I realized two things when the pandemic forced me to start working from home: I suck at hiding a rat’s nest of cables on my desk, and modern laptops don’t provide enough ports anywhere. Laptop docks have become an essential part of most office setups because they solve both of these issues, but not all docks are created equal—nor are they particularly stylish.
The $399 Logi Dock goes a step higher than most. It is designed as an all-in-one docking solution that allows you to use the laptop’s built-in microphone headset and completely eliminate poor-quality audio recording/playback during calls. Along with the extra ports and laptop charging capabilities common on docking stations, Logitech has slapped on some in-meeting controls, a built-in speakerphone, and some funky underlighting. It’s a much jazzier dock than the typical boring slabs handed out in corporate offices.
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The Logi Dock can support up to two 4K 60Hz displays, while providing up to 100W of power to a connected laptop, which is enough juice to charge almost anything other than power-hungry gaming hardware. It weighs just over two pounds and has rubberized feet to keep it from sliding on whatever surface it’s placed on. This dock is mostly intended for more permanent office setups, while it’s light enough to throw in a bag Absolutely The essential, essential power brick is a beast, making it cumbersome to carry around.
Most of the connections are located on the back of the dock, which is great for keeping your workspace free of cables. On the back, you’ll find two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, an HDMI 2.0, and a DisplayPort 1.4 output. These feature a 230W power brick supplied by the Logi Dock, a Bluetooth 5.1 pairing button, a Kensington lock slot, and an input for a dedicated USB-C upstream (denoted with the purple port) that connects the dock to your laptop. combines.
There’s also a third USB-C port located on the side of the dock that prevents you from having to move around the back of the device to plug in any additional peripherals. This particular port and one of the USB-A ports on the rear are marked with a Lightning icon to indicate that they support 7.5W fast charging.
Which… well, isn’t exactly “fast” these days. It took about three hours to fully charge my iPhone 14 Pro Max at that speed, and the Logi dock’s remaining USB ports can only output up to 4.5W. More affordable offerings like the $130 Pluggable Docking Station may support 20W charging on their secondary ports.
The Logi Dock offers no Thunderbolt or USB 4 ports, connectivity standards that can provide power, high-speed data, and a video signal over a single connection. Instead, all USB ports are 3.1 Gen 1 and support a meager transfer speed of 5Gbps. It’s disappointing considering the price point, but it won’t be the end of the world for most employed office workers. The biggest advantage of Thunderbolt is the fast data transfer speeds (up to 40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 4), so unless you need to optimize your peripheral speed or transfer large files of data frequently, you can Will be fine without it.
I have a few port-related gripes out of the gate besides the obvious lack of Thunderbolt support. First, none of the USB-C connections support display output, so you can’t hook up a monitor to them. (You’ll have to rely on the HDMI and DisplayPort ports.) The Logi Dock also lacks a standard 3.5mm audio jack and an Ethernet port, which are commonly found on other docks.
But credit where it’s due – the Logi Dock is visually the best looking docking station I’ve seen. It’s available in either black or white and features ambient underlighting and a wrap-around fabric skin that will complement most modern office setups nicely. It’s the same aesthetic used on Logitech’s StreamCam and reminds me of the optional fabric keyboard cover featured on recent Microsoft Surface Laptop generations. The fabric coating didn’t wear out particularly well after a few weeks of testing, but it’s something you might want to consider if you’re prone to messes or live with kids.
I am giving this warning because it is expected that you will touch it a lot. At the top of the Logi Dock is a selection of touch controls that can be used to quickly join or leave calls, adjust speaker volume, and enable/disable your webcam and microphone. Both the webcam and microphone buttons will turn red when disabled. You can also sync the dock with Microsoft Office 365 or Google Calendar. Doing so enables the Logi Dock’s “one-touch-to-join” feature—the ambient underlighting will turn purple when a meeting is about to start, which you can quickly join by tapping the circular join button on the top of the device. Can be
Those controls are supported in Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Google Voice, Zoom, and Tencent Meeting. I only tested in Teams, Zoom, and Meet, but the controls worked as expected in all of them. There are technically two models of the Logi Dock available – one with a “Join Call” button and a plain circle with the team logo. There’s no real difference between either model other than design choice, so both will work with any supported meeting software.
