REVIEW – Phones and tablets are considerably more powerful than they were just a few short years ago. Now you can turn many phones and tablets into your main/only computer. But to make the experience as easy and comfortable as possible, you’re going to need a hub. That’s where the Foxdock USB-C hub is a worthy choice. Let’s take a look.
What is it?
The Foxdock USB-C hub is an adjustable phone or tablet holder with a variety of expansion ports that will turn your Android or iPad OS device into a pseudo computer. You can even use it as a hub or stand for a laptop although I wouldn’t recommend it as a laptop stand given its narrow base.
What’s in the box?
- Foxdock
- USB-C – USB-C cable
- User Manual
Design and features
The Foxdock is made of anodized space gray aluminum with a protective black rubber-lined device cradle and base bottom.
The dock folds up in a relatively compact form factor which makes it great for travel.
On the right side of the Foxdock, you’ll find a USB-C host port along with a micro SD card slot and a full-sized SD card slot both of which can handle up to 1TB cards.
I find the location of the host port to be a little odd. I’d rather see that port on the back of the dock next to the other USB-C port just to make things look a little cleaner cable-wise.
The opposite side of the dock has a 3.5mm audio jack and 2 USB 3.0 ports. Note that the USB 3.0 ports can be used to charge devices, but the ports are not fast charging so Foxdock does not recommend using time for that task. They are fine to use for external hard drives, mice, keyboards, etc.
And on the back of the dock, you’ll find another USB-C port – this one is a 100W PD (power delivery) port, and next to it is a full-sized 4K @30Hz HDMI port if you want to attach your phone, tablet, or laptop to a larger monitor.
The Foxdock USB-C hub device holder features two hinges that allow for a wide range of viewing angles.
The construction of this accessory is quite nice. I like the industrial design aspect of it and the fact that the base is just heavy enough that it’s not going to slide around on your desk.
Here it is with a Huawei P30 Pro smartphone in the dock in both portrait and landscape orientations. The Foxdock is even sturdy enough to hold an 11inch iPad Pro or a smaller laptop as long as you don’t try typing on the laptop’s keyboard while it’s in the stand.
I tested all of the ports and card slots and found no problems with their functionality when connected to an Android device. I was able to use a wired keyboard and a wired mouse to control the phone and the phone also recognized SD cards in the built-in card readers. I was also able to connect the Huawei to my 49in Dell monitor using an HDMI cable and use the audio jack.
When I tested it with my 13in MacBook Pro M1, the dock charged the laptop and the HDMI connection worked with my Dell monitor along with the SD card readers. But the USB 3.0 ports were not recognized when I inserted USB flash drives or a wired mouse and the audio jack didn’t work.
Then I tried the Foxdock with my iPhone and all I could do was use it to charge the phone. The iPhone did not recognize mice or keyboards plugged into the USB 3.0 ports, SD cards in the card readers, HDMI, or audio.
What I like
- Well made
- micro SD and regular SD card slots
- 2 USB 3.0 ports
- Ability to adjust the display in various angles
What I’d change
- Add wireless charging to the device holder
- Add more device compatibility
- Put the host port on the back of the dock instead of the side
- Add fast charging capability to the 2 USB 3.0 ports
Final thoughts
I thought the Foxdock was going to be an awesome accessory, and it is IF you plan to use it with an Android device. If you think you’re going to use the built-in ports with an iPhone or a MacBook, you’ll be disappointed.
Price: $69.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Foxdock.
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It doesn’t look like it is deep enough to hold a phone or tablet in a case?
CM, the holder “hooks” are pretty wide and it had no issues with the cases on my iPhone.
That’s exciting to hear. It’s a major gripe of mine that so many accessory makers haven’t figured out that most of us use cases on our devices.
One for your wishlist … being able to raise the height to eye level. I realize that would be hard to do and maintain stability.
CM, I should say though that it depends on the case. If you have one of those thick Otterbox cases, there might be an issue… I hear you on raising the phone to eye level and I don’t think I’ve seen a phone stand that stands that high. At least not yet…
I just have a “regular” case.
Phone stand:
https://smile.amazon.com/SAIJI-Adjustable-Aluminum-Compatible-Nintendo/dp/B07NXZK9KP
While I appreciate your site needs advertising to provide the excellent reviews and survive, I look forward to your email and newsletter and it’s one of 2 that I read religiously. Now the bad… This morning I open it on my phone and start the first article and the article is fighting with a CDW ad, should I buy a pixel 5 ad and a skincare ad blocking out 75% of my screen and switching positions on the screen, making reading the article, or even posting this comment an adventure in futility. Something is dramatically wrong with ads and their placement. I’ll can’t read the article and the ads move all over the screen, making following the article frustratingly impossible.
Frank, If you refresh the screen did the issue resolve? You’re reading this on your phone or your computer? Which browser are you using? I just loaded the site on my phone and my Macbook using Safari and Chrome (respectively) And although the desktop version does show a long ad in the center of the screen, it will disappear after you scroll down.
I’m reading on my phone and had no problem closing the ad to read the article.
Hi Julie,
I’m using a OnePlus 7 Pro (android 10.3.8) with Chrome browser and when I refresh the screen the click to close ad (the one with the “X” in the corner) reappears and when I click to close it closes, but then I have 2 ads that appear midscreen and scroll up when scrolling. I have screenshots if you’d tell me where to send them. I really like your articles and have purchased through your recommendations link, so I like what you do, but the ads are really annoying this morning. I’m on my desktop now and they are nothing like whats on my phone.
Frank send them to me at
ju***@th***********.com
and I’ll take a look.
I appreciate the honest review of this product since I was looking into getting one of these. However, I did notice in your review that while the iPad Pro was mentioned, there was no mention of it being tested with this USB hub stand. Does the USB hub work with iPad Pro?
George, I had the iPad only long enough for the photos and wasn’t able to confirm that an iPad works perfectly with the dock. Having said, that it didn’t work with my iPhone and only worked well with Android devices. I wouldn’t recommend it for an iPad even without testing.