A guide to the best iPhone Docks

The iPhone and iPod touch are great devices for many reasons, and I’m sure that everyone who owns one uses it differently. Whether it’s organising your diary, emailing, browsing the internet or listening to music. No matter how you use yours, the one thing that everyone struggles with is battery life, and while there are ways of increasing battery life on your phone, sometimes you just want something simple.

An iPhone Dock is probably the easiest way around to charge your iPhone or iPod touch. They’re quicker and easier to use than a standard charging cable, and are easier to disconnect when you need to use your phone or iPod. Docks aren’t just about keeping your iPhone or iPod charged though. There are 2 main types of iPhone Dock available Sync & Charge Docks and Speaker Docks. They’re all pretty self explanatory, but I’m here’s a quick run through some of our most popular iPhone Docks.

Sync & Charge Dock

As the name suggests, this type of dock allows you to charge your device and sync with iTunes at the same time.  They can normally be used with a USB Mains adapter to double up as a stand alone desktop charger and are perfect for those who spend most of their day at a desk and don’t want to be fiddling around trying to find the end of their charging cables.

Apple iPhone 3GS / 3G USB Desktop Sync & Charge Cradle

This is a simple dock that has been designed specifically for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.  It can charge your phone either using a mains adapter or USB Cable, and when connected with the USB cable it will sync your music too.

iPhone 3GS / 3G Desktop Dual Charging Dock + Battery Charger

Similar in many ways to the Sync & Charge cradle above, this dock can be used to charge your phone and an additional battery pack for the iPhone. The dock can be powered using a USB connection to your PC or Mac, but you’ll need to buy a USB adapter separately if you want to charge it from the mains. The front dock will allow you to sync and charge your device, while the second dock will only charger. The Dual Charging dock was reviewed in more depth a couple of weeks ago, click here to read the post ‘iPhone 3GS Battery Problem Solved‘.

Dexim AV Dock Station with Remote Control for iPhone / iPod

The Dexim AV Dock Station is slightly different – it is a sync & charge dock that can also be connected to a TV or stereo to play back your photo’s, music and videos.  Also included is a small remote control that will let you control the playback on your TV. As well as being compatible with the iPhone, the Dexim AV Dock has 8 changeable Dock inserts for older iPod models.

iDop iPhone / iPod Dock

Although this may look a little bit odd at first glance, the iDop Dock is based on the style of the old G4 iMac computer. It charges your phone or iPod, and instead of  a data connection to sync with your PC it has a 3.5mm line out socket ,so you can easily connect it to your home stereo to play your music back through your existing speakers.

Speaker Docks

If you enjoy listening to your music, but want something more powerful than the built in speaker, then a speaker dock could be just what you’re after.  Unlike standard  speakers, Speaker Docks have an iPhone & iPod Dock connector that will allow you to charge your device but they can’t be used to sync your music with your device as they don’t usually have a connection for your PC or Mac. Our current speaker Docks are listed below, but we’re adding more to the range all the time.

Griffin AirCurve Acoustic Amplifier for iPhone 3GS / 3G

The Griffin AirCurve is a slightly unusual Speaker Dock as it is doesn’t use electricity or batteries to power it. Instead it uses cleverly engineered acrylic to amplify the sound from your iPhone by up to 10 decibels. The AirCurve has a pass through connector for your dock cable, so if needed you can connect it to your existing iPhone charger or your computer to charge and sync your phone at the same time.

iHome iPhone 3GS / 3G Rotating Docking Station

Another slightly quirky looking speaker dock. The iHome Docking station is designed to work with your phone in either portrait or landscape mode – You dock your phone as normal, but the curved base of the dock lets you quickly rotate the whole unit into landscape mode – even the clock display rotates. As well as working with the iPhone and iPod touch, it will also work with any iPod that uses the dock connector.  The iHome Dock has a built in alarm clock and can be set to wake you with radio, music or buzzer. It also includes a remote control that will allow you to control your music playback.

iHome Studio Series – iP9 – Grey

This is an alarm clock dock that is designed to work perfectly with the iPhone. It has shielding that prevents the irritating buzz that you normally get when your phone is near speakers so you won’t need to switch your phone into airplane mode in order to use it. The iP9 includes a remote control that allows you to control the volume, equaliser presets, alarm functions and radio as well as music play back from your iPhone or iPod.

iHome Studio Series – iP1

This is one of the most powerful speaker docks you can get for your iPhone or iPod touch. The iP1 had 100 watts of power to really let you enjoy your music and uses Bongiovi Acoustics Digital Power to scan your music and restore harmonics and clarity that’s normally lost in MP3 compression. The iP1 is certified as ‘Made for iPod’ & ‘Works with iPhone’ so you’ll have no problems from interference. Although it’s designed for iPod touch and iPhone, the iP1 will work with any iPod with a dock connector. If you want to watch movies or videos that are stored on your iPhone or iPod, you can hook the iP1 up to your TV using a component video out cable.

This isn’t our full range of iPhone docks, just a selection of our most popular. Head over to the iPhone pages to view all iPhone Docks