Logitech Logi Dock review: A USB-C hub with an audio twist
The price is high but the Logi Dock combines lots of different functions into one device and does them all rather well
Pros
- High-quality audio
- I/O ports galore
- Supports 100W charging
Cons
- Expensive
- No LAN or 3.5mm audio connectors
- No DisplayPort over USB-C
The basic principle behind the audio dock is easy to explain. If you use a laptop when out and about but need to connect it to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and who knows what else once you are back home, then it makes sense to connect all that stuff to one device that lives on your desk permanently and then connect your laptop to that via one cable when you need to.
That’s precisely what the Logi Dock is designed to do and not only is it crammed with the inputs and outputs that allow you to do just that, it also comes with speakers and microphones built in to help you up your video-call game.
Logitech Logi Dock review: What do you get for the money?
There’s no denying that the Logi Dock is expensive at £368 but not only does it look the part, all wrapped in business-suit black (or white) fabric, it delivers where it counts – it’s positively covered with ports.
These are mostly located at the rear of the device, where you’ll find a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 and two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports (5Gbits/sec), HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 video outputs and a large button to activate Bluetooth pairing. There’s also a DC-input jack, with power supplied by a 230W power brick, and a Kensington lock slot to prevent thievery.
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There’s a third USB-C port on the rear that’s used to connect the dock to your laptop’s DisplayPort or your mobile device’s MHL port and this can also charge your gadgets at up to 100W. A fourth USB-C port can be found on the left side for charging your phone. That USB-C port has a maximum output of 7.5W, as does one of the USB-A sockets. The other three USB ports are all rated at 4.5W.
The body of the dock is angled upwards to better project sound and to give space for the LED call indicators, which are found along the bottom edge. On the top, is a row of five touch-sensitive buttons. The outer two control your microphone and webcam, the inner two adjust the volume, while the big circle in the middle is an answer/end call button. It’s a simple but effective layout.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will also have noticed the six small holes in the top of the Logi Dock, beneath which lurk the dock’s six microphones.
Logitech Logi Dock: What does it do well?
To get a recommendation the Logi Dock clearly has to excel in three main areas: reducing cable litter to near-zero; making conference calls as convenient and high-quality as possible; and providing top-notch audio output.
On the first task, the dock does what it says on the box. Thanks to the almost 1kg weight and very grippy rubber feet, the dock stayed perfectly in place once I’d set it up in my preferred position directly below the centre of my monitor. The only cable then to be seen on my desk was the bundled USB-C cable I used to connect it to my laptop.
The dock gets a firm tick in the second box thanks to its two 55mm neodymium speaker drivers and the two passive radiators that face out from the sides. Logitech doesn’t quote a power output for Logi Dock but I recorded a maximum volume of 78.3dBA from a pink noise source at a 1m distance, which is plenty loud enough for a speaker you’re typically going to be sat right in front of.
More importantly, the sound the Logi Dock produces is rich and full and has plenty of bass. I spent an afternoon playing Halo Infinite and listening to The Delines back catalogue through the dock and could absolutely live with it as my permanent office sound solution.
The speakers work equally well when it comes to call quality; people on a Microsoft Teams meeting sounded as though they were in the room with me. Some early reviewers of the dock weren’t particularly enamoured with outgoing audio quality but everyone I spoke to via the dock was impressed by the clarity and presence of my voice on calls and the ability of the system to suppress background noise.
The Logi Dock is officially certified by Zoom and Teams and is listed as “compatible” with Google Meet and Voice. I used it with all three services and all the advertised features worked without any issues. There’s a full compliance guide on Logitech’s website, which also includes details of the support level for the likes of Lark and DingTalk.
Naturally, the dock works with Logitech’s Sync device management software but home users only need to install the Logi Tune software to enable the dock to integrate with your calendar so it can give you a heads up when you have a call scheduled.
Moreover, if you own one of Logitech’s Zone wireless devices such as the Zone True Wireless earbud, the Dock will automatically hand off audio duties once it detects their activation.
Logitech Logi Dock: What could be improved?
For the rather high price of £368, some will think the Logi Dock should support the Thunderbolt protocol. As it is, none of the USB-C ports can even output a video signal and the lack of Ethernet and a 3.5mm audio jack are disappointing, too.
The same could be said of the data rate supported by the USB ports, all of which are 3.2 Gen 1 specification. If you are in the habit of leaving a fast SSD connected to the Logi Dock and moving big files through it, then the 5Gbits/sec maximum speed of the USB ports may start to grind your gears.
How well the Logi Dock performs its core mission of desk tidying also depends on your desk setup. If you use most or all of the ports on the Logi Dock you end up with a lot of cables sticking out of an area measuring just 85 x 130mm so you need a fair amount of open space behind it. Combine this with an extremely tight sound beam and the Logi Dock really needs to be positioned directly below the centre of your monitor to work at its best.
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That means you need to make sure your monitor will accommodate it. I tested the Logi Dock with a Philips monitor I happened to have on hand and, while the dock sat comfortably inside the ring of the monitor stand, the connecting cables coming out of the back would only just fit through the 40mm gap between the vertical legs of the stand with the dock’s power cable looped around it. If the stand had been solid, placing the dock dead-centre would not have been possible.
And, if you can’t sit the dock directly below the centre of your monitor, you are going to be all too aware that the sound is coming from either the left or the right and that isn’t something I would be prepared to live with. Buying a monitor riser that you can put the dock beneath fixes the problem but it’s an extra expense and is dependent on the size of your monitor and how low the monitor stand allows you to position the screen.
Logitech Logi Dock: Should you buy it?
For almost the same price, you can buy all the elements separately. A good desktop USB-C display hub like the Anker 563, for instance, will set you back £260, a decent set of speakers like our Award Winning Creative T60s another £70 and a good wired headset like the Creative Chat USB another £40 for a total of £370.
Ultimately, then, whether you want to invest the extra in the Logi Dock depends on how much you value a tidy desk and the convenience of single-cable connection. The Logi Dock delivers that, and it does (with the odd caveat) competently; however, there’s no doubt that it is very expensive.