I reviewed the CalDigit TS5 Plus+ and it's the fastest docking station I’ve ever used

CalDigit TS5Plus+: 30-second review

Over the years, I've used and reviewed plenty of docking stations; however, when it comes to the CalDigit TS5 Plus+, from the outset, it was obvious that it's something more than your usual dock. First and foremost, it's got a good weight to it, giving it an instant premium feel.

The design with it's matt black finish and textured design that helps to dissipate heat, gives a high-quality, premium look and feel to this hub. It's also been designed for Thunderbolt 5. Whilst at present there aren't many machines that offer this standard, it does offer up to 120Gb/s bandwidth with 80Gb/s transfer rates, far faster than many other off-the-shelf solutions.

When it comes to setup and use, it's all very straightforward, with a single Thunderbolt 5 cable connecting directly to your machine, however as with many pro-level docks, it requires its own AC power supply. What is slightly surprising here is that the power supply isn't integrated into the dock itself and is aseparate unit, which again is quite large, although again nicely designed considering it is just a power supply.

Once plugged in, you can then start plugging in all your accessories, SSDs and other peripherals, and each will be instantly recognised as if you were plugging directly into your computer.

One of the main differences between standard docks and this is that there is absolutely no slowdown for those devices, so SSDs are as fast through the dock as they are when plugged directly into your machine. That Thunderbolt 5 connection has the bandwidth to cope with even the latest and fastest SSD, including the Lacie Rugged SSD Pro5 reviewed a few months back.

Having had the dock neatly under my monitor for the last couple of weeks, I can find very little to fault with what's on offer here, may be an extra Thunderbolt 5 port on the front, but then that would be it. There were no devices that showed any type of performance difference between being plugged directly into my computer or through the Thunderbolt 5, so the usual reasons to mark down a dock just weren't an issue here.

If you work in the creative sector and you need a dock that's not going to slow down your devices as you plug in more, then I have to highly recommend the CalDigit TS5Plus+ as one of the best docking stations I've ever reviewed.

CalDigit TS5Plus+: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? £469 / $469
• When is it out? Now
• Where can you get it? Widely available

The CalDigit TS5 Plus is a premium dock offering some of the latest technology and advancements in docking technology, and as it comes in at a price premium, it will put it out of the range of most users.

However, if you're working in the creative sector and you need a dock which is going to keep up with your demands, then this is an ideal option and can be purchased directly through CalDigit.com as well as many high-end electronic retailers for £469/$469.

• Value: 5 / 5

CalDigit TS5Plus+: Design

The all-metal design and Build of the TS5 really reflect the premium price point. The one thing that I would say, whilst the overall quality is exceptionally high, there's still something of the pro broadcast quality about it, and that's probably due to the fact that the external casing has been textured to help dissipate heat, giving a professional rather than consumer design aesthetic.

However, with a matte black finish and other styling details, it is an extremely nice-looking piece of kit and being made fully of metal again just reflects that premium build and quality.

As you look over the dock, the front is minimally laid out with a single USB Type-A, which feels a little legacy, but at present is always good to see. However, there are 2 USB-C data ports, both offering 36W output power, ideal for connecting in fast portable SSDs. Next to this on the front again is a microSD and SD card slot, both UHS-II, so you can load in your GoPro or wireless camera memory cards directly without the need for a card reader.

Flipping over to the back, everything is beautifully labelled, so you know exactly what you get and what each of the ports are. Here you have 3 USB Type-C data ports in a row, then line-in headphone socket, both 3.5mm, DisplayPort 2.1, then a row of three Thunderbolt ports, two offering 36W, one offering 140W, ideal for charging MacBooks, and above these are four USB Type-A 2.0 technology but able to connect control boards, a mouse or keyboard. Next to this is, interestingly, a 10Gb/s network port, which is faster than many small businesses will be using but does futureproof the dock and will also be an ideal option if you're using network video editing and require ultra-fast connectivity. Below this is the DC input for that power supply.

