Plugable UD-6950PDH 4K, 100W charge TB/USB Dock – value and flexibility (review)

The Plugable UD-6950PDH 4K is an amazingly flexible dock that works off Thunderbolt 3 or 4, USB 4.0, USB-A 3.0, USB-C 3.1  or 3.2 with alt DP. It supports two x 4K@60Hz monitors and 13 ports – 1 x USB-C Upstream with 100W charging, 5 x USB-A, 2x HDMI, 2 x DP, Ethernet, micro and full SD card reader, headphone, and mic.

To be so flexible, it uses the DisplayLink  DL-6950 video chip that uses automatic DL3 compression. It enables 2 x 4K@60Hz monitor resolution (or one 5120 x 2880@60Hz) over the available bandwidth. It is supported by Windows 10/11 and macOS11+. The chip also supports 2.0 to 5.1 audio, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, and DP 1.4 (or earlier).

DisplayLink has a few limitations. It is great for office and light web-browsing applications. However, 2D or 3D graphics applications, full-screen video playback, video editing software, HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), and games may not work as expected and are not recommended with this docking station.

Australian Review: Plugable UD-6950PDH 4K, 100W charge TB/USB Dock

Website	Product page
Price	US$279 (AU pricing to come, and don’t forget to specify AU power cable)
From	Amazon US  (AU Website to come)
Warranty	2-years
Elevator pitch	USB-A, USB-C 3.1 or later, Thunderbolt 3 or later, 2 x 4K@60Hz and multiple expansion ports dock
Country of origin	China
Company	Plugable (website here). Redmond, Washington, USA. It sells a wide range of products worldwide and is consistently in the ‘Top 5’ global docking station market.
More	Cybershack Plugable news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.

You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – lots of ports – Exceed

I must clarify that this is not a dedicated Thunderbolt 4/3 or USB 4.0 dock. It is a chameleon that will take input from any USB-A 3.0, USB-C 3.1/3.2 or TB3/4 host as long as it supports alt DP (Display Port audio and video) and optionally up to 100W upstream charging (most USB-C ports do).

The secret sauce is that the video stream is scalable (compressed) in Windows and macOS11+ to whatever bandwidth you have. The Plugable UD-6950PDH decompresses that signal and sends it to one 5K@60Hz (50Hz in Australia), 2 x 4K@60Hz or 2 x 1080p@30/60Hz.

The front panel has three USB-A 3.0 5Gbps ports that will supply 5V/.9A/4.5W each; separate 3-pole stereo earphones and 2-pole mono mic 3.5mm ports; and a full and microSD slot.

The rear has Gigabit Ethernet, Dual HDMI, and DP Ports, 2 x USB-3.0  5V/.9A/4.5W; a USB-C upstream port supports 100W charging and power from a 20V/6.5A/130W external brick.

Tests – Tested on TB3 and USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 – All Pass

• 2x 4K@50/60Hz monitors- Pass
• Ethernet – sustained 1Gbps full-duplex – Pass
• USB-A ports – sustained 5Gbps (625MBps) half-duplex data transfer and 7.5W voltage
• Multiple USB-A ports – we were unable to test multiple ports in use at the same time. We suspect that there is a common data bandwidth and a fixed amperage to share.
• USB-C upstream – sustained 20V/5A/100W and 5Gbps full-duplex data transfer (use the 5W. .84m cable provided)
• MicroSD (sequential read/write Mbps sustained throughput) – 99/43MBps (this is maximum for the microSD card)

Reasons to buy

• Mainly because you will never need the throughput of a dedicated TB3/4, 40Gbps dock and don’t need to pay for that.
• It is far more flexible for older USB-A 3.0 and USB 3.1 laptops and has a longer 1m cable for easier setup.
• You can use either 2 x HDMI or 2 x DP or one of each video cable.
• Legacy DisplayLink drivers for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and macOS 10.14/15 are available.

CyberShack’s view – Plugable UD-6950PDH 4K, 100W charge TB/USB Dock for value and flexibility

I have used most brands of docks, and every time I come back to Plugable because they work – the first time, every time.

Plugable fully discloses all specifications, making it easy for us to test.

This is the dock you need for any laptop unless you will be pushing past DisplayLink’s formidable limits, in which case a Plugable Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock will be required at extra cost.

I also like its support and Amazon’s excellent returns policy if it does not do what you need. And if it is not what you need, you are more likely trying to run it off USB-A 2.0 or a partially compliant USB-A 3.0 port.

AU pricing is TBA, but the same dock without 100W upstream charging is A$289, so I am guessing mid $300s.

Rating

We rate this based on flexibility, not as a TB3 or 4 dock.

• Features 9 – Ports-a-plenty and dual 4K@50/60Hz monitor support
• Value 9 – Cheaper than a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock that you may not need
• Performance 9 – Meets or exceeds all performance specs on TB3 and USB-C 3.1
• Ease of Use 9 – Plug and play, although you may need to manually download DisplayLink drivers (rare). A long 1m cable makes placement easy. There is an excellent FAQ and support.
• Design 8 – It is 24 x 18.5 x 3cm and sits horizontally with cables out the back and front.

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