Anker has expanded into the docking station market over the last few years. We’ve reviewed several of them in that time and always come away impressed. As with any company, Anker has been improving with each edition, and the new Anker Prime Docking Station might be the best yet… with one limitation.
Design
The first thing that strikes you when taking this Prime Docking Station out of the box is the overall fit and finish. Anker nailed this in every way. It has an LED display that allows you to keep an eye on the status of all inputs and outputs. This shows the current state of things like displays currently plugged in, charging rates, and even the clock while in standby.
With 140W of charging power, triple-display support, and a design that feels as premium as it looks, the Anker Prime Docking Station turns your desk into a true command center.
I can’t stress how good this Anker Prime Docking Station looks. It’s a modern retro design that reminds me of an antique radio in many ways. One such point of nostalgia is the knob on the side. This beautifully gnarled crown functions as a scroll wheel to navigate up and down the screens on the LED display, and punching it in selects menu items. It’s a fantastic physical input you just don’t see on devices in this segment.
Inputs and Outputs
Let’s start with the front panel below the status display. Here you have a microSD and full sized SD reader on the far left. In the middle is a three array USB-C hub, with two set for 100W/10Gbps max and the other drops the transfer speeds down to 5Gbps. Finally, to the right is a headphone/mic combo port.
Turning the Anker Prime Docking station to the back, you have the full business end of the unit. Let’s go left to right on this one, starting with an Ethernet jack capable of 2.5Gbps. Next you have a USB-A at 480Mbps and two more at 5Gbps.
The Anker Prime Dock includes three outputs for displays. There’s a single DisplayPort option rated for max 8k/60Hz, and then you have two HDMI rated for 8k at 30Hz. Lastly, you have the USB-C port for the host laptop or PC (140W/10Gbps max) and the 120V power port.
Daily Usage
Overall, I’ve been very impressed with the performance. I haven’t had any hiccups with my machines using the Anker Prime Docking Station. I’ve been using two HDMI monitors that fall inside the dock’s ranges, and they’ve come through crisp and have connected without failure each time I’ve needed them.
The same is true for all the mentioned inputs and outputs. Ethernet has been fantastic and fast. Charging has been great, using the front hubs for charging my phone and smartwatch when needed. Anker’s PowerIQ4 kicks in and charges to the appropriate rates regardless of device.
“Capable of 140 Watts of power and up to three displays, the rock solid hardware performs without failure, all packaged in a stunning fit and finish that Anker truly nailed.”
I’m really glad that Anker included the SD reader slots. This is the holy grail input of photographers, who also tend to be Mac users. I’ve shared this with a few friends in the field, and they immediately thought this was a great all-around solution for Mac users with M-series who take photos. The DisplayLink tech makes it able to expand these Apple devices across multiple displays and gives them the SD slots to boot.
And that brings me to my one callout surrounding the Anker Prime Docking Station. It requires additional software drivers to work on any device except Chromebooks. Machines running macOS, Windows, or even Linux will need to install the DisplayLink driver to use external monitors. This isn’t a dealbreaker, and as I mentioned with Apple users it can even extend to additional monitors not allowed by Thunderbolt.
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Final Thoughts
Anker has a beautiful, functional DisplayLink dock with the Prime Docking Station. The rock solid hardware is a driver installation away from being one of the best options to come across your desk. Capable of 140 Watts of power and up to three displays makes this an easy buy if in the market for such a purchase.
Anker has the MSRP set at $370 (Anker), but it’s currently on sale via Amazon and the company’s direct site pages.
