Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort Adapter review

Our Verdict

This gimmick helps situate arbitrary interface limitations imposed by laptop designers that included Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports. But IT won't work on Apple Mac M1 systems, and it's a expensive token compared with a single output adapter cable.

For

Thunderbolt 3 or 4
Impressionable to use
Atomic number 102 additional power obligatory

Against

Expensive
South Korean won't cultivate with some laptops

TechRadar Verdict

This device helps fix arbitrary port limitations imposed by laptop designers that included Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports. But it won't play on Apple Mac M1 systems, and it's a costly item compared with a single output adapter cable.

Pros

+ Thunderbolt 3 or 4
+ Easy to use
+ No additional power required

Cons

- Pricy
- Won't work with some laptops

Many laptop makers have included a Thunderbolt port on their devices because IT's a highly flexible interface that can some plug in peripherals and provide a means to charge in one.

But, unless a peripheral is specifically designed for Thunderbolt operating theater potentially for USB depending on the port specifications, additive hardware is required to provide connections to other pieces of technology.

Almost all Thunderbolt docking stations provide Monitor connections, allowing laptops to attach external screens even if they Don't go HDMI or DisplayPort onboard.

For those taking their laptop on the road, taking a docking station, its cabling and index supply might not be accessible if every last you want it for is to provide some external screen connectivity that the computer maker annoyingly left out.

Thankfully, Sonnet has addressed that requirement with a bladelike and portable means to win over a single Thunderbolt 3 or 4 porthole into dual supervise output.

Is it as straightforward as that? Well, almost.

Price, availability and value

Direct from Sonnet in the U. S. Army and Canada, the Thunderbolt Dual DisplayPort Adapter costs just $79.99. For those in European Community and elsewhere, Sonnet has topical anaestheti distributors, and we found information technology for £85.20 from CVP.com in the Britain.

It's Worth noting that a uncomplicated single cable adapter costing $10-15 backside be purchased that will take one Bolt of lightning port and convert it to beryllium an HDMI or DisplayPort turnout. To get two displays, you would need two of these adapters and two free Thunderclap ports, and it mightiness non work all systems.

Therefore, Sonnet's device is an expensive way to solve this problem.

Design

As an outer peripheral, devices like this don't get much simpler.

To boil it down, this is a rolled aluminium tube with a 30cm Thunderbolt 3 cable extending from unmatchable end and two female DisplayPort ports affixed on the other.

Electronics inside the tube breaks come out of the closet the Thunderbolt pathways to connect an outer monitor using DisplayPort, and the twist is powered by its connection to the computer, requiring nary extrinsic PSU.

Having a detachable Thunderbolt cable might have been nice, but a imperishable connexion avoids that tumbleweed moment when you get to a node ready to do a presentation, only to realise that you cause the adapter but misplaced the cable.

At just 95g, information technology's extremely portable, and the 99 mm long thermionic vacuum tube would hardly be noticed alongside the powerfulness render and different paraphernalia that most laptop owners help themselves of.

Ostensibly this is the most basic of plug-and-play devices. Just about information technology would seem until a a couple of caveats come out to make victimisation it marginally more complicated.

In usance

You have a laptop computer with Bolt of lightning 3 operating theater 4 specification ports, you've bought the Sonnet adapter and two high resolution monitors ready to offer, soh making this do work should be just about plugging these things together?

It can be, depending altogether on the computer ironware you are conjunctive between the adapter and the screens.

The likelihood of this working directly is much high if the computer involved is an Intel or AMD Windows system or an Intel Apple Mac. All our testing utilised this hardware, and it is merely a matter of plugging it in, and the displays start working immediately.

Happening Windows, it wasn't even needed to O.K. the Thunderbolt peripheral. It just worked.

The only prerequisites are that the machine moldiness be running a recent adaptation of Windows 10 64-scra unfreeze, and the Thunderbolt Busman should be at 16.3.61.275 Beaver State newer.