Audio quality is surprisingly good. You’ll get better results from dedicated microphones and desktop speakers, of course, but the Logi Dock still performs admirably by comparison. It has six beamforming mics built in (see the small holes at the top) which did a decent job of picking up my voice during calls. There were no obvious problems with clarity, although playback does sound a bit crisp.
The “noise cancellation” touted by Logitech had pretty mixed results—it completely removed the sound of my mechanical keyboard hitting and my mouse clicking, for example. It didn’t even create an echo by picking up on its own audio output. Some household noises playing in the background of the call managed to come through, like my electric dryer and my neighbors vacuuming.
The omnidirectional speakers are suitably loud and clear. I heard some minor interference when the audio was playing at a low volume, so I personally don’t want to listen to background music through them while working. At higher volumes, you can hear a lot of bass—I’d prefer the quality to be more like older Bluetooth speakers. Otherwise, I had no difficulty understanding what was being said during the call. Where possible, I’d recommend sticking the dock directly in front of you, as the narrow soundstage can be a bit distracting when placed side by side.
Bluetooth support is a nice inclusion. You can connect wireless peripherals like keyboards, mice, and headsets to the Logi Dock (though most laptops come with Bluetooth support these days anyway), and if you want to use it as a speakerphone or Bluetooth speaker you can You can also connect it to your phone. , Logitech is pitching this as an in-office solution as much as it is a home one, but let’s be real here – blasting your meeting audio in a busy office for everyone to hear is fun for anyone involved Not there. Don’t be that person.
There are a few other Logitech-flavored quirks here. The Logi Dock is designed to play nicely with other products in the Logitech ecosystem—I didn’t have any Zone true wireless earbuds with me to test the Easy Audio Switch feature, but I’d appreciate the Bolt-enabled keyboard and mouse. Was able to connect easily via a Logie Bolt receiver. This is exactly the kind of ecosystem support I look for when I want to streamline my work setup.
This is why I’m still having trouble with Logitech software. To enable the calendar syncing feature of Logi Dock you need to install Logi Tune – a program for customizing Logitech headsets and webcams in meetings. Along with Logitech Capture, Logitech Options and Logi Options Plus (yes, really) this is yet another Logitech app clogging up my laptop. I couldn’t even install Logi Tunes on my work device without System Administrator permission. This would not be a unique situation and is especially disappointing when you consider that the Logi Dock is targeting working professionals.
Does all of this mean that the Logi Dock is a bad product? Absolutely not. It promises almost everything. I had no issues with peripherals plugged into it, and it worked fine with both the M1 MacBook Air and the Dell XPS 15 I tested it with (though it’s worth noting that the M1 MacBook Air only An external support can show). It’s reliable, surprisingly compact, and does an excellent job of decluttering your desk. Audio quality is also good enough to please those who don’t want to contend with a clunky USB microphone or headset, and it offers more ports and features than similar rival offerings like the $249 Microsoft Audio Dock.
The biggest issue here is the $399 price tag. both ethernet are being dropped And Thunderbolt on Dock It seems hard to justify this pricey. Accessibility would likewise be improved if you frequently switch between multiple accessories or peripherals, and the lack of forward-facing IO could also be a nuisance by moving the Bluetooth pairing button to the top or side of the dock.
If you can look past those drawbacks and think the idea of a speakerphone conference system combined with a USB hub is appealing, there aren’t many other options out there. I myself haven’t been converted after testing it out for a few weeks, but I’m in a committed relationship with my Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and Rode NT1 XLR mic. The audio quality of the Logi Dock can’t compete, nor do I expect it to. It’s a great option for those of you already looking to pare down your setup and add some extra ports — I’d personally wait for it to go on sale.
