Plugable 4K DisplayPort and HDMI Dual Monitor Adapter

Works as advertised, and solves a major limitation of the base M1 & M2 MacBooks that only support a single external display natively.

Since I have a CalDigit TS3+ doc I use to switch all my peripherals between work laptop (the limited M1 base 13-inch) and personal (M1 Max 16-inch), I keep my main 32″ 4k monitor connected through the TS3+ so I can watch HDCP content on that and a secondary 1440 monitor in vertical rotation connected to this Pluggable adapter daisy-chained through one of the TS3 USB-C ports, and happily it works like a charm once I selected the 90 rotation setting for the monitor in the DisplayLink app. Since I really only use the secondary monitor to keep my calendar and email up at all times when working or checking color on photographs for print for personal hobby work, I don’t have issues with the pluggable’s limitations around HDCP content or potential latency issues for things like gaming.

It’s still early days, but so far I’m very happy with this adapter.

The USB C port on my work laptop was broken, so I got this to use 2 4k screens. It works very well on static displays where not much is changing. With full screen videos where a lot of things are moving around it tends to lag a bit but I don’t think that’s what this was made for. I wanted text clarity and more computer desktop workspace and I got it.

Updated: This is still working great and I’m now using it on a MacBook to great success. The DisplayLink software must be installed manually (It’s not automatic like Windows) and after that it’s been working great. A few times I’ve had issues with changing resolutions (on the MacBook) but I think that’s more of a Mac issue than this thing. Replugging fixes every time. I’ve used it for a few days now and this has only happened the first time I plugged it in and was configuring resolutions.

Went to Best Buy and picked up a Belkin docking station with 1 4k HDMI port and 1 Display Port along with multiple USB conections. I ordered this right before i left for Best Buy and came home to it sitting on my doorstep. Didnt even unpack the belkin because this little thingy worked perfectly the first time i connected it. It identified both monitors as the same size and was able to extend so that i have the Asus as the main display and the 2 Dell as secondary. Plan on using this for DCS flight simulator.

The only drawback was when i closed the lid and reconnected my Macs to the monitors, and then back to the Asus, but this time it identified the 2 same monitors as different sizes in the control panel. I am using both HDMI. I may try 1 HDMI and 1 Display Port to see if the refresh rates change back to the perfect set up the first time i plugged them in, but as far as a no external power display adapter, you can’t go wrong.

The only product out there that works pretty well for dual displays on Mac2020. Tried two different hubs none worked. This dock works great, well not technically a dock for didn’t have an issue setting it up. Driver installation and setup was easy. ( 1 dp to dp connection and 1 hdmi to hdmi. Active dp to hdmi didn’t work )
Only thing to complain about is the cable is too short, that makes the options for orientation very limited.
I have unplugged and plugged it multiple times and it has worked.

This is a great adapter for anyone who is looking to have multi-monitor support, especially for their Macs. I bought this since the previous adapter from Targus is not 4k and also only HDMI. This was killing my productivity since the picture was fuzzy and would hurt long hours of work.

Pros:
1. Works great with both Mac and Windows especially with DIsplayPort(didn’t test it with HDMI). No slowing down or tearing of screen or slowness in the system overall.
2. Portable so it’s easy to carry around if you really need it
3. True 4k support and good resolution on Windows

Cons:
1. Certain unsupported resolutions on Mac and this actually kills the beauty of the adapter. For example, I can’t have 2k resolution on my Macbook Air with high resolution. Not sure if this is a problem with Mac or the adapter, but it’s a little bit of a disappointment

2. DisplayLink driver is painful on Windows. It really struggles and stutters when moving Windows quickly and also slows down mouse movement and functions once in a while. This might also be because I’m running this adapter through a Thunderbolt 4 dock. I use Windows rarely nowadays so it’s not really a deal breaker at the moment.

