Hands-on: CalDigit Element 5 Hub brings multi-port Thunderbolt 5 convenience to Mac users [Video]

CalDigit’s Element 5 Hub is the follow up to its Thunderbolt 4-enabled Element Hub, but this time with the addition of Thunderbolt 5 / USB4 v2 connectivity. The CalDigit Element 5 Hub features a total of nine ports – gaining two additional 10Gb/s USB-C ports while losing only one of the USB-A ports featured on the unit’s predecessor.

Does having a Thunderbolt 5-enabled hub really matter, though? Watch our hands-on video walkthrough as we take a closer look, and subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple-centric hardware reviews.

Full transparency: In the past, I’ve been a CalDigit ambassador, meaning I was paid to make advertisement videos for CalDigit on my personal channel. For this hands-on video, that is not the case; I was not paid, and the hardware was on loan.

CalDigit Element 5 Hub specifications

4 x Thunderbolt 5 / USB4 v2 ports (80Gb/s)

2 x USB-C (10Gb/s)

3 x USB-A (10Gb/s)

1 x DC In (20V/9A)

Dimensions: 4.48″ L x 2.75″ W x 1.0″ H

Weight 0.44lbs

2-year warranty

Video: CalDigit Element 5 Hub with Thunderbolt 5

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Design and build quality

Unboxing the CalDigit Element 5 feels similar to its predecessor in terms of in build and design. In fact, the E5 features almost the exact same dimensions, except for the fact that it’s slightly taller – 18mm vs 25.5mm – and weighs a hair more 0.18kg vs 0.20kg.

Build materials-wise, the unit is unchanged. Like most CalDigit products, the Element 5 is comprised primarily of aluminum, and features a set of detachable non-slip feet to keep it well-planted on a desktop surface.

What’s in the box?

1 x Element 5 Hub

1 x Thunderbolt 5 Cable

2 x Rubber Feet strips

1 x Power Cord

1 x Power Supply (180W)

Alongside the hub and feet strips, CalDigit includes a 0.8m passive Thunderbolt 5 cable, a power cord, and a power adapter that’s 180W versus the 150W power plant included with the original hub. That extra power is important, because the E5 now provides up to 90W of host charging versus the 60W provided by its predecessor. This is a better option for those with devices that can gulp down more power, like the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which can actually charge up to 140W. Also, bonus points to CalDigit for reducing the size of the Element 5 Hub power brick by 40%, while simultaneously boosting its power output.

CalDigit Element 5 Hub power delivery stats

Up to 90W Host Charging

Downstream Thunderbolt 5 / USB4 v2 Port: 15W (5V/3A)

USB-A Ports: 7.5W (5V/1.5A)

USB-C Ports: 7.5W (5V/1.5A)

The Element 5 also supports offline charging, which lets you charge connected devices even when there is no host computer connection. Downstream Thunderbolt ports provide up to 15W of power, while the USB ports provide up to 7.5W of power.

Another thing to note about the CalDigit Element 5 Hub is that connecting other devices have no effect on the total power delivery of the upstream host charging. Regardless if other devices are drawing power, there is enough wattage to continue feeding the host its maximum 90W.

Thunderbolt 5 – not a requirement, but super-nice!

The Mac mini with M4 Pro chip features three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the rear that are capable of connectivity up to 120Gb/s via Thunderbolt 5 or USB4v2. The same thing can be said about the M4 Pro or higher MacBook Pro. I tested both machines with the CalDigit Element 5 Hub, and they worked as expected.

Each port resides on its own individual bus allowing for full performance without an adjacent connection affecting its neighbor. The Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M4 Pro machines are fully backwards compatible as well, and their bandwidth needs will dynamically match the type of device connected on the fly.

For example, when connecting a Thunderbolt 4-capable device, the link speed reports 40Gb/s, whereas when connecting a Thunderbolt 5 device like the OWC Envoy Ultra external SSD, the link speed reports 80Gb/s. In situations when connecting a display that requires extra bandwidth, Intel’s Bandwidth Boost feature can make the link speed can go as high as 120Gb/s.

That all being said, even if you don’t yet have one of the latest M4 Pro/Max Macs with Thunderbolt 5, the Element 5 remains backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4 Macs, PCs, and tablets, Thunderbolt 3 Macs, and USB4 connectivity. In other words, you don’t have to upgrade your Mac, but the Thunderbolt 5 access will be ready whenever you do. It also means that for the Mac mini, you can connect it to the front USB-C ports and still have access to the extra expandability that the hub affords. For instance, I can connect a 10Gb/s Samsung SSD to my Mac via this port.

