The Google Nexus 7 Dock, made by ASUS, was quietly shown off at the Consumer Electronics show this year with no dates of availability or price. But it landed on the Google Play Store recently and we thought we should check it out. So, yes here it is, in our labs. It’s a fairly simple docking solution from ASUS, and it doesn’t have all those whizzbang features. It can dock your Nexus 7 and charge it, while at the same time output audio through a 3.5mm jack. That’s all it can do. Here is a quick demo of the dock –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oM_9-WeYqY
The dock, which has a perfect mold for the Nexus 7 in the landscape orientation, is made of plastic.
The Nexus 7 docks into the dock using the pogo pin connector and that makes this one of the few docks that utilize the otherwise unused pins.
There is a Nexus logo on the front boasting of its branding and on the back is a prominent ASUS logo.
Also on the back, you can notice the two ports that make this dock more than a stand. There is a micro USB port and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
Interesting to note that Day Dream, a screensaver style lock screen that was introduced in Android 4.2.2 finally has some use case now. It automatically gets triggered once you dock the Nexus 7 into the dock. There are several options for Day Dream which is pretty nice. Speaking of audio, you can configure the Dock to route audio through it when connected or otherwise, using the settings menu.
So, overall this is just a basic dock from ASUS, and in case you are looking for a charging stand or something, with an additional option of 3.5mm audio output, you can consider this. This is available on the Google Play store for $30 plus shipping if you are interested.
P.S – More photos of the dock below.