Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock

I've had dock for about 6 months and it has made a big difference in the performance of my computer. Adequate ports for all my devices and has sped up performance. I was able to install a memory card into the dock so also serves as portable drive. It doesn't take a sata ssd but I bought (acer FA200 NVMe Gen4 SSD 4TB, PCIe 4.0, M.2 2280, Read Speeds Up to 7200MB/s, Internal Solid State Drive for Laptop, Desktop PC and PS5 Upgrade - BL.9BWWA.150) on amazon that worked great. The company was very responsive and helpful in guiding me to the correct ssd specs.

Pros: • Number of USB ports. You will be hard pressed to find a dock with as many USB A and C ports as this one has. • SSD slot. Great for backups or added storage. • Size. As with most Thunderbolt docks, this is large and heavy. You will not want to travel with it. But that is where your manufacturer’s power supply and a cheap USB-C hub come it. Cons: • No MicroSD card slot. You can use the SD card slot with an adapter, but most people are using MicroSD cards these days for everything except for photos. • Price. At $300 MRP, this is in the upper-mid range for quality docks. I do think the SSD capability and number of USB (C and A) makes it worth the price. I have had USB-C-powered laptops (a 2019 and a 2023 HP Spectre x360 13.3” models) for 3-1/2 years. In that time, I have used several cheaper USB-C hubs. While these can be great for business trips, I wanted something more powerful to have at my office desk allowing me to leave my normal charger at home. And so, I spent a couple of months talking with respected IT friends and doing my research for the best Thunderbolt dock for my needs. I wanted at least one (possibly two) HDMI 2.1 ports. One or two Thunderbolt USB-C outputs. Three or more USB-A 10Gbps ports. Headset combo jack. The Echo 20 SuperDock more than met those needs. I have my Samsung 32” 4K monitor plugged into the HDMI 2.1 port. A KYY 15.6” 1080p portable monitor plugged into one of the USB-C Thunderbolt ports. A Logitech Unifying USB receiver is plugged into one of the rear USB-A ports. My headset for Zoom meetings and audio recording is plugged into the headphone jack. Many Thunderbolt docks sacrifice the number of Thunderbolt USB-C ports in exchange for adding another DisplayPort or HDMI port. I prefer more Thunderbolt ports and fewer HDMI or DisplayPorts because that allows more flexibility. It is easy enough to use a USB-C-to-HDMI or a USB-C-to-DisplayPort adapter or cable. And many newer monitors are coming with USB-C video input. My Samsung 32” can do either USB-C or HDMI 2.1 input so I chose HDMI so that it isn’t using up a Thunderbolt port unnecessarily. My KYY portable monitor can use either HDMI or USB-C so I chose one of the Thunderbolt ports as that will provide it with both video and power resulting in fewer cables on my desk. I now just take my laptop back and forth from the office rather than also needing to remember a charger, mouse, and cheap hub. And I don’t have to fumble around with lots of cables. Just plug in the Thunderbolt cable from the dock to my laptop’s USB-C power port and I and up and running. And the ability to have an SSD installed in the dock means I am more likely to remember to backup my files more regularly. I installed a WD Black 1TB SN770 NVME into the slot in the dock, mounted the drive on my computer (YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE THE SSD WILL SHOW UP ON YOUR COMPUTER), and then configured SyncBackPro to backup the desired folders onto the dock. I no longer need to plug an external drive into a USB port in order to do a backup. As long as I am connected to the dock, I just run the backup profile group. Some people have complained about not having drivers for Windows 11. You do not need any special drivers. Any drivers for the dock are included in Windows. If you are having issues with a specific device, it is not an issue with the Sonnet Echo but rather an issue with your device.

I've had some issues with the USB ports. If I plug an iphone or ipad into one of the type c ports, I'm assuming the power is overloaded... because the rest of the usb orts might start acting weird. I have a belkin dock which doesn't have that problem , so I use that. Aside from that its been stable

Changing my rating to 5 since the problem i stated below was caused by my ipad that updated to the latest release of ios version at the same time i connected it to the dock, just coincidence i guess. But after restarting my ipad, i could now see all my files. And is the most capable dock i have ever tried. Worked great out of the box, connected it to my ipad pro then shows up on my "files" the connected samsung 970 evo plus inside the enclosure. Transferred all my files there, then after 20 minutes i can no longer see my files on the ssd enlcosure. Seems like all the files got deleted!!! Luckily i haven't deleted my original files on my samsung ssd yet.

I use this every day and love it ! Top quality - all the ports I need. Internal slot for additional storage is very useful.

I wanted to replace my previoius docking station, because it was sometimes causing my Zoom meetings to disconnect, often when I was leading meetings of dozens of people. This one was recommended online as being the best in one review, so I decided to try it, even tho it's pricey. It hasn't disconnected a zoom call yet, but I did get an improper disk ejection message the most recent time I asked the computer to go to sleep. This device apparently also goes to sleep when the computer does, which may have caused this improper disk ejection message. Also this thing tends to run hot, which is not good for summer. I had a second instance where I put my laptop (MacBook Pro) to sleep. This device did not seem to wake up properly after the laptop woke up -- at least the second screen wouldn't come on. I had to eject the external hard drives (which weren't ejected improperly this time) and disconnect the dock then reconnect the dock, before the second screen came on. Irritating. I also had a weird issue with Zoom, where I was doing real time interpretation into a foreign language, and people could not hear me. I did not have this problem before. I don't know if it's due to the docking station. I had another issue one time, where I was starting up from a complete shut down, that I got about 10 messages indicating that my external hard drive had been improperly disconnected, even tho nothing was happening in terms of connections. I unplugged the Sonnet for about 15 minutes and then tried again. It seems to be working now, but I am *not* happy Also, it does not seem to be successful in starting up my external screen. I tried connecting it directly and there is no problem

Matched with a modern Apple Silicon Mac running Ventura connected via Thunderbolt4 it "just works", and is very fast, easy to connect and use, versatile, did I mention fast? The main downsides are: it does run fairly warm - today with ambient at 26.0 deg.C it measures 42.1 deg.C (over the top logo area) and it needs a fair bit of shelf or desk space around it by the time everything is all plugged in and in use. Used with current 1080MB/s external SSD it's astoundingly fast. All the Thunderbolt and USB peripherals have worked fine too. Also recommend installing the M2.NVMe 2280 PCIe SSD internally, it works very well with my Mac. Overall: recommended.

