A home for the phone while it charges
A charging dock gives a phone a fixed place to stand while it charges, instead of lying on the worktop at the end of a cable. It keeps the desk or the bedside tidy, holds the phone at an angle you can read, and means the charger is always in the same spot when the battery runs low. Some docks hold one phone; charging stations hold several, for a family, a shared office or a hallway where everyone drops their phone on the way in. This range is for those docks and stations, and for stands that turn a charger you already own into a dock.
The kinds of dock
- Stands for a magnetic charger. Among the docks here is an aluminium desk stand made to hold a MagSafe or MagSafe-compatible charging puck in a silicone groove. It tilts up to 60 degrees for portrait or landscape, has a channel that protects the cable where it bends, and is sold as the stand alone, without the charger or the phone.
- Docks with a charger built in take the phone on a plug or a wireless coil, with the power cable running out of the back.
- Multi-device stations charge several phones, tablets or earbuds from one plug, often with slots that keep each device upright.
For wireless stands that charge a phone, earbuds and a watch together, see 3-in-1 charging stations and wireless charging stands.
How to choose a dock
Check how it charges. A stand for a magnetic charger needs that charger: if you do not have one, see magnetic wireless chargers. A dock with a plug needs the right plug for your phone, USB-C or Lightning, and a phone in a thick case may not sit down on it. A wireless dock needs a phone with wireless charging, and a phone with magnets, or a magnetic case, to hold on to a magnetic one.
Then the power. A dock can only pass on what its plug gives it, and a station charging several devices shares that power between them. Use the plug the dock asks for, with a UK three-pin plug: see wall chargers.
Questions people ask about charging docks
Can I use the phone while it is docked?
On a stand that holds it upright, yes, for calls, video and reading. A phone gets a little warm on a wireless charger, which is normal.
Where is the best place for a charging station?
On a hard surface with air around it, away from radiators and direct sun, with a working smoke alarm nearby.
How long does delivery take?
Delivery is included in every price and tracked to your door. Each product page says when it usually arrives.
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