OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review

OWC intros a solid competitor to the Thunderbolt Dock market.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: OWC
2 minutes & 54 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 85%
TweakTown award

The Bottom Line

OWC finally gets up to speed with its 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock, offering all the connectivity of its competitors at a lower price point.
OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 99

With 2018 being full of product launches, the dock has seen steady growth with the launch of USB-C solutions early in the year followed by Thunderbolt 3 and Mini Docks. OWC earlier in the year launched a 12-Port Thunderbolt solution but went back to the drawing board to get one more product out before the end of the year, the 14 Port iteration of their Dock.

The 14 Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock from OWC takes advantage of the same enclosure as the 12 Port model. As in the original, the 14 Port model retains SD 4.0, USB 3.1 and the Hybrid Audio port on the front of the device. On the back, we have four USB 3.1 ports along with Optical audio, Thunderbolt 3 host and client connectivity and miniDP with support for 5K@60hz. Upping the port count to 14, adds a microSD 4.0 to the front of the unit taking advantage of the same chipset with UHS-II support along with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps port with 5v 3A power delivery.

Compatibility includes Windows 10 and macOS 10.12+. MSRP of the 14-Port OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock comes in at $299.99 with a two-year warranty.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 02

Packaging for the 14 Port OWC Dock came to us in a plain white box, sticker to the right with model info.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 03

Inside, we have the power adapter, Thunderbolt 3 cable, and port guide.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 04

The power adapter is rated at 180w.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 05

As mentioned this uses the same enclosure as the 12 Port model with the addition of microSD and USB-C on the front. That said color options are the same with space grey and silver. The front houses the two SD ports sharing one controller internally. To the right USB 3.0 with charging and USB-C.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 06

On the back, we have four USB 3.0 ports, the first supporting battery charging. This is followed by optical output, gigabit ethernet and both Thunderbolt 3 port. To round out the dock we have miniDP for 5K60 Display support or pair with Thunderbolt for dual 4K displays.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 08

We start our testing on the front of the unit with SD and our SanDisk Extreme UHS-II card. Here we reach 257 MB/s read, and 179 MB/s write.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 09

Moving to front panel USB 3.0, we reach 351 MB/s read, and 318 MB/s write with our SanDisk Portable SSD.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 10

Using the same SanDisk Portable SSD, we test USB-C reaching 713 MB/s read, and 521 MB/s write.

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock 14-Port Review 11

Last, we switched to our G-Drive Pro SSD to test Thunderbolt 3. Read results came in at 904 MB/s followed by 862 MB/s write.

The 14Port model of the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock with the addition of USB-C Gen 2 is a fantastic solution and really eliminates any need for the 12Port model. This new solution even adds on microSD with UHS-II support the downside being it shares resources with the SD slot, so they cannot be used at the same time.

Moving on, build quality is great just as it was in the past, we have an aluminum structure with piano black on top. No sharp edges to speak of everything appears to be smoothed over.

The performance was quite good among most ports; the SD port reached 257 MB/s followed by 351 MB/s for USB 3.0. USB-C topped out at 713 MB/s and Thunderbolt at 904 MB/s. I was able to test 4K monitor support with both the miniDP and Thunderbolt 3 port and came away with no issues to speak of both connecting at 60Hz.

Up against the competition this solution fairs quite well, the TS3 Plus from CalDigit and SD5000T from Kensington both come in $10 to $20 more expensive than the 14-Port offering similar connectivity options. That said, OWC does offer a longer warranty than CalDigit and on par with Kensington at two-years.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

TweakTown award
Performance 83%
Quality 87%
Features 90%
Value 81%
Overall 85%

The Bottom Line: OWC finally gets up to speed with its 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock, offering all the connectivity of its competitors at a lower price point.

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

USUnited States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com

UKUnited Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.co.uk

AUAustralia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com.au

CACanada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.ca

DEDeutschland: Finde andere Technik- und Computerprodukte wie dieses auf Amazon.de

Tyler joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. Growing up in a small farm town, tech wasn't around, unless it was in a tractor. At an early age, Tyler's parents brought home their first PC. Tyler was hooked and learned what it meant to format a HDD, spending many nights reinstalling Windows 95. Tyler's love and enthusiast nature always kept his PC nearby. Eager to get deeper into tech, he started reviewing.

Newsletter Subscription
We openly invite the companies who provide us with review samples / who are mentioned or discussed to express their opinion. If any company representative wishes to respond, we will publish the response here. Please contact us if you wish to respond.