Head-to-Head: Plugable’s UD-MSTH3 vs Dell Pro Dock WD25

Article Summary

Plugable’s UD-MSTH3 docking station enables dual 4K 60Hz, or triple 1080P displays via HDMI, 100W host charging, up to 30W dedicated device charging, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a combination of USB Type-C and Standard-A ports. Dell’s Pro Dock WD25 docking station enables a single 6K 60Hz display, two 5K 60Hz displays, three or four 3440x1440 60Hz ultra-wide displays with a mix of HDMI, USB Type-C, and DisplayPort outputs, provides up to 96W host charging (100W for Dell computers) and up to 15W for maximum single-device charging, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a combination of USB-C and Standard-A ports at 10Gbps data rate. Both docking stations are well suited for home and office use, relying on the computer’s internal graphics controller to enable and accelerate the externally connected displays via USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode and DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport. Plugable’s UD-MSTH3 standardizes HDMI display outputs for easy connection, while the Dell Pro Dock offers three different display connection types and may require adapters when connecting similar displays.

When you’re comparing MST docking stations, it usually comes down to a few big questions: Will this docking station support the latest displays, network, and USB devices? Can this docking station quickly charge both my computer and my phone?

In this Head to Head, we’re comparing the Plugable UD-MSTH3 USB Type-C Triple Display Docking Station and Dell’s Pro Dock WD25 USB Type-C docking stations.

The Quick Take

The Dell Pro Dock WD25 USB Type-C docking station supports up to four external displays with HDMI, USB Type-C, and DisplayPort outputs. This can enable a single 6K 60Hz display, two 5K 60Hz displays, or up to four 3440x1440 displays - with a DisplayPort 1.4-capable host computer. It provides six USB 10Gbps data ports, one Type-C with DisplayPort video output may be dedicated to an external display, a second USB Type-C, and four USB Standard-A ports, along with 2.5Gbps Ethernet. The docking station provides up to 100W host charging (100W with a Dell host, 96W with non-Dell), and up to 15W device charging on the front USB Type-C port.

The Plugable UD-MSTH3 USB Type-C docking station, also for Windows notebooks, supports up to three HDMI displays and can enable a single or dual 4K 60Hz displays, or three displays: a 4K 60Hz and two 1080P 60Hz displays. It also provides front-facing MicroSD/SD card reader, two USB 10Gbps Type-C ports, one USB 10Gbps Standard-A and one USB 5Gbps Standard-A ports, 3.5mm TRRS headset port, and a separate USB Type-C Charge-Only port providing up to 30W to power and charge a connected device. On the rear are the three HDMI connections, one USB 5Gbps Standard-A and one USB 480Mbps Standard-A ports, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, host and power connections.

Quick Specs at a Glance

Display Support: Triple or Quad Displays and DisplayPort MST

DisplayPort MST (Multi-Stream Transport) takes a single DisplayPort 1.2 or higher video stream and splits it to support two or more displays; the number of displays and their available resolution depends on the DisplayPort version of the host and optional features.

Dell’s docking station offering supports more and higher-resolution displays. This takes full advantage of USB Type-C DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression’s bandwidth allocation to enable these displays; unfortunately, some computers may not be capable of supporting all of these modes.

Display Stream Compression - or DSC for short - is a lossy video compression scheme introduced to DisplayPort to eke every bit of bandwidth out of the display connection and compete with HDMI, which has relied on lossy compression when in a bandwidth crunch since its introduction. Unlike most HDMI’s Y’CbCr compression, DSC is less noticeable, with a goal of less than 25% of viewers being able to detect the compression in side-by-side testing. However, it can still affect image quality and may not be recommended for 2D or 3D graphics, or video editors where one-to-one reproduction is required. DSC compression ratios are invisible to the end user; there is no reporting from the operating system, graphics drivers, or most hardware. The two most common compression ratios we are aware of are 3:1 and 2.4:1, 3:1 provides more bandwidth for enabling more high-resolution displays, while 2.4:1 may limit the display resolutions available. Paradoxically, we are seeing evidence of 2.4:1 on newer systems, but we don’t have enough data points to confirm a trend yet.

This could affect newer computers with both Dell and Plugable’s docking stations; we have taken the 2.4:1 compression ratio into account when both testing and documenting this docking station’s display capabilities. We want to ensure that your desk setup won’t stop working correctly when you update to a new computer that may have a lower compression ratio.

Please note, DisplayPort MST is not available on Apple computers; these systems will be limited to a single display ( or a hardware ‘mirror’ behavior if all displays are significantly similar in resolution and size ).

Ports and Features

The UD-MSTH3 and Dell Pro Dock WD25 offer different USB port options and features.

Both docking stations provide 2.5Gbps Ethernet connectivity, over 2x faster than most gigabit networks. This allows for faster file transfers to local NAS backups, or taking full advantage of greater-than-gigabit Internet connections - so long as you have the Ethernet cabling, switches, and router to enable 2.5Gbps. The docking stations will seamlessly fall back to 1000Mbps on gigabit networking hardware.

The Dell Pro Dock WD25 provides more USB 3 10Gbps ports than the Plugable UD-MSTH3, with six total data ports (one shared with video) all operating at 10Gbps. In contrast, Plugable’s UD-MSTH3 offers three 10Gbps ports (two Type-C, one Standard-A), two USB 5Gbps Standard-A, and one USB 480Mbps (USB 2.0) Standard-A port.

Both docking stations include K-lock security slots, great for keeping your dock on your desk.

The UD-MSTH3 is designed for both vertical and horizontal use, with feet on both the bottom and side to help reduce sliding, while the Dell Pro Dock WD25 only has feet on the bottom for use in a lay-flat configuration.

The UD-MSTH3 also provides both 3.5mm TRRS headset port (not available with the Dell dock) and SD/microSD card reader - both of which would require separate adapters on the Dell dock.

Charging: Both Host and Devices

Both docking stations offer USB Type-C host charging via USB Power Delivery.   Dell Pro Dock WD25 can provide up to 100W to a Dell host, or 96W otherwise, to effectively replace a laptop’s original USB Type-C power supply rated up to 100W, while the Plugable UD-MSTH3 can provide up to 100W effectively replacing a laptop’s USB Type-C power supply rated up to 100W as well.

Computers that don’t include a USB Type-C power adapter, or include a USB Type-C power adapter rated over 100W should have the original power adapter connected when using either of these docking stations to ensure the system is fully powered.

Both also provide USB Type-C device charging from one port on the front, Dell Pro Dock WD25 shares a data and charging port with up to 15W, while the UD-MSTH3 provides a separate charge-only USB Type-C port capable of up to 30W device charging, so charging your phone doesn’t take up a data connection.

The  Dell Pro Dock WD25’s charging port provides up to 15W, while Plugable’s provides up to 30W.  The UD-MSTH3 uses dynamic power allocation; as more power is needed on the charging port, it does reduce power to the host computer. Under the heaviest loads, this can reduce the host charging down to 85W; however, that would require charging a second computer or full-sized tablet from the docking station. The table below shows the maximum wattage allocated to the host port and front charging ports based on the power requirements of the device being charged.