Purchased this project as I wanted to run a third display from my M1 Pro MacBook. Liked the idea of this product as it had both HDMI and displayport. Product is great quality and works perfectly with both my MacBook and various Windows laptops. Good value for money as well

El producto se de buena calidad y se calienta poco; Aunque en las especificaciones dice que no es compatible con Netflix, an as yo pude usarlo sin problemas.
Conecte dos monitores uno a 1080p y otro a 1440p funciona perfecto a 120hz (no puedes superar los 120hz).
Para ofimtica funciona excelente, mi nica queja es el excesivo precio para un adaptador, pero si eres usuario recurente de Mac estars acostumbrando a ests situaciones, es importante decir que si tus monitores cuentan con bocinas, ests funcionarn en ocasiones si y en ocasiones no, pero el audio se escucha enrarecido, fuera de eso todo bien.
Ya pasado medio ao desde que compre el producto, y con ello han ido saliendo nuevas versiones del controlador, el problema del audio a desaparecido, y la versin 1.6.1 funciona bien en m1 sin roceta, ahora como indica el producto no puedo ver netflix a diferencia de versiones anteriores, el unico problema es que al conectar dos monitores con bocinas independientes cada uno, estas se funcionarn en una y no existe modo de controlarlas, aun asi es un producto excelente de buena calidad, Nota: no instalar la versin 1.7 esta da conflictos, con terminal y con varios servicios ( disco duro y la tienda de mac)

If you’re looking to add additional outputs to monitors from a laptop via USB3 at resolutions up to 4K @ 60 Hz, then this is your solution. I wavered on making this purchase for the past few months debating the costs and benefits, only to regret not buying it sooner. I’m using a Surface Laptop with a docking station, which gives 2 display port options, then added another USB to DVI adapter for a 3rd monitor, but was continually frustrated by not having a 4th monitor option. This thing did the trick and works awesome – it’s completely plug-and-play on Windows 10, and the image quality is terrific for my needs. There’s a slight degree of lag when dragging windows onto the “USB Monitors”, but nothing that degrades their quality or reduces productivity. As a result, I have 4 Monitors in 1080 @ 60 Hz, plus the active laptop display. Couldn’t be more pleased with the product.

Update: this is still a great buy; very impressed with how well this works. Added a 6th monitor and my 10th Gen Intel Processor only supports 3 simultaneous displays. Adding a 2nd Plugable 4K DisplayPort adapter allowed me to have 6 displays consistently, now on Windows 11. The point is this device really holds up and works great.

So the product does what it says, works perfectly fine. I decided to get this straight away instead of trying any other cheap ways of splitting my screens from my laptop. I have a ultra wide screen and a 4k monitor both works perfect fine in perfect resolutions. I just feel the product was a bit too pricey. I would say it’s a 60 at the most.

Does what it’s supposed to do great for home working

This product comes well packaged in a small box, nothing flashy.

The build quality is excellent, with nice smooth connectors and quality cabling.

In terms of function and performance it delivers on it’s spec. In testing it faultlessly put out steady 4K at 60fps on both outputs, no skipped frames or any other glitches. The unit does get hot but nothing out of the ordinary.

The ethernet works perfectly fine, as you would expect. Nothing good or bad to report, it does the job.

This product is priced at over 100, which seems a bit ridiculous for the functionality this model provides. This does not appear to be a pricing error, as it is a similar price on other websites.

In conclusion, this unit provides 4K 60hz on two outputs via USB-C/3.0 and DP/HDMI, and that is perhaps it’s unique selling point. If that is your requirement, then as far as I can tell this is the only device of this size that currently does the job. Perhaps this is the justification for the pricetag, and someone running dual 4K displays might not care so much about the cost. It still seems excessive considering the electronics inside the unit.

This dual monitor video adapter allows you to use two 4K monitors at 60 Hz on a device with a single USB 3.0 port or higher. This is a great solution for those devices that do not have the Thunderbolt 3, HDMI or DisplayPort, but only USB 3.0 or higher ports. HDMI and DisplayPort ports stream the video directly from the GPU without any overhead and are supported natively on many devices, Thunderbolt 3 is connected directly to PCI and is extremely fast but not a lot of devices support it, mostly laptops. In that case, in order to run the multi-display setup, you need an adapter that will stream the video over the USB protocol.

For users wanting to add multiple (3+) displays over USB, DisplayPort Alternate Mode Support can get you the first one, but you can’t just connect multiple adapters to get more. This is because the graphics signal needs to be physically wired up through the USB-C port on the motherboard. For the 3+ display scenario, however, there is an answer, add additional displays using DisplayLink graphics adapters which multiplex multiple displays over standard USB data packets. It’s a virtual graphics solution that doesn’t need a hard wire to the GPU, which makes it lower performance but more flexible.

There are lots of adapters that can do this, but it takes a lot of compression and processing to allow two 4K streams at 60 Hz which equates to 36 Gbit/s to be sent through USB 3.0 theoretical maximum of 5 Gbit/s which this adapter does and it works beautifully. It uses the DisplayLink technology which can run up to six 4K monitors off of single USB port.

