Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB16 Review: Connect Your Whole Setup with One Cable

The Dell TB16 offers an excellent array of ports. On the back you’ll find:

• Thunderbolt 3/USB-C
• 1x USB 3.0
• 2x USB 2.0
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Audio output
• HDMI
• Mini DisplayPort
• DisplayPort
• VGA
• Headphone jack (front)

On the top of the Dell TB16 is a sleep/wake button, though this doesn’t perform any function for me with the Razer Blade. There are vents on either side, and it runs completely silent.

For extra convenience, you also have an additional two USB 3.0 ports, plus a headset jack, on the front. As an added bonus, the left USB 3.0 port will continue to charge devices even when your notebook is off or disconnected. Neat!

Rather than a traditional Thunderbolt 3 port for connecting to your notebook, the Dell TB16 has a short, integrated cable with a white indicator light. I suspect this is due to the Dell TB16’s ability to provide up to 130W of power to a connected Dell notebook, which exceeds the 100W standard USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 is capable of.

On the downside, this means you can’t swap the cable for a longer one (say, to move the Dell TB16 off your desk or further from your notebook), but the shortness of the cable hasn’t caused any issues with my setup. With my Razer Blade, the connector doesn’t light up either.

The Dell TB16 is offered with either an 180W or 240W power adapter, though only the larger of the two was available here in Australia. And it’s massive.

Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB16 left, Dell 240W PSU right

Fortunately, it’s going to stay under or behind your desk, because this thing is ridiculously huge. I know you can buy notebooks that come with adaptors this big, but I wouldn’t want to be carrying one around.