The Belkin PowerHouse iPhone and Apple Charger Dock leaves plenty more space on your bedside table, with it’s chic and minimal design. The dock allows you to charge both your Watch and iPhone simultaneously through the same AC cable. So, as an Apple product lover, you no longer need to use hefty amounts of space on the bedside table or deal with too many tangled wires.
It holds the iPhone upright using a back support for it to lean on and the Apple Watch fits perfectly by it’s side on a small extension equipped with an in-built magnetic charger. The stand-alone feature means you can use the devices hands-free to watch videos, stream the latest podcasts and listen to music while it charges by your side. Although unfortunately this is not accessible using headphones. It also comes with an adjustable case-friendly Lightning connector (the latest iPhone charger), which can be lowered or raised to fit most cases. This saves some energy and time having to remove the iPhone cases before charging.
The dock is all types of iPhone 5 and 6 friendly and the magnetic Watch charger works for the Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition. It certainly offers all the essentials. But what exactly makes this product a worthy purchase?
Belkin specialize in connectivity devices, so they are under high expectation and demand to produce the best quality possible. And this is not the first Apple Watch and iPhone charging dock we’ve seen from the company. The previous model, the Belkin Valet Charge Dock, featured almost all the same elements but came at an even heftier price than the latest model due to it’s incredibly chic and stylish design. But originally selling at $150 – now reduced to $130 – the Watch and iPhone accessory left a burning hole in peoples pockets. It reminded me a little of a Bang&Olufsen type of gadget. The latest model, not so much. The Belkin PowerHouse, with its all-rubber stand to stop scratches and scrapes, has a reduced yet still large price tag of $100.
Though it is still big money to pay, it has a far more gracious asking price. But we can certainly see where they have paved way to allow the price reduction. They have removed the sleek aluminum trimming and chrome dock to make way for a rubber holder and petite design. In terms of quality, however, it does not disappoint. The charger comes with all the qualities a charger could desire. Easy access, minimal wiring and a stand for the devices.
A few worrying initial responses to the charger claimed that while charging the iPhone and Apple Watch it appeared to make an uneasy and continuous sound. But others have said the charger is voiceless and practically mute as it carries out its duties. With multiple sources recounting these two different versions of events there could be an internal issue in some of the devices, or some people may just be more fussy than others. If there is an issue, later production tends to eliminate these concerns. Either way aside from these complaints the charger has been extremely well received. And rightly so. It is smooth, classy and takes comfort to a whole new level. It looks good everywhere, from the bedside table to the coffee stand and, speaking for myself, the stand could make snoozing the alarm that much easier.
Overall, it’s certainly not the cheapest accessory to make a bedside table more practical but it definitely looks good doing it. Multi charging the Watch and the iPhone is a useful and comfortable quality but it isn’t a necessity. At the end of the day, the Belkin PowerHouse Charger Dock is a great addition from an accessory standpoint, leaving more space for all those cups of tea, no more wire tangling, and is excellently manufactured, but in terms of practicality it could be deemed a little redundant for such a high price tag.
