video over the dock’s Ethernet jack), and noting any dropped frames. The dock was additionally practically excellent (4 frames dropped out of 10,000) when streaming video whereas performing the storage check over the identical Thunderbolt connection. That’s a superb indication that you simply’ll be capable of switch information within the background whereas utilizing the dock for different duties.
The Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma isn’t only a flashy dock geared toward players who’re prepared to pay additional for some RGB bling — and obtain a poor expertise in return. Nonetheless, the value tag ought to provide you with pause. For these prepared to pay the additional cash, although, the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma definitely earns our endorsement.
