Ugreen Maxidok 17-in-1 Review: A Thunderbolt 5 Dock With 17 Ports and Built-in SSD

Everything is good in this hub, except the bill.

Apple released Thunderbolt 5 with its M4 Pro and Max chips, and Ugreen is among the first to jump on the train with this Maxidok Revodok 17-in-1.

Ugreen seeks to exploit all the available bandwidth to design a very complete central hub. Screens, SSDs, and many accessories were plugged in to see if the beast holds the distance.

The Ugreen Maxidok Revodok 17-in-1 is a premium Thunderbolt 5 docking station with built-in SSD slot, 17 ports total, and 140W charging.

From unboxing, you feel that Ugreen has put the means of its ambitions. The device uses a massive brushed aluminium chassis, dressed in space grey that perfectly matches a MacBook. It is imposing.

Design Details

Without forgetting the bronze touch on the fins. It is heavy, does not slide on the desk, and inspires immediate confidence.

The dock holds vertically — a good thing. You gain space compared to hubs that lie flat.

Front Ports

On the front, you find the essentials for daily use: three USB-C 10 Gbps ports, the SD and microSD 4.0 card readers, and the headphone jack. Nothing to say about the layout on this side.

Rear Ports

At the rear, it is the port party. You have the magic trio of Thunderbolt 5 ports, 2.5G Ethernet, and three USB-A ports for old peripherals. But beware, yellow card: for displays, you will often have to go through an adapter on the TB5 ports if you do not have a native USB-C display. There is indeed a DisplayPort, but a small HDMI 2.1 would not have been a luxury for this price.

Power Button

Without forgetting the power button on the front. The idea is laudable to save energy, but its placement on the corner makes it too easy to actuate by mistake.

Internal SSD Slot

Under the case, you access the NVMe SSD slot. It is simple — one screw to remove (the screwdriver is provided, thanks) and you slide an SSD up to 8 TB. Ugreen also provides a thermal pad.

Cable Length

The Thunderbolt 5 cable provided in the box is barely 50 centimetres. It is short, yes, but at 80/120 Gbps, the signal becomes very sensitive to losses and interference, so passive Thunderbolt 5 cables must remain short to hold certified performance. A 1 m cable would have been welcome (about €16 on Amazon).

Cooling

On the dissipation side, the dock has a small internal fan in addition to passive cooling. In normal use, it is totally inaudible. You really have to stress the SSD and load the PC fully for it to start blowing a little, and even then, the noise is very muffled, not at all shrill.

Build Quality

The USB-A ports at the back are well spaced. You can plug in slightly wide keys without blocking the adjacent port. The assembly is irreproachable. No play in the ports, no creaking when handling the object.

Thunderbolt 5 is the best available. Technically, Thunderbolt 5 is based on the USB4 version 2.0 standard. You therefore obtain a bidirectional bandwidth of 80 Gbps, capable of going up to 120 Gbps for display. Unlike USB4, Intel has imposed an ultra-strict specification on TB5.

You can plug in three 8K screens and continue to transfer files without the system flinching.

USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 Compatibility

If you have a PC with USB4, you will benefit from compatibility and a large part of the dock's functions, but the bandwidth will be limited by USB4 (40 or 80 Gbps versus 120 Gbps). With Thunderbolt 4, the Maxidok also works, but it falls back to TB4 limits, and therefore 40 Gbps max.

Mac Mini M4 Pro Test

For testing, the Mac mini M4 Pro was used, Thunderbolt 5 compatible. Recognition was instantaneous: a single cable to manage everything. Note that the cheapest Mac mini M4 stays in Thunderbolt 4.

MacBook Pro Charging

If you have a MacBook Pro, the 140W is the real game changer. Until now, many docks were capping at 85W or 100W, which led to slow discharge during heavy 3D rendering. Here, the battery stays at 100% no matter what.

SSD Performance

The internal SSD slot was tested with an M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4. Result: 3 GB/s in read and write. Here, it is fast enough to work directly on DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro projects without the slightest lag. You will forget that you are working on "external" storage, especially since there is no notable throttling.

2.5 Gigabit Ethernet

The 2.5 GbE is also an excellent surprise. For those who have a NAS or fibre at 2 or 5 Gbps, you finally saturate the connection. You will be able to do your Time Machine backups in very good conditions.

Multi-Monitor

In multi-screen, it is a feast. Under Windows, you can drive three 4K panels at 144 Hz. On Mac, you remain limited by Apple's MST (Multi-Stream Transport) management, but you hold two 6K screens at 60 Hz.

Heat Management

The heating is well controlled. The aluminium plays its role of giant radiator. Even after transferring 500 GB of files, the dock is lukewarm, but never burning. The fan only triggered during a stress test combining maximum charge and sustained SSD transfer.

The Ugreen Maxidok Revodok 17-in-1 is available now, but you will need a strong heart. The recommended public price is around €499. But it is regularly found with discount coupons (sometimes up to -30%).

Other Models in the Range

There are also two other products. The Maxidok 10-in-1 (Thunderbolt 5) does not offer an internal SSD slot, 100W charging, and Ethernet limited to 1 Gbps. But it still has Thunderbolt 5 speeds for screens and external SSDs. It is sold for €240, which is much cheaper.

Finally, there is also the Maxidok for Mac mini. It takes the form of the Mac mini, to slide below or above. It offers connectivity and an SSD slot. It costs about €300.

You wonder why Thunderbolt 5 hubs are so expensive? For several reasons.

Already, there is the Intel JHL9540 controller (codename Barlow Ridge). This little piece of silicon costs alone between $40 and $50 each for the manufacturer.

For comparison, a classic USB port costs a few cents. Add to that the mandatory Intel certification: unlike USB4 where everyone does pretty much what they want, Intel requires ultra-thorough (and paid) tests to validate stability, throughput, and interoperability.

There are also military-grade VRM (voltage regulator) components — there are still 240W to manage. It is like printed circuits, they are much more complex and expensive to produce.

Finally, thermal dissipation is a big challenge. The bandwidth and power create heat. So you need solid aluminium chassis, thermal pads, and even fans. All this is additional manufacturing cost.

Positive Points

• Stratospheric Thunderbolt 5 throughput
• Integrated M.2 SSD slot up to 8 TB
• 140W PC charging
• Solid aluminium construction
• 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port
• 17 ports total in one device
• Vertical orientation saves desk space
• Whisper-quiet fan with passive cooling for normal use

Negative Points

• Too short 50 cm Thunderbolt 5 cable supplied
• Power button too easy to press by mistake
• No native HDMI 2.1 port (DisplayPort only)
• Public price of €499 stings hard
• Need adapter for non-USB-C displays