Earlier this year, Sonnet announced its Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock. This Thunderbolt 4 docking station has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and provides up to 90 watts of charging power for portable computers. Oh, it also provides 8K display support.
The problem with many computers today is that they may lack connectivity. I always find that there is never enough input available on my computer, which is why a good hub can make life easier. I use iMac Pro as my main computer. Like all iMacs, the ports are on the back of the computer. Although this creates a nice and clean appearance, trying to plug in peripherals is a major inconvenience.
The Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock comes with the following items:
I’m glad Sonnet provides you with a standard Thunderbolt 4 cable. Yes, this is a small thing, but at least you don't have to try to find the source yourself.
The power supply that comes with the Echo 11 is quite large and heavy.
As you would expect from a dock with so many inputs, the Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 dock does take up a lot of space. Not very deep, but very long.
Its physical dimensions are 7.9 x 3 x 1.2" / 200.7 x 76.2 x 30.5 mm, and its weight is 1.7 lbs / 800 grams.
I used to own quite a few Sonnet products, including the original SxS card reader that I used on Sony F3. I also use their very good SF3 series CFast 2.0 Pro card reader to capture footage from my main camera.
The Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock has a solid workmanship and excellent structure.
In addition to 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports, you can also get 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-A ports, 1 USB 2.0 Type-A charging port, 1 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, and 1 3.5mm combo Audio port and 1 SD 4.0 card slot.
Through the Thunderbolt 4 port, you can daisy-chain up to five devices.
The 10Gbps USB Type A port of the Echo docking station supports most USB peripherals, including super-speed USB NVMe SSDs, up to full speed. Unlike some other docking stations, each port on the Echo 11 provides up to 7.5 watts of power to ensure the normal operation of bus-powered devices. The included Gigabit Ethernet port is ideal for connecting broadband Internet directly to the user's computer without the need for other devices to compete for bandwidth on their WiFi settings.
The SD card reader reads the latest SDXC UHS-II memory cards at speeds up to 300 MB/s.
Echo 11 connects to your laptop or computer via Thunderbolt 4, and it can also provide up to 90W of charging power.
Sonnet’s docking station is compatible with all computers with Thunderbolt 4 ports, M1 Mac computers with Thunderbolt/USB4 ports, Intel Mac computers with Thunderbolt 3 ports, and the latest models of Windows computers with Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Now, on the Mac, you need to run macOS 11.1 or later, otherwise the Dock will not work.
Depending on the connected computer, the Echo docking station also supports the connection of one (always 4K, up to 5K, 6K, or 8K) or up to two monitors (4K 4K, or up to 5K 5K).
If you use Echo 11 on a Mac, it is actually plug and play. The standard driver for Echo 11 is already part of macOS 11.1 or later. This means you just need to plug it into your computer and turn on the power.
However, the docking station is very simple to use because it has inputs on the front and back. If you work with a desktop computer, you must carefully consider where to place it on the table.
If you want to access most ports more easily, I personally think it's best to turn it around and have the back of the dock facing me. No, it's not that clean, but I did find it more practical. The whole reason for wanting to use a docking station on a desktop is not only to increase connectivity, but also to facilitate access.
I want to see how it performs if I put equipment on it and let it power the laptop.
I connected the following items:
Everything is normal without any problems.
I also ran some speed tests on the connected drives, and all the drives worked at the speed I expected to see.
The only real disadvantage of Docks is that you will definitely get a mess of cables and connected devices. Many peripheral devices nowadays come with very short cables, which is of no avail when you try to connect the device to the docking station.
Direct competition appears in the form of the unlisted OWC Thunderbolt Dock (US$279).
It has three Thunderbolt ports and four USB ports, allowing you to connect to past, present, and future devices. You can also connect up to two 4K monitors or a 5K/6K/8K monitor, high-performance storage devices, including NVMe SSD, A/V mixer, mobile phone, tablet, and even desktop accessories such as keyboard or mouse.
The Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is available now, priced at $319.99.
The Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock does work as advertised, and I am very satisfied with the versatility and usability it adds to the way I work. The ability to plug in a variety of different hard drives and make them all work at the highest level of performance, which means you don't have to sacrifice speed when using a large number of drives at once.
I highly recommend Echo 11 Thunderbolt 4 Dock.
Matthew Allard is an award-winning, ACS-certified freelance photography director with 30 years of work experience in more than 50 countries around the world. He is the editor of Newsshooter.com and has been writing articles on the site since 2010. Matthew has won 42 ACS awards, including four famous golden tripods. In 2016, he won the Best Photography Award at the 21st Asian Television Awards. Matthew can work as a DP in Japan or anywhere else in the world.
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