Ich hatte eine Menge Thunderbolt 3 und 4 Docks doch dieses ECHO20 hier von Sonnettech schlägt alle und wird zu Recht mit dem Zusatz „SuperDock“ beworben. Das ECHO20 bietet 20 Schnittstellen und zwar richtig schnelle Schnittstellen! 8 x USB mit 10G/sec. (4 x USB-A, 4 x USB-C), Ethernet mit 2,5G, RCA Line-Out Schnittstellen (bietet kein anderes Dock!) und - als Sahnehäubchen - eine nVme Schnittstelle um eine bis zu 8TB große nVme SSD einzubauen (diese ist zwar nur mit 1 Lane angebunden und bietet somit „nur“ bis zu 800GB/sec Durchsatz, was in der Praxis aber nicht wirklich einen Unterschied macht). Weiterhin stehen 2 Downstream Thunderbolt Ports, 1 HDMI 2.1 und ein schneller SD Card Slot zur Verfügung, auch separate Mikrofon und Headset Anschlüsse sind vorhanden. Dort wo sie dieses Dock an ihren Portablen Rechner (MacBook Pro) anschließen können sie in der Regel das Netzteil des Rechners vergessen, es werden bis zu 100 Watt an den Rechner weitergeleitet. Bei dieser Fülle an Anschlussmöglichkeiten muss man sich eher fragen „was fehlt“. Vielleicht ein DisplayPort Anschluss, eine zweite nVme Einbaumöglichkeit wäre auch nett, andererseits sind die 40G Bandbreite das Maximum, das sich alle angeschlossenen Geräte teilen müssen. Jeder Anwender und Interessent muss sich aus dem Angebot an TB4 Docks das heraussuchen was seine Anwendungsfälle in Kombination mit Preis/Qualität und Zuverlässigkeit am besten abdeckt. Das „SuperDock“ von Sonnettech ist bedauerlicherweise nicht das günstigste. Sonnettech ist keine Klitsche, ganz im Gegenteil bietet der Hersteller aus Kalifornien ein breites Sortiment an hochwertigen Zubehörprodukten/Steckkarten etc. an und ist im professionellen Apple-Markt wohlbekannt. Meine ersten Praxistests des ECHO 20 an einem Mac mini M2 fielen durchweg positiv aus: Alle Schnittstellen funktionieren OOB wie man so schön sagt, keine Treiberinstallation erforderlich. NVMe wird erkannt und gemountet oder zur Formatierung empfohlen. 2,5G Ethernet geht, die RCA Anschlüsse, Kopfhörer, Mikrofon, HDMI etc., funktionieren wie man es erwartet, keine Ausfälle, Abbrüche oder sonstigen Auffälligkeiten bisher. Das Dock selbst ist solide gebaut, wird mit eingebauter nVme handwarm. Einen Ein/Ausschalter sucht man vergebens, das Gerät schaltet sich mit dem angeschlossenen Rechner ein und aus. Den professionellen Eindruck rundet eine Verriegelungsschraube für den Thunderbolt Anschluß zum Rechner ab. Für mich ist die Anschaffung eines Thunderbolt 4 Docks vergleichbar mit der Anschaffung eines Monitors: Einen Monitor hat man über 2, 3 oder mehr Rechnergenarationen hinweg. Ebenso verhält es sich mit TB3/4 Docks, die kauft man ebenfalls für mehrere Rechnergenerationen, insofern lohnt es sich hier etwas mehr in ein professionelles Gerät zu investieren an dem man lange hat. Deshalb ist es für mich kein Problem das mein neues „SuperDock“ nur unwesentlich weniger kostet als der Mac mini M2 an den es angeschlossen ist. Hinweis zum Schluss: Das ECHO20 wurde von mir persönlich gekauft, ich bin zufriedener Anwender und bin kein professioneller Rezensent der durch kostenlose Geräte gesponsert wird. Wenn ich zufrieden mit einem Produkt bin dann schreibe ich schonmal ein Review und bringe meine Begeisterung zum Ausdruck. Vielleicht hilft es dem einen oder anderen bei seiner Anschaffung.

Veramente top anche se il prezo non e' basso. Lo uso con um macbook pro M1 e funziona perfettamente. Si scalda il giusto ma nel mio caso non conta perch'e e' in una posizione sacrificata.

Connected to MacBook Air 15" M3, when computer is in sleep mode it "sometimes" shut down the SoNNEt Echo 20 without no reason, I have no problem when computer is running as normal though.

Este es un Dock extraordinario realmente es el mejor que existe en el mercado para mac estoy muy contento con esta compra lo único que me preocupa es que se calienta mucho y como se ve la fotografía yo lo tengo debajo de un monitor incluso me preocupa que afecte el monitor por el calor que genera Pero si eso no provoca que falle Y tiene una buena duración entonces habría sido la mejor compra de cualquier complemento para Mac que haya hecho en mi vida, pero ya veremos el tiempo nos dirá la realidad