I love my M1 MacBook Air. It is thin, light, and incredibly powerful. But the lack of ports on Apple’s current laptops continues to be a challenge. That’s why I always carry an OWC USB-C Travel Dock with me. Now there is an OWC USB-C Travel Dock E; the small, $64.99 hub is a powerful way to get connected.
OWC describes the dock as “portable and powerful.” They go on to say that:
Unlike other mini docks that sacrifice usability to remain portable, OWC USB-C Travel Dock E packs a heavyweight punch akin to a desktop dock. This compact dock is about the size and weight of a hockey puck, and it can be used via bus power when you don’t have access to an outlet. Or, simply connect a USB-C power adapter to the Travel Dock E’s USB-C power delivery port to charge your device with up to 100W of power on the go.
Thanks to the inclusion of Gigabit Ethernet, the 6-port OWC USB-C Travel Dock E is an upgrade to the dock I reviewed and carry with me.
The OWC Travel Dock E is about the size and weight of a hockey puck. That makes it small enough to take everywhere. But despite its small size, the dock is packed with power. It is bus-powered, so you can use it to connect peripherals on the go. It has two USB 3 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, an SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB-C power pass-through power so you can keep your laptop charged.
The OWC USB-C Travel Dock E has an integrated USB-C cable that connects to your laptop. At the same time, if you connect a USB-C power adapter to the OWC USB-C Travel Dock E’s power delivery port (PD), you can also deliver up to 100W of power to recharge your laptop while you work.
The OWC USB-C Travel Dock E features include:
- CONNECT MORE: Maximize your mobile connectivity with two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, HDMI 2.0 port, SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet port, and USB-C power pass-through
- INGEST YOUR WORK: Copy photos and movies at speeds up to 312MB/s via the SD card reader
- FAST AND CONVENIENT: Connect a portable drive, keyboard, or mouse via one of the USB 3 ports
- POWERFUL OPTIONS: Bus-powered, or use an existing USB-C power adapter to provide up to 100W pass-through charging power to a notebook or other device
- STAY CHARGED: Charge small mobile devices like wireless earbuds, smartwatches, and most smartphones through one of the USB 3 ports
- TAKE ANYWHERE: Lightweight, palm-sized aluminum housing with an integrated USB-C cable
- SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE: Connect to displays, TVs, and projectors with up to 4K resolution via the HDMI 2.0 port
- WORKS WITH ALL: Adds ports to Macs, PCs, iPads/iPad Pros, tablets, or phones with a built-in USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 port
- BETTER CONNECTION: Say goodbye to low quality, patchy Wi-Fi by connecting to the Gigabit Ethernet port
As the company explains, by simply plugging the OWC USB-C Travel Dock E’s integrated cable into your laptop, you will be able to output presentations to a 4K HDMI display, quickly share, stream, and surf via Ethernet, quickly transfer files with storage devices, charge small mobile devices for on-the-go, import photos and movies from media cards with the SD card reader and connect peripherals like keyboard and mice.
As an added benefit, if you use OWC’s free Dock Ejector software, you can safely disconnect external storage drives with a single click.