Performance: 35 out of 40.
On the one hand FireCuda Gaming Dock’s “massive capacity” 4TB IronWolf Pro is a decent performer… but as it is only a 4TB drive said performance does drop off fairly quickly. On the other it does include a blazing fast NVMe M2 2280 port for uber performance… but does not include a drive for said port. As such the storage performance is decent but can be stellar with a bit of extra money spent on it. Thankfully the performance as it being a dock is nearly perfect with only the lack of charging capabilities holding it back from perfection. So still room for improvement but well above average.
Technological Innovation: 15 out of 20
As a dock the Seagate FireCuda Gaming Dock knocks it out of the park. The only way they could have made it better was to included integrated laptop chagrining abilities. As an external NVME enclosure it also clears the stadium and all the way into the parking lot. Many other companies could take notes on how to do NVMe right using this bad boy as their template. Sadly, there is no integrated laptop charging, and gaining access to the ‘massive capacity’ 4TB is not easy. So, the FireCuda Gaming Dock is good bordering on great, but still has room for improvement.
Build Quality & Warranty: 15 out of 20
On the one hand Seagate has intelligently blended a whole host of features into one cohesive whole. Blended in such a way that is mostly sensible and ‘just works’. On the other, it is a royal nuisance to get at that hard drive and there is no laptop charging abilities baked into it. On the gripping hand… three years for a warranty is a touch short. So overall we judge it to be good, but with room for improvement – aka 15 out of 20
Value: 19 out of 20
While not perfect in its execution the FireCuda Gaming Dock is choke full of value. For $529 buyers will get one device that can replace the typical Thunderbolt dock ($250 or more), Thunderbolt 3 NVMe enclosure ($100 or more), a 3.5-inch HDD actively cooled enclosure ($50 or more) with a IronWolf Pro 4TB (about $150), and a USB sound card (about $30). No matter how you slice it that that is an easy $50 in savings… and does not even include features such as the one-month Adobe subscription, free Rescue services, and a whole host of other things the FireCuda Gaming Dock can and does offer.
Final Score: 84 out of 100
The Seagate FireCuda Gaming dock does make an excellent case for why the average dock user should take a long hard look at it. It truly does offer rather good value, but like all things in life will come down to answering a few questions before knowing if it is perfect for your needs or not. For example, do you plan on transporting you dock from place to place, or will it sit in one place for its life? Do you want easily removable/replaceable HDD storage, or do you want security? Do you want/need/desire laptop charging? Do you prefer a USB hub or a card reader? Answer those questions and you will know if the FireCuda Gaming Dock is right for you or not. Either way, most will want to take a long hard look at what this new dock has to offer.
