Kensington SD2000p Nano USB-C Dock Review

TweakTown's Rating: 85%

The Bottom Line

With its strong price price and solid features, the SD2000p is one of the better options for business men and women that dock at the office.

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Kensington dabbles in quite a few categories but really shines when it comes to their creativity and design with docking solutions. One of their more recent solutions speaks to this as it combines the interfaces we use most in a small package.

The SD2000p or Nano is a small form factor "cube" docking solution that offers cross-platform compatibility with both USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 machines. For devices that support it, the Nano is capable of delivering 60W of power via USB-C along with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort++ both offering 4K30 support. Three USB 3.0 ports offer additional connectivity along with charging capability with the Type-C ports offering 1.5A and the USB-C 3A and last we have a single gigabit ethernet port.

Compatibility includes Chrome OS 44 and later, macOS 10.13 and Windows 7+. MSRP of the Kensington SD2000p comes in at $129.99 with a three-year warranty.

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Packaging offers compatibility at the bottom left with an image of the dock centered. We have display connectivity listed at the bottom right along with USB-C stamped top right.

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The back of the packaging goes into more detail on the ports and includes specifications at the bottom along with warranty.

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Scope of delivery includes the power adapter, USB-C cable, and reading materials.

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The power adapter offers 110 watts of power.

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The front of the dock offers USB-C and two USB 3.0 ports all designed for charging your devices.

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The side includes the USB-C Host port along with 20v power input.

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Flipping the unit to the back, we have the gigabit ethernet and two display outputs to the left.

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The left side houses the lock slot.

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Taking a dive at performance, the SD2000p offered 418/426 in sequential using our portable SSD.

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Gigabit performance was as expected; hovering between 941 and 942Mbps.

I was quite impressed by the build quality and finish of the 2000p just for the simple fact that Docks are considered business devices; they are there to get the job done, and no one cares what they look like. With the last few Kensington solutions I have reviewed, I have noticed their attention to detail and care for the aesthetics of their products. The SD2000p has a solid feel in the hand, and the plastics are definitely molded in a factory with solid QA.

As for performance, the SD2000p delivers on its promises with solid USB 3.0 throughput reaching near 420 read and write. Adding to this we have Gigabit Ethernet that is on-point hovering at 941Mbps. As for display performance, I was able to test the HDMI output with a 4K HDTV and had no issues at 30Hz.

Overall, the SD2000p is a fantastic solution and is one the most budget-friendly solutions to offer USB-PD for those that have a single port device like a MacBook.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z370 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i3 8350K (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB 4x8GB DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H115i (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Air 540 (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
• Wi-Fi NIC: ASUS PCE-AC88 (buy from Amazon)
• 10Gbe NIC: ASUS XG-C100C (buy from Amazon)
• Thunderbolt 3: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)