Dell’s latest laptop dock adds something extra: a Qi wireless charging stand that lets you see and charge your phone, while also connecting your laptop to monitors and peripherals (through Ars Technica†The Dual Charging Station can supply 90W to your computer via USB-C and 12W to your phone via the fabric covered wireless charger.
In a press release, Dell says the charging coils in the Qi portion of the dock are widely distributed — meaning you can charge your phone while it’s portrait or landscape, and you can even use the charger to charge a pair of wireless earbuds.
Naturally, like a dockIt also aims to let you plop down your laptop on a desk, plug in a single cable, and be able to use external displays and peripherals. To that end, it has a decent selection of ports: four USB-A ports, one USB-C port (in addition to the USB-C cable you use to connect the dock to your laptop), an Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.1, and DisplayPort 1.4 ports. That USB-C port can also deliver 15W of power if you have a device that you need to charge with a cable.
The Dual Charge Dock isn’t cheap – it will cost $368.99 when it becomes available on May 12. You can pick it up for that price this Anchor dock (which has a similar port selection) and SD card slots), a pixel standardand a cheap but satisfying lunch?†If you are on a budget you could check this out $125 dock/laptop cooler Dell sells on its website, get a standard Qi charging pad to go along, and have over $200 to spare.
None of that says the dock is too expensive or that no one should buy it. I definitely see the value in a compact, all-in-one charging solution that also adds a large number of ports to your laptop. I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a few desks with the Dual Charge Dock on them in the near future.
PS – if you prefer Thunderbolt, Dell also has a Thunderbolt 4 dock coming out in “Q2” for $469.99. It has fewer USB-A ports (and no integrated Qi charger), but it does have Thunderbolt pass-through and more display outputs.
