Unfortunately, if just plugged into a computer, the USB-C port can supply a small amount of power, but not as much as the Type-A ports, and no data can be passed through the Type-C port, so you can't use that port as pass-through the other way, only as a power port to the laptop, not as a data connection from it.

Speaking of Type-A ports, there are two of them, and they are both of the 5Gb/s variety. They are appropriately colored blue, and transfer data as fast as you could expect that to work. The plugs feel very solid when inserting or removing a cable, and I expect them to last a long time as well.

There is a 1Gb/s ethernet port on this USB-C dock, and it's a very welcome addition. (The previous version of OWC's travel dock did not include this.) My house and ethernet infrastructure is currently in the midst of an overhaul, so I can't easily test the network speed at the moment, but I'll try to update this review when I get a chance to do so.

There are things that are if particular note about this OWC Travel Dock E: the HDMI port, and the SD card slot. I imagine you are thinking right now 'what is so special about those?' Well - I'm glad you asked!

First of all, the vast majority of HDMI ports on USB-C docks are typically HDMI 1.4; these kinds of ports support only 1080p or maybe 1440p at 60Hz; 4K is supported at 30Hz, if it's supported at all. However, this one includes an HDMI 2.0 port, which supports a resolution of 4K@60Hz - this leads to a very nice desktop experience on a 4K monitor. However, it must be pointed out that HDR support was added in HDMI 2.0a - that little 'a' makes all the difference. So HDR is extremely finicky with this dock, if you can get it to work at all. I tried and it was, well, finicky - either the TV I was testing with didn't go into HDR mode, or it would try but things would look strange.

The other feature that is a bigger deal that it appears at first glance is the SD 4.0 card slot. The Secure Digital slots on most laptops and card readers tend to be of the older 3.0 variety; this supports all currently released SD card sizes, but you are performance limited to around 90MB/s. I confirmed this with my formerly best SD card reader than I have in the house, and older Lexar. With this SD 4.0 card slot, it supports a transfer rate of up to 312MB/s. I recently reviewed the OWC Atlas S Pro 128GB SD card, and I saw transfer rates of over 260MB/s with this OWC Travel Dock E! In an ironic twist of fate, my desktop computer's best SD card reader is now a travel dock designed for portable computers.

My experience testing the OWC USB-C Travel Dock E has been mostly positive, with a few issues to note. First, the little square can sometimes get quite warm to the touch; not enough to burn anyone, but you can definitely tell it's on if you touch it. The other issue is that I would get occasional, rare video blinks when using it as the power source and video connection for my portable monitor. I am guessing that it's related to the USB power draw for the screen, rather than video signal, but I can't be totally sure. All I know is it would blink sometimes and go right back without me doing much of anything. This testing was performed on my work laptop, a MacBook Pro (with M1 Pro processor).  From what I can tell, it doesn't work on Nintendo Switch, which isn't surprising - it doesn't like anything that doesn't use the exact same chipsets that Nintendo used on their original one.

Despite the small quirks I ran into, I am still generally positive on the OWC USB-C Travel Dock E. The build quality is great, the feature set is better than many similar devices, and I really like how it looks. I believe the price is reasonable for what it includes, and is certainly a step up from the cheaper USB-C docks I've bought in the past. Recommended!