Kensington’s new Thunderbolt 5 dock is an absolute monster | usagoldmines.com

Kensington has released an absolute battlestation of a laptop docking station, the SD7100T5 EQ Pro 19-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station, complete with dedicated function buttons, a CompactFlash slot, and a Copilot button.

Priced at $449.99, the SD7100T5 is the older cousin of the Kensington SD5000T5 Thunderbolt 5 dock that we saw last year. (That dock, with an MSRP of $399.99, received a substantial discount of about 34 percent on Amazon when we checked last week, bringing the price down to a much more reasonable $258.)

Kensington usually fares well in my reviews of laptop docking stations, and we recommend one of its older Thunderbolt 4 docks as one of the best docking stations you can buy. They’re typically among the most stable I’ve tested, but those features and flexibility come with a price.

The three standout features that this dock adds are worth calling out. First, there’s a CompactFlash slot, a relative rarity that caters to photographers. Second, it offers a whopping four audio options, including dedicated headphone and mic jacks, even an optical connection for high-end audio. Finally, there are two “hot key” buttons.

By default, these are configured to trigger the Copilot application and lock the PC, though they can be configured by Kensington’s utility software to perform other functions as well. The company will also ship an EQ Pro version designed for the Mac, with the buttons configured to perform photo backup.

Kensington

There’s one more: other docks are now moving towards adding a dedicated M.2 slot for an SSD, and this Kensington dock does as well.

Still, the connectivity options goes far beyond those of a typical dock. In addition to three Thunderbolt 5 ports (plus one to connect to the laptop), the SD7100T5 includes a CompactFlash connector, as well as SD and microSD slots. It also offers a pair of 10Gbps USB-A ports and two 10Gbps USB-C ports, one of which is configured for 30W charging — even when a laptop isn’t connected. (Two additional USB-A ports are located on the rear of the dock.) There’s a 2.5Gbps Ethernet connection, too.

The charging capabilities are a little less important as phones now ask for 30W to 40W to fast charge a phone, with some Asian smartphones now demanding 100W or more.

Granted, Kensington’s SD7100T5 EQ Pro 19-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station might just be total overkill for those looking to save a buck or two during this holiday season. Since Intel’s 2026 laptop platform, Panther Lake, still uses Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5 isn’t quite necessary. On the other hand, this dock offers features I’ve rarely seen elsewhere, making the $400 price tag potentially worthwhile.