Getting started and plugging in is all very straightforward, as you would expect, but there is one other major feature of this dock, which is the docking station utility, and this software support is really important for any quality docking station. It essentially enables you to quickly eject all volumes from the dock before unplugging. Whilst many docks do offer decent transfer rates and speed, one of the biggest issues is that few offer a utility such as this, and therefore, normally, you have to manage each drive before unplugging a dock. Here, however, CalDigit has created a utility that enables you just to quickly select the option and eject all.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

CalDigit TS5Plus+: Features

Starting at the top of the list of features for the TS5Plus+, it is, of course that it's a Thunderbolt 5 dock, and whilst that interface isn't widely used present, in the creative industry, it is rapidly gaining ground, especially because it offers that 80Gb/s transfer rate, doubling that of Thunderbolt 4. The TS5Plus+, as standard, offers 20 ports with a good variety of DisplayPort, USB Type-A and Type-C, although surprisingly, there is no HDMI option.

PC users will then be able to plug in up to 3 displays at 4K at 120Hz, whereas Mac users can still take advantage, but it'll be downgraded to just two monitors. One of the features that I also really like, if you're working out in the field and use laptops, it supports 140W pass-through charging, so you can power up your MacBook Pro or ASUS P16 without needing to rely on their dedicated chargers.

One of the key features of the TS5Plus+ is that it features two USB controllers. This means you can get up to 120Gb/s bandwith to the machine from multiple devices, and it's not limited to just one USB controller. This also means that you're far less likely to see any slowdown when you plug in your Thunderbolt 5 devices along with others.

Another feature that I really liked when I had a look at the dock is that all of the USB ports, ten of them, are powered. So, if you need to charge up any of your devices, the ports offer up to 10Gb/s and 7.5W of power, excluding the front ports, which offer 36W.

The USB controller is one of the key features of this and essentially doubles the usual 10Gb/s bandwidth to connected devices. It's worth noting that while it does have dual USB controllers, this is only supported on Thunderbolt-based machines or USB4 machines.

Of course, one of the big reasons to go with Thunderbolt 5 is the transfer speed, and here, with Thunderbolt 5, we can get up to 6200MB/s. When you compare that with Thunderbolt 4 at 3200MB/s, you're getting almost double the performance.

A big upgrade is a network with the 10GbE network port, which is a huge upgrade from the usual 2.5 or, at most, 5Gb/s options most docks offer. This will be of interest to anyone using network editing for video.

Another feature that I really like is the fact that it features two memory card slots: microSD 4.0 UHS-II and SD 4.0 UHS-II. So, if you need to download your memory cards, there are options directly on the front of the dock to do this.

Going slightly beyond most of the docks, the TS5Plus+ has also been developed so that you can use Apple accessories such as the Apple SuperDrive, and CalDigit has developed a driver that enables these devices to be plugged directly into the dock rather than into your machine, so you can keep them connected at all times if you're using a laptop.

Whilst primarily used for data transfer and connecting devices to a single machine, even when that machine is disconnected, you can utilise it as an off-line charging station, and because of the way that it's configured, you'll be able to plug up to 11 devices in for charging at each port's maximum output.

When it comes to features, there is the docking station utility, which is absolutely essential for a pro-level dock of this type. Along with other utilities, it enables you to eject all connected external drives with a single click. This is something that ensures the safety of your drives and will hopefully prevent any corruption that can happen from a mistakenly removed drive.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

CalDigit TS5Plus+: Performance

The great thing about most docks is if you simply plug them in, they instantly work, and the same is true with the CalDigit TS5 Plus. The setup is straightforward: simply plug it into AC power, then the Thunderbolt 5 directly into your Thunderbolt 5 port. Obviously, there aren't that many machines with Thunderbolt 5, so if you don't have one, then it will equally fit a USB4, Thunderbolt 4 or even Thunderbolt 3, although you will see a downgrade in performance.