I have been using this adapter for a while now and I can say that it works really well, I have had some issues with some ports where it would misbehave or reduce the YouTube resolution unexpectedly, but all in all, it was a reasonably good experience considering the amount of bandwidth the USB protocol supports. I used the adapter with USB 3.1 which supports up to 10 Gbit/s so it worked smoother especially with the Ethernet connection.
It is very convenient to use, as you only need to plug the single cable into the compatible device in order to have the two HDMI or DisplayPorts available for use; note that you can only choose one standard per monitor, you cannot physically connect 4 monitors into this adapter as the HDMI and DisplayPort ports are too close.

The most important advice I can give you is to check the compatibility given this product is very expensive, on the product page it says it is compatible with most modern Windows 10 / 8.1 / 7 USB Type-C systems and the minimum system specification is Intel SkyLake i3, Intel Core i7 or AMD A10 CPU at 2.0 GHz or Higher; Intel HD 4000, AMD Radeon HD 8650, Nvidia GeForce 7xxM or better; 8GB RAM; USB-C 3.1 gen 1 (previously known as USB 3.0) or Thunderbolt 3 port.
It is not compatible with macOS, Linux/Unix or ARM-based Windows (Surface RT), however, on their driver website they do have macOS drivers and have full compatibility list so I am not sure about the information on the Amazon product page. It does not support Dual-Link DVI conversions and does not support HDCP copy-protected content so it is not recommended for gaming.

The second most important question is the future-proofing, i.e. how relevant/compatible it will be in the coming years given you have to give so much money for it. The USB 4.0 standard has been released but should arrive in devices in early 2021 and will have the Thunderbolt 3 standard included, however, it will not be mandatory, so you have to check if the particular device will support the Thunderbolt 3 devices over USB 4.0. Given the USB 4.0 standard is not a paid specification the devices and cables should be cheaper than the current Thunderbolt 3 ones. Due to the popularity of USB standard, almost all new laptops and PCs will have it, but again, not necessarily the Thunderbolt 3 backwards compatibility.
Which means that in the future the USB 4.0 will be able to support multi-display systems as it will have Thunderbolt 3 protocol included which will make it very easy to use, and most importantly there won’t be any need for compression as the Thunderbolt 3 can carry up to 40 Gbit/s.

So, in my opinion, I would advise buying this adapter only if there is no other option available on your device (HDMI / DisplayPort + USB Type-C with Alt-Mode or Thunderbolt 3) and if you need it immediately or do not plan on buying a new device in the coming months.

As for the performance of this device, I was pleased, it worked very well as you would expect from a plugable brand. I found the build quality and feature-richness to be better than other well-known third-party brands such as Anker, Belkin, Ugreen, etc. so this is a third-party manufacturer I can recommend wholeheartedly. The device didn’t get hot while working and the build quality is quite good, the housing is made out of durable plastic, the cable is flexible and easy to tuck away, however, it does feel very flimsy and I would not necessarily leave the device hanging on it; they could have made it a bit thicker or braided for the price at the expense of being easy to tuck away. The network speed was consistent and did not change whether I used the Ethernet port on my device or this adapter.

The only thing I didn’t like is the device documentation and support page, the driver website mentioned in the manual is non-existent at the time of writing of this review and the product is not listed on their website given it is new.

Overall, this is a good and elegant solution for using two 4K monitors at 60 Hz if you only have USB 3.0 ports on your device, in all other cases I would argue that there are cheaper and better solution whether it is a combination of HDMI / DisplayPort port with a USB 3.0 Alt-Mode which can stream video using HDMI or DisplayPort Alt-mode by using a dongle that uses that Alt-mode and these dongles are much cheaper. Thunderbolt 3 dongles can be more expensive but they are nowhere near 300 this product is asking for. I just don’t see the value of this device, there are compatibility issues, is not suitable for gamers, introduces overhead (needs CPU) as it requires compression and will soon be replaced by superior USB 4.0 which will include Thunderbolt 3 technology, therefore, I wouldn’t recommend buying this. There are other cheaper dongles as well that will enable you the same functionality.

I was looking for a way to expand my screen space for mixer and recording pages and sub pages whilst working on Cubase and Wavelab for music editing and production and this has worked well in terms of its ease of use and display quality. There was no visible lag moving and using editing pages between screens but in terms of the bandwidth I’m guessing that using mainly static 4k screen pages or ones with not much movement is easier for the unit to process rather than gaming, which I did not attempt with the unit.

