SilverStone TS11-C USB 3.1 Docking Station Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

SilverStone’s TS11-C isn’t the cheapest docking station around, but it is definitely also one of the best we have seen to date. At the time of writing, it can be yours for $59.99, $42.50, or €62.76 at the US, UK, and German Amazons.

Overview

SilverStone really outdid themselves and created an amazing docking station with their new TS11-C. The docking station doesn’t just come with a beautiful gold finish on top of an aluminium enclosure, it also packs the newest connection standards. We get a USB 3.1 connection from a Type-C to a Type-A port for compatibility from the newest to the oldest specifications.

The performance was superb and there really isn’t much to point the finger at. In the past when we have tested USB 3.0 enclosures, we were used to worse results from USB than SATA. That is a scenario that has changed with the introduction of USB 3.1 that is quite a bit faster than the current SATA3 interface. Naturally we saw a little performance impact when it come to the random performance, but that is to be expected just as the access times will increase slightly. That said, it is still miles better than what we’re used to from USB 3.0 and the SilverStone TS11-C USB 3.1 docking station really impressed me. What did come as somewhat of a surprise, was that our OCZ Vector 180 SATA3 drive performed better in the enclosure than on a native and direct SATA3 connection in almost all our benchmarks.

Thanks to the USB interface, the TS11-C is fully plug-and-play whether you are a Windows or a Mac OS user, but it is recommended to have a modern operation system in order to support UASP, which the enclosure also does.

Pros:

• USB 3.1
• Impressive performance
• Universal power adapter
• Beautiful aluminium finish
• Supports both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives

Cons:

• none

“SilverStone’s TS11-C is without a doubt the best docking station we have tested to date. It isn’t just a very beautiful device, it also surpassed our native SATA speeds in almost every benchmark.”

Thanks to SilverStone for providing this review sample