In my hands-on, I tested a few different scenarios.

OWC Envoy Ultra directly connected to the M4 Pro Mac mini/MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 5 port.

OWC Envoy Ultra connected to original Thunderbolt 4 CalDigit Element Hub, which connected the M4 Pro Mac mini/MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 5 port.

OWC Envoy Ultra connected to CalDigit Element 5 Hub, which connected the M4 Pro Mac mini/MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 5 port.

OWC Envoy Ultra SSD directly connected

Obviously, there are notable benefits to connecting to a Thunderbolt 5-enabled host computer, namely the increased bandwidth available for high speed I/O like NVMe-based SSDs. CalDigit loaned 9to5Mac a 2TB OWC Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 drive to test the speed of the Element 5 Hub. This drive features a 2.0TB OWC Aura Pro IV PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2280 Solid-State Drive inside.

To set the standard of what to expect, I directly connected the OWC Envoy SSD to one of my Mac’s Thunderbolt 5 ports. I wanted to set a baseline to see how the direct connection would compare to connections through the hub.

As you can see from System Information, the link speed reports 80Gb/s — double that of Thunderbolt 4. This is what you should expect to see when connecting a Thunderbolt 5/USB4 v2 device to one of the Mac’s Thunderbolt 5 ports.

As you can see from the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test below, the results for the OWC Envoy Ultra did not disappoint. If you have high speed storage needs for video applications, then this drive will be more than enough to handle your needs for basically any quality of video that you can throw at it.

Connecting the OWC Envoy SSD to the original CalDigit Element Hub

This test alone illustrates why a Thunderbolt 5-enabled Hub like the CalDigit Element 5 is beneficial. Because if you try to connect the Envoy Ultra to an older Thunderbolt hub that lacks support for Thunderbolt 5, it’ll work, but its speed will be downgraded to 40Gb/s, significantly limiting the true capability of such a drive. You can see evidence of this by taking note of the 40Gb/s link speed in the screen shot from System Information below.

And here is how to OWC Envoy Ultra performs when connected to the older Thunderbolt 4 CalDigit Element Hub. You can see that the performance is significantly hindered by the lack of bandwidth.

Connecting the OWC Envoy SSD to the new CalDigit Element 5 Hub

Finally, let’s connect the Envoy Ultra to the CalDigit Element 5. System Information reports a 80Gb/s link speed, as expected.

Notice the massive difference in performance when the Envoy Ultra is not bottlenecked by lack of bandwidth, but instead is connected to the Thunderbolt 5-enabled Element 5 Hub. The speed here is much improved, with read speeds essentially matching a direct-connected drive, and write speeds, while a bit slower, are more than double the speed of when it was connected to the older Thunderbolt 4 hub.

From this brief test, we can see that a Thunderbolt 5-enabled hub can be absolutely worth it if your setup is complex enough to need more physical ports. Just keep in mind that the amount of logical bus availability remains the same. Connecting the CalDigit Element 5 means your Mac now has access to five physical Thunderbolt ports, but the bandwidth for all of the devices connected to the Element 5 Hub is limited to the single Thunderbolt bus on the port that it’s connected to.

Display connectivity

Users running macOS can connect up to two 6K displays at 60Hz via a single thunderbolt connection. M4 Thunderbolt 5 Macs do not support triple displays via a single Thunderbolt 5 connection, but Thunderbolt 5 PCs will. The display situation via macOS has always been an ostensibly complicated one – take a look at the fine print listed here for proof of that. CalDigit put together this chart to help explain what display configurations are supported, but you’ll still need to look at the asterisks to get the full picture.

The main takeaway is that most average display configurations should play nice, but you may need a USB-C to HDMI/Display Port adapter if it’s not a USB-C/Thunderbolt-enabled monitor.

For displays with higher bandwidth needs, Thunderbolt 5’s Bandwidth Boost technology is used to prioritize the data going to the display, providing up to 120Gb/s performance. I only use one external display, however, the ASUS ProArt 5K Display with a 60Hz max refresh rate. It’s a good monitor, but it doesn’t allow me to test Bandwidth Boost, so I’ll have to save that testing for a later time.

9to5Mac’s Take

Does Thunderbolt 5 matter? That depends. If you own a Thunderbolt 5-capable Mac, or plan on upgrading to one in the near future, then CalDigit’s Element 5 Hub is a compact high-bandwidth solution that will help you get the most out of Thunderbolt 5 accessories. That said, if you don’t plan on upgrading to a Thunderbolt 5 Mac and/or accessories, then the existing Element Hub is a more budget-friendly option that still works well.

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