We've gotten our hands on Sonnet's Echo 21 Thunderbolt 5 SuperDock, and it is a massive connectivity upgrade adding 12 USB and Thunderbolt ports, storage, and more to your Mac with one cable.
USB-C and Thunderbolt docks help solve a persistent problem for Apple's MacBook lines by adding more points of connectivity that Apple doesn't include. In its latest Thunderbolt dock release, Sonnet is supersizing the options for end users.
The Sonnet Echo 21 Thunderbolt 5 SuperDock, as the name implies, works with the current fastest connectivity port on the current generation of Macs. It has a total of three Thunderbolt 5 ports, allowing you to connect multiple high-data devices to the 120Gbps Mac connection.
One of the Thunderbolt 5 ports is used for the uplink to the Mac, and also has 140 watts of power delivery.
The dock has another five USB-C charging ports, which each operate at 10Gbps. There are four more USB-A, which all can connect at up to 10Gbps.
Rear view of the Sonnet Echo 21 Thunderbolt 5 SuperDock
The connections continue with two Video and DisplayPort connections, so you can connect multiple displays along with other hardware. The list is rounded out by 10-Gig Ethernet for fast networking and Hi-Res audio outputs that support lossless audio at up to 24-bit 96kHz.
Taking advantage of the massive bandwidth of Thunderbolt 5, the Echo 21 is available in two forms: with and without internal storage.
One version has a space for a user-installable M.2 NVMe SSD, with it able to support up to 8 terabytes. Using that internal storage capacity, it can provide data transfer speeds at up to 3,300MB/s, without constraining bandwidth to other ports.
At the same time, Sonnet has brought out the Echo 20 Thunderbolt 5 SecureDock. It is functionally identical to the Echo 21, except it doesn't have the internal storage capability.
This lack of storage is by design. Not everyone wants the feature, such as government agencies and corporate environments.
We've had the dock for about two weeks. Given the crush of Apple releases lately, we haven't had a chance to fully put it through it's paces.
So far, we love the storage slot. The expanse of ports work well, and we haven't seen any issues with the host Mac sleeping, disconnecting the dock.
It is spendy, but what it costs for what you get is pretty good. We haven't seen any connectivity or overheating issues like other docks we have on our test bench.
A full review is yet to come. Expect it before the end of April.
Sonnet is selling the Echo 21 Thunderbolt 5 SuperDock for $499.99, with it also available from B&H Photo for $499.99.
The Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 5 SecureDock is $449.99 from Sonnet directly, and $449.99 from B&H Photo.
