Review: Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro — get all the Thunderbolt 4 ports you need with this new hub

At CES 2024 Satechi announced their upgraded Thunderbolt 4 hub, the Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro.  It is a compact Thunderbolt 4 hub without the frills and unnecessary ports and looks to provide you with four of the fastest ports available.

The Hub is small and compact, providing three output (or upstream) Thunderbolt 4 ports along with a single 10Gbps USB-A output port.  There is of course an input Thunderbolt 4 port. 

Specs:

• USB 3.2 Gen 2 Data Port – up to 10gbps
• 3x Thunderbolt 4 Downstream Ports up to 40 Gbps, 15W
• (2x) 4K at 60Hz or (1x) 8K at 30Hz or (1x) 6K on Mac
• 1x DC 20V Port

The USB 3.2 Gen 2 Data port can easily be used for a mouse or keyboard although this USB-A port sits alongside the upstream (input) Thunderbolt 4 port.  This location isn’t ideal given my use case and where I have mine located but it’s far from the only dock with this solution.

There is a massive 95W power brick to power the Slim Hub Pro which is not ideal given the hub is meant to be slim – which it is but then you need to find somewhere for the power brick to keep out of sight.  Unfortunately, with this many Thunderbolt 4 ports you will need to add extra power to the mix to get full Thunderbolt 4 power and speeds.

“Driven by the latest GaN technology, the Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro can charge even the most power-hungry devices while maintaining a small, lightweight profile. Equipped with a larger 150W GaN power supply, the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro is capable of outputting up to 96W of power to the host device – a 60% increase from the 60W limit of its predecessor.“

The hub itself is small and measures just 135mm x 74mm x 18mm, although that is with me measuring it because the Satechi website lists it as 310mm long making me less trustful of the rest of their measurements.

The Slim Hub Pro is made of a very solid feeling aluminium casing which apparently helps to cool the hub which I’m sure it does but for me it just makes it feel solid, well-built and incredibly sturdy.  Some have suggested it could easily be used as a portable hub but for me I have never had a need for a portable Thunderbolt Hub with three Thunderbolt 4 ports – plus the charging brick makes it decidedly less portable in my eyes.

For some folks there just aren’t enough ports on this Slim Hub Pro – for example, I have a different branded one that has the same ports as this along with an SD card reader, three additional USB 3.2 ports, an Ethernet port and a headphone jack.  Of course, it did also cost a pretty penny more and is decidedly bigger.  

The data throughput on the Slim Hub Pro is impressive with it capable of 32Gbps native PCIe support for external GPUs and Thunderbolt-based SSDs. I tested it out with every device I had, and it was incredibly capable. The transfer speeds were impeccable and as fast as the more expensive Thunderbolt 4 dock that I own.

The Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro is perfect to sit under the desk because, for me at least, the Slim Hub Pro’s Thunderbolt 4 Ports are ports that you set and forget about.  I placed the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro under my desk and will, when the review is over, stick it to the underside of my desk.  There is no need to continually be plugging things in and out all the time like there is with my other dock – that’s why that one lives on top of the desk. I used the Thunderbolt 4 ports as ports for display and one for power, none of which changes from day to day.

Interestingly I was able to charge my MacBook Air using one of its Thunderbolt 4 ports using the hub but not the other.  Others have found power discrepancies with the various ports, which I seemed to as well, although I was unable to measure what exactly the power outputs were.

Where the Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro excels is that massive power brick that I was complaining about – yes, it is overall a positive.  You could use a single Thunderbolt 4 port to charge your laptop anywhere, assuming 96W is enough to power it.

Should you buy it?

If all you want is more Thunderbolt 4 ports then this is the dock for you. It is not cheap but is certainly not the most expensive Thunderbolt 4 dock around. There are no frills, just a single USB-A port and no headphone jack, SD card reader or any Ethernet ports.

The Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro is small and compact and even with a large power brick is able to be squashed into or placed in unobtrusive places easily while still maintaining full function.

I can highly recommend the new Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Hub Pro for those who just want more Thunderbolt 4 ports, and little else. You can grab one now at Satechi’s website or, for those hoping for local availability, a few months (hopefully April) to an Aussie retailer such as Officeworks and MacGear.