The Blackjet RX-4 Raiden might sound like the name of a sci-fi giant fighting robot, but it’s in fact a beefy Thunderbolt 4 docking station that adds a whopping 17 ports to your desktop setup.
Utilizing the 40gbps bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4, the outrageous-sounding Blackjet RX-4 Raiden connects to a Mac or PC via a single cable and brings with it a number of ports that is as absurd as its name. It including four USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 2.5Gbe Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a DisplayPort 1.4. It doesn’t stop there, either: it also includes a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or speakers and both an SD and microSD card reader.
The SD card reader is UHS-II and supports transfer speeds of up to 300 MB/s. The microSD port supports up to 250 MB/s. The inclusion of HDMI 2.1 means that it supports up to 8K at 30Hz or 4K at up to 144Hz, depending on the attached display.
The Blackjet RX-4 Raiden is also capable of delivering up to 60 watts of power to an attached laptop; that’s not quite enough to keep most high-end laptops at full charge but it will increase the amount of time they can run before needing to power down. Just about the only thing the RX-4 Raiden doesn’t have is on-board storage, but with this many ports, an external HDD or SSD should not be difficult to accommodate.
BlackJet says that one of the main benefits of the RX-4 Raiden is the versatility of its layout. It can be used in multiple configurations (horizontally or vertically depending on a desktop setup) or can even be rack mountd to a 1U system (the tray required for such a mount is sold separately). The chassis of the RX-4 Raiden made of aluminum for the mix of durability and heat dissipation.
The RX-4 Raiden requires at least Thunderbolt 3 or USB-4 but also works with any M-series iPad Pro. It include a Thunderbolt 4 cable and has a two-year limited manufacturer warranty.
This many port options doesn’t come cheap, however. BlackJet’s RX-4 Raiden costs $400 directly from the manufacturer and is available in black or space gray.
Image credits: Blackjet