Thunderbolt 3 has decent bandwidth to indorse ii 4K monitors Beaver State a single 5K Monitor up to a resolution of 5120 x 2830. It is possible to mirror the onboard display, disable the onboard or extend the virtual desktop to let in some the onboard and the extra monitor(s).

In theory, those with two available Thunderbolt ports should personify able to practice two of these adapters, though Sonnet only mentions quad-screen functionality for Intel Macs.

We should also mention that depending connected the laptop hardware, how practical attaching treble OR quad 4K external screens to an integrated GPU is very hardware dependent. About integrated GPUs aren't adequate to of dynamical one display at this resolving power, ne'er judgment cardinal.

But this International Relations and Security Network't an issue that Apple M1 Mac owners bequeath bump American Samoa this adaptor won't shape this that ironware. From what we understand, and we're certainly not experts in anything Apple makes, the M1 architecture doesn't support more than one external display. The only exception to this generalisation is the M1 Mac Mini that supports one display over HDMI and another via USB-C.

Therefore, if you have an M1 MacBook or MacBook Air, this adapter is of none use to you, sadly.

And, according to the Sonnet FAQ for this product, it also won't support 5k on the MacBook Aura (2017), and non all Thunderbolt 3 Windows PCs support 2 4K monitors (operating theater one 5k monitor lizard) or 60Hz refresh rates. Sonnet has a list of laptops that won't work on with the adapter along its site, and information technology power be worth checking this ahead spending on one.

The new Malus pumila M1 Pro and M1 Max machines support deuce and three external displays according to Malus pumila marketing, but we lav't guarantee that this device will work with that ironware at this time.

Competitors

A ready look around whatsoever large tech retailer will reveal different very similar-looking devices that appear to offer the same functionality.

For those in Europe, Startech has the TB32DP2T. A very analogous appearance and specification, and that costs just £68.86 in the UK.

Global customers can also find the Sabrent Th-3DP2 for dual Displayport use, costing $99.99 straightforward from Sabrent. And, they besides make a dual HDMI version, the TH-3HP2, for an unneeded 10 dollars. We found some these products cheaper along Amazon.com, matching the Sonnet pricing.

In general, if you go through an unbranded product much cheaper than those claiming to provide this functionality, and so be careful. Some are USB-C to DisplayPort adapters that power not work with your Thunderbolt port, and others offer only two outputs of a single display, i.e. mirroring.

Getting two strait-laced outputs from a single Thunderbolt port isn't inexpensive unless you have deuce free ports and use cheap single Thunderbolt to DisplayPort adapters.

Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort Adapter — (Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Final finding of fact

Microcomputer makers are shirking their responsibilities by not including HDMI and DisplayPort happening machines with mickle of blank space for them to atomic number 4 mounted, but the Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 To Threefold DisplayPort adapter successfully addresses their ommissions.

Deplorably, a port that might have cost very little for a laptop computer maker to include ends up costing their customers an additive $79.99 with this gimmick.

And, the be is a significant factor in considering this purchase. If you Don River't need two displays from one port, much cheaper options exist. A Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable can be purchased for under $15 along Amazon and will provide a single 4K at 60Hz monitor connection.

What that cable can't do is convert a single Thunderbolt port into two 4K outputs or conflate the bandwidth to offer a single 5K external screen. If you specifically need dual screens, then this mightiness be for you. That specific functionality costs roughly the same from all hardware makers that offer it.

You can get down cheaper USB-C to DisplayPort devices, but we'd recommend avoiding USB for this intention if you take over Thunderbolt ports available.

And. if you own an Orchard apple tree Mac M1 system, avoid it completely, equally this computer hardware won't generate multiple displays from those machines.

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Mark is an expert on displays, reviewing monitors and TVs. He too covers storage including SSDs, NAS drives and man-portable herculean drives. He started writing in 1986 and had contributed to MicroMart, PC Format, 3D World among others.