BenQ beCreatus DP1310 Hybrid Docking Station Review

Most docking stations out there do pretty similar things these days. They connect to your PC via a single cable and give you some display and USB connections on the other end.

The beCreatus DP1310 by BenQ is a bit different and has a pretty unique trick up its sleeve. In this article, we’re going to be reviewing this docking station and exploring its full capabilities so you can determine if this dock is right for you.

One Minute Review

The dominating visual feature of the BenQ DP1310 is the big green button on the front of the dock. With a single tap, this dock can change your display source without needing to touch your monitor or computer.

How The Big Green Button Works

When you connect your computer via the USB-C 3.2 cable (blue input), you can output to a total of three monitors. Those display outputs are also shown in blue in the image below.

One of these display outputs (the half green half blue HDMI 2.1 out connection) is actually a shared display output.

You can connect a second device, such as a gaming console (PS5, Xbox, Switch) using the green HDMI 2.1 input port. The result is that when you press the green button in front of the dock, you switch the shared monitor from the blue input (your PC) to the green input (i.e. gaming console).

This makes it easy to switch from your PC to your other device quickly with just one button press.

Note, this is not to be confused with a KVM device that is for two computers. There is no way for the USB ports on the BenQ dock to connect to your secondary (green) input device.

beCreatus DP1310 Dock Ports

Besides this fancy display input switching feature, this DP1310 dock also has some other very useful connections. Here are all the ports you get with the DP1310 dock:

• 1x HDMI 2.1 output
• 1x HDMI 2.1 input
• 1x HDMI 2.0 output
• 1x DisplayPort 1.2 output
• 1x Gigabit Ethernet input
• 3x 10 Gbps USB-A ports
• 2x 480 Mbps USB-A Ports (for mouse & keyboard)
• 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack
• 1x 36W 10 Gbps USB-C connection

The HDMI 2.1 input/output gives you a full 48 Gbps bandwidth. This means you can output a whopping 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz max from this port!

When you connect your laptop to this docking station, the included USB Type C 3.2 cable can supply 100W of power (power delivery 3.0) and 20Gbps of data transmission!

That’s a ton of work with a single cable, and it looks ultra-clean. The single cable connection is key to my own minimal desk setups.

What’s In The Box

Opening the box, I could immediately tell that BenQ is continuing to minimize the single-use packing plastics, which is fantastic. I also noticed this when unboxing the BenQ LaptopBar.

In the box, you get the following:

• DP1310 Docking Station
• Power Adapter (19.5V @ 9.23A, 180W)
• 1m USB-C 3. 2 Gen 2×2 Cable
• 1.8m HDMI 2.1 Cable
• Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card, etc.

Design & Build Quality

Right off the bat, you can tell the DP1310 docking station has a pretty nice build quality to it. The ribbed aluminum body has a very clean look and is also functional. BenQ mentions these aluminum ribs double the effective surface area for better cooling.

The front plate is a dark gray plastic but is nice and textured. The big green button has a nice pastel shade of green that is not too vibrant or intrusive. This should fit in nicely with any workspace.

The supplied cables are of high quality. You get a certified HDMI 2.1 cable capable of outputting 8K 60Hz resolution and the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 cable is 1 meter long which allows the dock to be placed anywhere on your desk.

Check out these articles if you’re not familiar with USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 or HDMI 2.1.

Besides the functional capabilities, the supplied cables are more or less plain-looking. They don’t have fancy braided sheathing or anything.

BenQ added non-slip padding on two adjacent sides of the dock. This means you can use the dock in the vertical and horizontal position without it sliding around. Thank goodness!

The grip in the vertical orientation is a thin line surrounding the product info, but it is still surprisingly grippy. I keep it in the vertical orientation on my desk.

Setup & Installation

DisplayLink Driver Install

The first step in BenQ’s quick start guide is to install the DisplayLink drivers. Most docking stations require a driver or software installed to work, so this is business as usual.

The provided driver URL takes us to Synapitics’ website to their “DisplayLink USB Graphics Software”. I assume this is to get the full display output functionality out of the single USB-C connection.

After all, BenQ advertises triple 4K 60Hz is capable over this one USB-C cable, which is pretty insane.

Though this is listed as a “must” in the quick start guide, the guide also implies this is for using all three monitor output ports. See the top right of the quick start guide in the image above.

I tested this by hooking up a MacBook that did not have the driver installed, and it worked perfectly fine with my single Dell 34″ ultrawide monitor without the DisplayLink drivers installed.

I would still recommend installing the display drivers just so the full functionality of the dock is unlocked with your PC.

Getting Connected

The essential connections to get up and running with the BenQ beCreatus Dock are:

• Dock DC power supply
• Laptop USB-C input
• Monitor output

Your main external monitor should be connected to the HDMI 2.1 output as this has the highest capacity output. So if you have a high refresh rate gaming monitor, that should be connected to the shared HDMI 2.1 output.

Secondary Source: HDMI 2.1 Input

This takes us to the HDMI 2.1 input. This will be the signal that the dock will switch to when you press the green button.

If you have a gaming console or a gaming PC, connect this to the HDMI 2.1 input. BenQ providing the HDMI 2.1 input and output ensures we get the maximum possible framerate from our source which is very important for gaming.

Laptop USB-C Input

It’s important to know that not any laptop with a USB-C port will be compatible. Specifically, you need a USB-C port that works with DisplayPort Alt Mode and USB-C Power Delivery.

