Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|
|
|
Hale Speaker dock is the upgraded version of their previous version that was bit bulky but was a great stepping stone to this iteration. This new and improved model gives off 16 W of combined power as well as can charge any Android Smartphone in the landscape or portrait view.
Design
This black docking station has the dimensions of 4 inches x 12.5 inches x 5.1 inches (10 cm x 30.4 cm x 13 cm) so it is not that big but it weighs 4.6 pounds (2 kg) so it is heavier than most other Android docking stations available on the market. This Hale dock has been designed and manufacture to keep the end user in mind and that is why it has that great looking futuristic shape that shows off all the different aspects like the docking mechanism itself as well as the controls at the top and the front as well as rear facing speakers. The whole dock sits on 3 legs where two are at the front and the last one is at the back but they all have rubberized undersides that will not allow this dock to slide around on any surface like glass or polished wood. These legs have curved edges and that is an extension of the whole design that looks really nice and finished. This Hale Android docking station is mainly created from plastic but it feels sturdy and strong unlike some cheap devices that come from China.
The whole front side is covered with perforated cloth that seals from the view two speakers but at the bottom there is a plastic stripe that accents that speaker cover. At the back there is one circular speaker cover that shields the Bass driver and underneath there is the AC plug and that makes this dock look finished from all sides and will not interfere with your aesthetics in any way.
Looking from the top we can see the control buttons located on the right and two bendable arms coming from the back that are the power and 3.5mm AUX jacks that allow you to place your Android Smartphone in any direction you like. The bed where your device sits is quite large so you will be able to put any Smartphone and even some smaller tablets there and that is a great little feature.
Functionality
As the functionality goes as I mentioned earlier this dock has 16W combined power output from two front facing 2 inch speakers and an integrated 3 inch subwoofer that gives off sound frequencies in the range of 50-20kHz and that is acceptable for such a small device. The sound that comes out of these speakers is crisp and deep so there should be no complains about the sound quality!
This dock has a 3.5 mm audio connection and there is no Bluetooth connectivity but because of the design there is no need for that wireless music transfer as the AUX jack will give you better sound anyway. And because the power and music jacks are located on those bendable arms then they can be easily maneuvered and placed on any side your phone has those connection. At the top there are also 6 control buttons for volume, music playback and turning on or off the device and the same buttons are also on the remote control that allows you to control your Android Smartphone from a distance. This is a somewhat unique feature to this Hale docking station and you need to only install an application and the remote will work seamlessly with any Android Smartphone so you will be able to change songs not getting up from the couch.
This docking station is powered by DC input current that can be 2 A and 12 V strong but there is a AC to DC converter that does the conversion from a regular 100 V to 240 V socket.
Overall this dock is a real master peace of engineering and those bending micro USB and 3.5 mm AUX jacks work really well and you really will not need the Bluetooth capabilities. This dock will charge and play music from any Android device and the sound quality as well as build quality are great!