As I started to use the TS5Plus+, I had it positioned in my office with a single 4K monitor attached, several hard drives, a keyboard and mouse, and a Monogram control deck, all of which operated without issue and as it was plugged in, it was recognised as if plugging it directly into the machine.

When it came to SD and microSD downloads, I found the download speeds from those memory cards were faster than when using my normal card reader, and this was due to the UHS-II technology rather than UHS-I of the readers that I normally use, so I saw the ending of 256GB SD and microSD cards in exceptionally quick times.

As I plugged in the LaCie Tough 5 Pro, my first thought was it was a shame that there isn't a Thunderbolt 5 port on the front of the dock, and actually, what I initially felt was a really nice streamlined front started to feel just a little bit limited. Whilst the ports are available on the back, it would be nice just to have possibly one or two additional USB4 or Thunderbolt 5 options on the front of the TS5Plus+ as well.

When it came to the performance when used with the MacBook Pro, which only has Thunderbolt 4 ports, the performance was exceptional, and there was little to no slowdown between the Thunderbolt 5 devices that I had plugged into the dock compared to when they were plugged in directly into the machine. Likewise, all other devices, mostly USB 3.2 or 2x2, worked as fast as they do on any other machine; the only point is that I could plug in multiple devices, and each would still operate with the transfer speeds that I would expect, and like other docks, there's no real slowdown.

Using it on a PC with Thunderbolt 5, things really start to get interesting, and there is definitely a leap in the transfer rates from near 4GB/s to closer to 8, although I could only test this with a single drive, which is the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5. In order for my ASUS motherboard to utilise Thunderbolt 5, it did require an additional PCIe card to be installed.

Ultimately, using the CalDigit TS5 sees a huge uplift not only to the speed that you witness when copying data from memory cards over to hard drives or onto a network-attached device, but you'll also discover that there is greater reliability, too. Quite often, I'll have a mouse stutter when downloading multiple drives on my present dock, yet here, everything continued to run smoothly.

At the end of the test, what stood out about the CalDigit TS5+ is that it is a docking station that is slightly beyond the needs of most people at present; however, if you're looking to invest in the future, run a production studio or a small business, and you need a dock that enables you to quickly plug in and maximise transfer speed, then at present the TS5Plus+ is probably one of the only options out there and its build quality and software really does make it a worthwhile purchase.

• Performance: 5 / 5

CalDigit TS5Plus+: Final verdict

Over the years, I've tested and owned plenty of docks, and many fit the bill and do the job; however, the TS5Plus+ takes things to the next level, with that Thunderbolt 5 connection enabling up to 120Gb/s bandwisdth, essentially meaning that everything that you plug into the dock is going to see very high performance.

The majority of my devices are USB 3.2, and so all of these maximise the transfer speed with little to no slowdown. Obviously, the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 devices were downgraded in the usual fashion due to interface compatibility, but not due to the TS5.

So, when it comes to a huge variety, 20 ports, to connect various devices and accessories, the TS5Plus+ enables you to do that and see little to no slowdown. There are two other things that really impressed me about this docking station, and the first was the included software.

At present, it's really only OWC who has software that matches the ability of the TS5Plus+, and the fact that you can very quickly go up to the menu and eject all drives in one go without having to manually eject each really does make a difference to the speed of disconnecting from the hub, and it's a feature that I really like and hold this and the OWC docking stations so far above almost all others.

The second feature that I really liked was the fact that when it's unplugged from your machine, you can still use it as a charging station. In the studio, even when it wasn't plugged into the laptop, I used the TS5Plus+ to charge lights, accessories, batteries from my Sony A7 IV, along with various items and mobile phones. Just having it as a dual-function device really does make the difference, and the fact that it fast charges everything just adds to its usefulness.

Should I buy a CalDigit TS5Plus+?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...