The Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is sweet to have in case you want extra ports than your MacBook provides you — assuming the ports you want are USB-A.
Laptops right this moment, such because the M2 MacBook Air, include outstanding energy however supply restricted ports. This might not be a problem for the atypical consumer, however for photographers and content material creators, it will possibly change into an enormous inconvenience.
Vava hopes to repair this problem by making a docking station that provides a wide range of ports in a smooth, light-weight design.
The Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is a strong hub offering nearly each port you want. Nevertheless, it’s caught prior to now by solely providing USB-A ports.
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station — Smooth design with a bunch of ports
The Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is mild to carry and carry round. Although, due to its many ports, it isn’t probably the most compact energy hub available on the market.
The Docking Station weighs 5.3 ounces and is 9.05 x 1.65 x 0.7 inches in measurement. Whereas this can be a large design, it’s affordable because of the variety of ports it packs into itself.
With the Docking Station, you get:
- Two USB-A 2.0 ports
- Two USB-A 3.0 ports
- One SD (Safe Digital) card slot
- One TF (TransFlash) card slot
- One RJ45 gigabit ethernet port
- Two HDMI 2.0 ports
- One USB-C PD (Energy Supply) output port
- One DC (Direct Present) enter port
- One 3.5mm audio port
Two grips on the underside make sure the Docking Station would not transfer when plugging or unplugging cables. The aluminum physique is sturdy sufficient to outlive a number of falls or being thrown right into a bag.
An non-obligatory energy adapter — that comes along with your buy — might be plugged into the DC port. This may can help you cost your laptop computer or another linked system whereas the facility adapter is plugged in.
The Docking Station connects to your system through USB-C and is suitable with macOS 10.11.12 and better.
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station — Performance
The Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station capabilities like different energy hubs, however do not be fooled — not all ports work as you’d anticipate.
Two HDMI ports imply you possibly can join two displays to your system and concurrently use them.
Each ports help 3840 x 2160 decision at 60Hz. Nevertheless, in case you use each concurrently, it drops to 30Hz.
The identical goes for Mirror Mode and Prolonged Mode. Mirror Mode will help 60Hz, whereas Prolonged Mode will help 30Hz.
Each USB-A 3.0 ports can switch information at as much as 5gbps, and each USB-A 2.0 ports can do the identical at 480mbps. The USB-C port — solely for charging and never information transfers — can output a most of 20W. It additionally helps fast charging for suitable gadgets.
Energy output from the Docking Station to your laptop is dependent upon whether or not the USB-C port is presently in use. Whether it is, it will possibly attain a most of 45W, but when it is not, that will increase to 65W.
The SD and TF card slots can learn at a most velocity of 104mbps and write at a most velocity of 50mbps. Switch charges by way of the ethernet port can attain as much as 1000mbps, and the audio port can help 48K monitor output and microphone enter.
The DC enter is 100W, and the sunshine subsequent to it signifies when energy is flowing to the Docking Station.
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station — You get what you get
Utilizing the Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station labored properly in on a regular basis use. Though, we did see some purple flags that made us just a little involved.
The facility adapter is over six toes lengthy, so there isn’t any fear about it not reaching you if you’re not subsequent to an influence outlet. It plugs proper into the DC enter port and robotically begins charging all linked gadgets.
After plugging in a flash drive, it immediately appeared in Finder, and we might entry all its information.
Our first purple flag occurred when transferring a 950mb file onto the flash drive. Finder instructed us it might take 25 minutes to switch all of the information.
Our second purple flag got here when making an attempt to again up our MacBook onto a tough drive by way of Time Machine. Whereas the exhausting drive appeared in Finder, Time Machine declined to again up.
The system mentioned that the Mac was operating on inside battery energy and could not help the Time Machine course of. To be clear, the Mac was plugged in and receiving energy when making an attempt to again it up.
Fortunately, our expertise with the HDMI ports was higher and offered a clean and secure expertise. The image regarded wonderful, the connection didn’t lag or disconnect randomly, and transferring home windows from one show to a different labored flawlessly.
We have been additionally capable of maintain an iPhone 14 Professional Max and iPad Professional charged whereas performing all earlier actions talked about. The Docking Station did get just a little heat, however it was not scorching sizzling once we picked it up.
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station — Caught prior to now
The Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is a modern-looking energy hub that provides a wide range of ports — so long as you do not want any USB-C ports.
The smooth design permits it to slot in with any desk setup, and with its light-weight, it will possibly simply be taken wherever you go.
Whereas it performs properly in most of its duties, we have been disenchanted that the USB-C port was just for charging and never for information transfers. Including a number of USB-C ports might be very useful for switch speeds and compatibility with newer gadgets.
The value may be a disadvantage for many individuals who just like the Docking Station however suppose the value doesn’t justify what you obtain.
If you don’t want all 12 ports, then we suggest wanting on the Anker USB-C Hub. It does have fewer ports however is one-third the value.
If you happen to make the most of all of the Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station ports, we expect you may be joyful along with your buy. Nevertheless, in case you do not want all 12 ports and need a highly effective hub at a lower cost level, then we advise wanting elsewhere.
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station – Professionals
- Gentle and transportable
- Smooth design
- Lengthy charging cable
- Doesn’t overheat
Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station – Cons
- Just one USB-C port
- USB-C port is just for outputting energy
- Excessive value for what you get
Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
The place to buy the Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station
You should purchase the Vava 12-in-1 USB-C Docking Station from their web site for $109.99. It’s out there in area gray.
The Docking Station can also be out there on Amazon for $149.95. It’s also out there in area grey.