Right now the TS3+ on Amazon is $209, and the Element is $179. Both of them would require a USB-C to HDMI adapter (or a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter for the TS3+) which is another $20.
Given that I don’t need Ethernet, SD/MicroSD, or the headphone ports, is there any reason the TS3+ would be a better option?
The TS3+ only has one downstream Thunderbolt 3 port, while the Element has 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports. The TS3+ has 2 USB-C ports (1 at 10Gb/s and 1 at 5 Gb/s) while the Element’s 3 Thunderbolt ports can also serve as USB-C ports at 40Gb/s. The TS3+ has 5 USB-A ports at 5Gb/s while the Element has 4 USB-A ports at 10Gb/s. Except for having one more USB-A port, the Element seems better in every way if you don’t need any of the other ports in the TS3+.
See the compare page for details.
So this is interesting. I found a thread on Reddit, and this is what the CalDigit rep on there is saying:
All USB connections on the Element Hub feed into a single 10Gbps USB BUS, regardless of port. This is a constraint of Thunderbolt 4 protocol. So what type of device you plug into the downstream Thunderbolt port will determine how the connection is routed. A Thunderbolt device gets wired straight into the Thunderbolt connection and bypasses the USB BUSes, while a USB-C device would feed through the BUS.
This doesn’t make sense, but it makes me hesitant to purchase without digging up further info. I’m going to run this down with their tech people, but does this make sense to anybody else?
I still have an email in to CalDigit’s support, but per their guy that handles their subreddit…
I asked, “So if no monitors are involved, and all the ports are filled with non-display USB devices, this device has an absolute maximum cap of 10 Gbps? And that would presumably be true of the more expensive TS4 as well?” The response:
Yes, this is a limitation of Thunderbolt 4 protocol. Without special provisions, all USB ports route through a single USB BUS. This limitation was not in place with Thunderbolt 3, so the TS3 Plus can technically achieve higher total USB bandwidth speeds. If overall USB bandwidth availability is what you’re after, the TS3 Plus is a good option to consider.
So if I don’t have any explicit Thunderbolt devices, according to him the TS3+ is faster than the Element or even the TS4 - and this would at least theoretically be true of every TB4 device in existence.
Interesting. I am curious why they cite the USB-C (USB4) speed at 40Gb/s if the maximum is 10Gb/s, but I suspect the answer is this little detail:
Presumably, the 40Gb/s is for USB-C displays only.