Anker Space Station dock chases 240 Hz refresh rates on the cheap

Anker has introduced its Space Station high-refresh desktop dock in China, set to go on sale September 10 for under $90. The 10-in-1 unit is built around HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 outputs, reaching 4K 144 Hz or 2K 240 Hz refresh rate on a single display, or 4K 60 Hz and 2K 240 Hz across two screens simultaneously.

Anker Space Station dock price and features

The 240 Hz refresh is a notably higher ceiling than most desktop hubs at the Anker Space Station dock's $85 price point, and there are standout features like a built-in status display showing live resolution, refresh rate, port activity, and charging speed, all configurable through Anker's app or a web portal.

Connectivity includes the HDMI/DP video pair, dual UHS-II SD and microSD slots, a 100 W USB-C PD charging port, a second 10 Gbps USB-C port, three USB-A ports (one at 10 Gbps and two at 5 Gbps), and a 1 Gbps Ethernet jack. The dock draws up to 100 W total but reserves 20 W for its own operation, which leaves a maximum of 80 W for charging a connected laptop.

Compared with Anker's own PowerExpand 9-in-1 PD Dock from a few years back, which capped at dual 4K 30 Hz and 60 W charging, the Space Station is a significant jump in both display refresh rate and power delivery, while adding the smart screen as an entirely new feature class for the budget lineup. The Space Station undercuts Anker's pricier 14-in-1 Prime docking station that is currently discounted by 25% on Amazon, which leans on DisplayLink chips for triple display setups rather than native high refresh rate output.

The Anker Space Station dock's 240 Hz refresh support is matched by CalDigit's TS4, a Thunderbolt 4 dock that also tops out at the same rate on a single 1440p display but costs way more, relying on Thunderbolt rather than plain USB-C.

Anker's dock trades away that Thunderbolt bandwidth and the ability to daisy chain more than two monitors for a far lower price and a simpler feature set focused on high-refresh desktop setups powered by a single cable, rather than pricey professional workstations that have to maintain multiple displays.