In a way, the birth of the hub can be credited to the birth of the laptop. Laptops have basically strived to condense the functionality of a desktop into a portable form, but in the process, have also surrendered a few key features like key ports and the ability to upgrade storage. Multiport hubs were designed to compensate for those shortcomings, but as laptops grow more and more powerful, the demand for powerful hubs have gone up too. Meet DockNova, a 10-in-1 hub that packs all the features most power-users need, from support for 8K displays, 2.5G ethernet, 100W power delivery, and the ability to mount SSDs up to 4 terabytes. All this fits in the size of a hub no larger than a Snickers bar, with a gorgeous aluminum body and a clear plastic front facade, and a nifty button that lets you remotely black-out your external display to protect parents and managers from catching you browsing the web instead of working or studying.
Designer: DockNova
$159 (30% Off) Hurry! Only 60 hours left!
The DockNova opts for the ‘transparent’ design trend that’s been gaining popularity rather slowly and steadily in the past year. It sports an aluminum chassis, but comes with a clear facade that lets you see the PCB underneath, making it an instant tech-nerd favorite. The clear plastic cover lets you admire the ports, modules, chips, and other elements of the DockNova, while the base of the hub has screws that let you open it up to mount an SSD on the inside.
The transparent design pretty much reveals all of DockNova’s key ports. From the regular USB-A ports and SD card readers to more powerful ports like the ethernet port, the 8K-compliant HDMI port, and a whopping 100W power delivery USB-C port for charging your laptop. The DockNova packs two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports for thumb drives and charging regular devices via USB cable, but for higher-speed data transfer or faster charging, it houses one full-featured USB-C port and another power-delivery port capable of lifting weights up to 100W. That means you can directly hook the DockNova into your laptop and connect your charger into the DockNova itself, transferring power through the hub without blocking an extra port on your laptop.
Aside from charging your laptop, the DockNova also helps connect it directly to the internet through a 2.5G Ethernet port that gets high-speed internet to your machine. Card readers allow you to collect data dumps from DSLRs, drones, and other devices that store information on SD cards, and the DockNova’s rear has space to mount an M.2 (NVMe or SATA) SSD up to 4 terabytes in capacity, turning the hub into a data transfer behemoth aside from a charging beast!
However, the DockNova’s most interesting feature is connected to its HDMI port. The hub’s HDMI has support for displays up to 8K in resolution (albeit with a 30Hz refresh rate), or even 4K@120Hz, making it perfect for hooking up external displays for gaming, video editing, graphic design, or media consumption. Speaking of media consumption, the DockNova also packs its own display killswitch that lets you black out the display from the hub itself. This is especially useful when you’re watching Twitch or YouTube and your parents or manager sneaks up on you to see what you’re doing. You could have work running on the main display and entertainment on the secondary display, and DockNova lets you black out the latter on demand. Perfect for when you don’t want to share private projects with your colleagues, don’t want bosses and parents finding you chilling instead of working, and no, we’re not going to recommend anything to do with adult websites. We’re not. Nope.
Being USB-C, the DockNova works with more than just your laptops. It supports Windows and Mac devices, but also works with Android phones, iPads with USB-C ports (perfect for the Pro range), and even the latest iPhone 15 Pro. Additionally, it also works with Linux devices, ChromeOS devices, PlayStations, Xboxes, and handheld controllers like the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch, allowing you to transfer data across devices with ease, connect bigger displays or wired ethernet ports, or even upgrade your device’s storage thanks to the add-on SSD slot. The DockNova is available at a discounted $109 and ships globally starting December 2023.
$159 (30% Off) Hurry! Only 60 hours left!
$159 (30% Off) Hurry! Only 60 hours left!
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