A Guide To The Best Docking Stations

Docking stations are used to play music and charge your device simultaneously, whether your device is an iPhone, iPod, iTouch or iPad.  The docking station will vary as to which device it will be compatible with to use the charging dock whilst playing music.

Also works great as an alarm clock

Some models will be bluetooth enabled so you can play music through the docking station by wirelessly connecting your audio device providing it is also bluetooth enabled.  All docking stations will have a 3.5mm audio jack, so it will also be compatible with any audio device which also has a 3.5mm audio jack.

The charging dock on the docking stations are generally designed for Apple products such as iPhones, iPods, iTouch and iPad.  The older models will have a charging dock which is designed for the older Apple products such as the iPhone 4S which uses the 30 pin connector whereas newer models like the iPhone 5 and onwards will use a lighting connector because they have different charging sockets. 

If however you do prefer a model with the 30 pin connector but you have a device which uses the lighting connector, you can buy an Apple lighting adapter which will allow you to use your device with the docking station, as mentioned in the table above.

If you own an audio device which is not compatible with the charging dock then you can consider a Bluetooth speaker instead where there are plenty of models available and it’s also usually very portable.  Check out our Top 10 Best Bluetooth Speakers.

How To Choose The Best Docking Station

We created the table on the top 10 docking stations only as a guidance, as the needs and requirements for each individual may be different.  When deciding what is the best docking station for yourself then the key features you should look out for should be:

Wireless/Bluetooth – As the docking station isn’t portable and operated through the mains, being able to connect wirelessly would enable you to use your music device as a remote control as well.  Some docking stations doesn’t come with a remote control so changing tracks or any other functions would mean having to walk to the docking station.

Radio – Some docks will have a built-in radio, allowing you to listen to FM radio stations.  Some may also be compatible with streaming services such as: Spotify, Deezer, Last.FM or YouTube.

Alarm clock – Most people will use their phone as an alarm so this may be irrelevant to some but some people require or prefer two alarms especially if they’re a deep sleeper.

Remote control – Will come in very handy especially for docking stations which does not have the bluetooth function.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Can be used as just a charger for some devices.
• Some models have a built-in alarm clock, so eliminates having to have a separate alarm clock.
• Some models have bluetooth enabled.

Cons:

• Generally mains operated so it’ll need to be near a plug socket all the time.
• Not really portable as most models are quite big.

Conclusion

All of the top 10 best docking stations shown in our comparison table above are designed to be compatible with an iPhone.  That’s not to say that other smart phone users won’t be able to use any of these docking stations, as it can still connect via Bluetooth.  However, other smart phone users won’t benefit from the charging dock.

Non-iPhone users will have to buy a docking station for android phones (although the selection is more limited) or choose a portable Bluetooth speaker instead.  Having said that, even if you own an iPhone a Bluetooth speaker might still be a better option since it has a built-in battery so doesn’t have to be constantly plugged into the mains.

Although your iPhone does look pretty neat on a docking station and many people also use it as an alarm clock.  Did you also know that many TV sound bars also have Bluetooth connectivity, so you can use the sound bar for your speakers too!