The new year has begun and many of us will be returning to a life of Zoom and Teams meetings. While thatâs a fine prospect for home or office workers, meetings are no fun for those out on the road, hunched over a computer in a hotel room and straining to hear a tiny laptop speaker.
Every digital nomad needs a high-quality speakerphone that can also double as a docking station that can turn a laptop into a computer with desktop connectivity to add peripherals or even drive an external monitor in a clientâs office or when working from home.
The new StarTech Conference Speaker Mini Dock is designed to make working on a laptop much easier, especially on the road. The Conference Speaker Mini Dock is about the size of a hockey puck and doesnât need additional software or drivers. It can simply plug into a PC or Mac and is ready for online collaboration.
This speakerphone and dock combo is compatible with Zoom, Microsoft Teams and most other video conferencing platforms. It also enables laptop charging and connectivity with various peripherals, including a 4K 60Hz display, keyboard, mouse, storage drives and an external webcam.
As well as providing a full duplex speaker and microphone, the Conference Speaker Mini Dock works with USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 and 4 laptops and computers. It has dual omnidirectional microphones and a digital signal processor offering effective echo canceling and noise reduction when used in busy areas like an open-plan office.
The speakerphone has a speaker with a frequency range of 100Hz to 20kHz, offering dynamic sound output. With a sound pressure level (SPL) rating of 89dB at 0.5m, the loudspeaker has sufficient volume even with USB bus power.
Regarding video output, the Conference Speaker Mini Dock offers the choice of HDMI or VGA outputs. The HDMI port can support an external monitor with resolutions up to 4K and a refresh rate of 60Hz. Thereâs also a USB-C power input of 100W Power Delivery Pass-Through with 85W for higher-power laptop charging.
To make the Conference Speaker Mini Dock easy to take out on the road, it comes with a 22-inch cable that winds around the device to keep everything stowed away neatly. The speaker's surface includes handy LED status indicators and easy access buttons for adjusting volume levels, microphone muting, call dialing and hang-up.
Because this convenient speakerphone and dock is aimed at corporate users, it works with StarTechâs connectivity tools for USB event monitoring that logs USB device connects/disconnects, along with timestamps to determine the identity of a malicious device. Additionally, Windows Layout saves the configuration settings when the dock is disconnected and re-connected. These are the enterprise features not found on consumer speakerphones and docks.
Verdict: The StarTech Conference Speaker Mini Dock is a neat solution thatâs very similar to the EPOS SP30-T speakerphone but with the helpful addition of a couple of USB A ports with 5Gbps data throughput. Thereâs also a USB Type-C port with support for 5Gbps and Power Delivery up to 100W pass-through. The HDMI video port can support monitors up to 4K resolution at a refresh rate of 60Hz. The VGA port can handle monitors with resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 / 1080. The build quality of the Conference Speaker Mini Dock is exceptional and the built-in mics pick up the userâs voice clearly. The full duplexing and echo-canceling function works well. On the down side, thereâs no Ethernet port, something found on most USB-C docking stations. Yes, this device is fairly expensive, but itâs an excellent solution for corporate users on the road or home workers.
Pricing & Availability: The StarTech USB-C Conference Speaker Mini Dock (DKTBRSPMPD) costs $259.99. Itâs available from leading IT resellers and distributors, including Amazon, CDW, Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX, and D&H.
More info: www.startech.com
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