Worked straight out of the box running Windows 10 but, as with all compact units that you feed multiple cables into you’ll need to live with it sliding around a bit or, if it really bothers you, get a bit creative and put on a strip of Velcro or something you can lock it to a table with.

The price was eyewateringly high but it does seem this type of technology isn’t easy to produce and produce well.

It comes in a company box, advertising the product (it makes the product premium from the beginning).
I was able to connect my two full hd screens without any problem or lag (HDMI ports). I recommend it for people like me who edit a lot of videos and photos.
Before buying, it’s important to check that it’s the right product, because it will not allow you to watch netflix or similar content on them, using the display port (it worked for me with amazon prime video thought).
The feeling of the displayport is really premium, and you can tell why it is expensive! The results are good, frames are high like with other devices and it didn’t get warm while using.
At the moment there is no price for it, so cannot say much about it, but it’s without any question a premium product and perfect for people who need to connect two 4k screens at the same device!

I’ve been using it as a docking station for my laptop as it has the ethernet port, no problems

Worked great with a Mac just plug and play. Managed to output in 4k screen and mirror and extend my desktop. Works a bit like a docking station but more focussed for video output. Could only output at 30 hz but that could be my MacBook limit. Like the idea of the gigabit port as my Mac has hardly any ports on it so I can now use it on a wired network. The price surely is incorrect but its good quality, works well. I don’t think it works with copied protected content so won’t work with video on demand services however fine for PowerPoints which is what I wanted it for Wish it had a longer cable.

The elephant in the room here is the price. At the time of writing the price is set at a penny short of 300 which seems excessively high. I appreciate that Plugable is well renowned for producing quality computer items, this price seems to be off the scale. So, what I am going to do is to ignore the price in my review as it may well change anyway.

This adapter offers an alternate way to add more displays to your computer. Don’t confuse this with the Thunderbolt system that uses the USB-C video signals. This adapter doesn’t need anything more than a USB3.0 or higher socket Type-A or Type-C. An adapter is included to work with either.

What you get are two monitor outputs which can be used simultaneously. Each can be either an HDMI or a DisplayPort connection. This offers greater flexibility. Either can supply up to 4K resolution at 60Hz.

I had no problems installing this adapter. I first plugged the unit in a spare USB socket. Windows 10 recognised it straight away and installed its drivers. Then one at a time I added two monitors, and they lit up straight away with the familiar Windows 10 desktop. It was really as easy at that.

I wondered if there was going to be any trade-off having the display data passing over a USB connection but there wasn’t. I tried loading videos running simultaneously on the monitors, and they worked flawlessly. Even an Amazon Prime Video using their Windows App. There may well be some incompatibilities running some games but I haven’t tried it out (not a gamer here).

There is also a Gigabit Ethernet port on the side of the unit. Yet again, Windows 10 recognised it and installed its driver automatically.

Overall, purely on its functionality, this is a great adapter. Hope that helps.

This adaptor can connect via USB to your laptop and display out to 2 up to 4K monitors at 60hz (most cheaper ones only do 30Hz at dual 4K). It also has an ethernet port.
What’s nice about this adapter is that it can output to either HDMI or DisplayPort for each of the 2 displays.
I managed to run triple display from my Windows 10 laptop. To test it best, I output one monitor to HDMI and the other to DisplayPort. Unfortunately I only have 1080p monitors so could not test the full Dual 4K output (though happy to try in future if I’m fortunate enough to have 2x 4K displays in future).

Everything works absolutely fine and I love this ability to extend my laptop to 3 displays in total.
So what’s not to like? – well, the price! At 300 at time of review, it’s a lot of money!
Also, for the money they’re charging for this, it would have been nice if they could have included a couple of USB ports (thinking external keyboard and mouse), then they could have turned this into an entire laptop docking station, making the price tag somewhat easier to swallow.

In Summary: If you NEED 2x 4K 60hz, then this solution works for you and you have a quality product which looks great.
However for 95% of other people: I recently tried out a 2x 4K 30hz HDMI adapter which cost around 25, although it was only HDMI, for the 12x or 275 cost saving, you get a useable result and enough money left over to buy a 4K monitor. But I guess if you’re one of these 95%, you probably wouldn’t have scrolled down to reading this review after you saw the price tag!