Newer laptops using USB-C 3.2 generally support this. I tested this DP1310 Dock with my 2021 Dell XPS 15 (9510) and a 2017 Macbook Pro. Both computers worked with the docking station flawlessly (with a single monitor output).

Both laptops had different port types and they all worked fine with the BenQ docking station. Here are the three different port types that were tested:

• Thunderbolt 3 (2017 Macbook Pro)
• Thunderbolt 4(2021 Dell XPS 15 9510)
• USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×1 (2021 Dell XPS 15 9510)

Dock USB-C Input Location

BenQ nailed the laptop connectivity location with this dock. The single USB-C cable connects to the rear side of the dock resulting in a clean and minimal workspace.

It’s a shame when manufacturers place the input port on the front of the dock. You’re forced to see cables on your desk whenever you use it! Thankfully BenQ got this right.

You also get a 1-meter-long USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 cable so that you won’t be restricted with laptop placement. This is another gripe I have with older docking stations, the cables would be way too short.

With the DP1310, I have a lot more flexibility with where the dock is placed and where my laptop is placed. If you’re not obsessed with your desk setup & cable management, you probably don’t worry about stuff like this.

Features & User Experience

When you plug in the docking station, it remains inactive until you press and hold the green button for 3 seconds. This powers up the docking station.

During this startup period, you will see a small white LED indicator flashing.

After the docking station is powered up, the LED will turn blue, indicating that the blue USB-C input is being used. This means the HDMI 2.1 output is showing your USB-C device.

Tap the green button, and the indicator LED will turn green. This indicates that your second display input (HDMI 2.1 input) is being used. This is a helpful little light as it shows you the current status.

My Connections

My laptop is the main device using the USB-C 3.2 input port. I am using my Dell XPS 15 9510. My gaming PC is the secondary display input.

This means when I tap the green button, the ultrawide monitor switches between my gaming PC and my laptop.

My keyboard includes the Logitech MX Keys and MX Master 3. These have three Bluetooth memory settings so I can easily change between my laptop and gaming PC.

Remember, this is not a KVM switch, so none of your USB connections to the dock will transfer between your two input devices.

My gaming PC is currently set up with a Bluetooth Xbox controller. I also have a separate mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse for FPS games that have their wireless transmitters plugged into my gaming PC only.

Here’s a visual of what my connection diagram looks like with the BenQ DP1310 Docking Station.

Switching Display Signals

Here’s what actually happens when using the dock and switching between display inputs.

While I have my laptop connected (blue connections), I am using both my 34″ ultrawide monitor and the laptop display itself. The display settings show the dual monitor setup.

Once I tap the big green button on the dock, the monitor switches from displaying my laptop on the ultrawide monitor to displaying my gaming PC. As a result, my laptop reorganizes all the windows that were previously on the ultrawide and places them on my laptop screen.

This is exactly what should happen when you disconnect a monitor, except the dock is taking care of this. We don’t need to touch any cables or go into the monitor’s input selector.

Going through my monitor’s menu to select a different input is really annoying as they have minimal buttons and a very poor user interface. With the BenQ CP1310 Dock, I no longer need to deal with any monitor menus!

Here’s what my desk setup looks like when switching from the laptop input to my gaming PC display input.

When in my gaming PC mode, you can see the green light illuminate from the docking station. One-click and I have my gaming PC right in front of me.

Because my Xbox controller is Bluetooth-connected to my gaming PC, I don’t have to worry about the fact that this is not a KVM device. Below I’m playing Forza Horizon when switching the dock to my gaming PC input.

Dell XPS 15 Specific Experience

My Dell XPS 15 comes with a dedicated graphics card, an Nvidia 3050 Ti. This makes it a bit more power-hungry than other laptops, and it comes with a 130W power adapter. The BenQ dock supplies 100W of power through the USB-C port.

Because of this discrepancy, my PC shows me a small warning sign next to my battery. It mentions “weak charging state, please check power charger”.

This is a little dramatic thing for my laptop to say because once I check the power manager, it shows the decently fast 100W charging rate of 48% per hour! This is pretty much the same charging rate as my 130W Dell power adapter.

So if you see this little warning, don’t worry, your laptop will definitely still charge with the 100W supplied by the BenQ DP1310 USB-C cable.

You will probably only notice a difference when using your PC at 100% CPU load and 100% GPU load. During normal use, my laptop charges plenty fast with the BenQ dock.

Pricing, Value, and Verdict

The BenQ beCreatus DP1310 comes in at $299, which is a typical price tag with this level of capability.

Now that we know everything this dock is capable of, who is this docking station for? The standout feature of the DP1310 is clearly the quick display switching capability. Without this special feature, it would be just like any other dock.

With that being said, this docking station is mainly for those who want the capability to switch a single monitor between two different sources very easily and quickly. It also helps that this uses HDMI 2.1 so you can use this for high frame-rate gaming applications very seamlessly.

If you’ve been itching for a dock that can switch displays for you, the value is very high with this docking station.

If you’re a console gamer who uses a high-resolution or high-framerate monitor, this would definitely be a good fit. For PC gamers, as long as you don’t expect this to have KVM functionality and pair your peripherals to your gaming PC directly, you will also benefit from this dock as I have.

The USB-C connection to your laptop can output a whopping triple 4K 60Hz, which makes this dock pretty adaptable and future-proof for the time being.