You have a shiny smartphone. Congratulations. It doesn’t matter if it is an Android or iPhone device, it is shiny. What matters, is that it deserves a proper home on your desk in the form of a dock. In other words don’t just have it rattling around your desk on the end of a cable. Don’t you love your phone anymore? Show it that you care, your smartphone deserves it. Get it the Spec.Dock. Put it up on a handsome handcrafted wooden pedastal.
The Spec.Dock isn’t your ordinary, run of the mill iPhone (or Android) dock. The Spec.Dock reminds me of the old days, when handcrafted quality products were common. They certainly aren’t common in today’s mass manufactured “Made in China” world. Read on for my review outlining the rarity that is the Spec.Dock.
Spec.Dock Review
The Spec.Dock is designed and built in the USA. Tucker, Georgia, to be exact. It begins life as a solid block of wood from a local furniture manufacturer. The wood is hand selected for its quality and grain characteristics. Who does this anymore? Well, Matt Turner and Randy Lively of 2point5 do. In previous lives they were car stereo fabricators who believed that the existing iPod and iPhone aftermarket was underserved. Getting back on track. This hand-picked piece of wood then finds its way to a drill-bit CNC machine for a two hour ride with three bit changes. After CNC’ing is completed, the dock is hand sanded, finished, stained, and assembled. A Laser cut (top) insert is made specifically for each device and the base gets a layer of magical suction tape. The entire process currently takes over three hours to build. See what I mean?
The Spec.Dock is a thing of beauty, inside and out. It looks great on just about any desk and customers have quite a few wood options to choose from including ash, bubinga, walnut, canarywood, and leopardwood. You can also mix-and-match the panels for a customized look.
Ok, it is built to old-world specs and quality levels, but how well does the Spec.Dock work? Simply put, great. The dock comes configured for your current phone (with or without a case, specify this) and is easy to upgrade when you switch phones. Simply change out the top piece and cable/connector. When you are ready for a change you can swap out the front and rear panels as well. They are held in place with tiny magnets. With the front and rear panels removed you can use the integrated cable wrap system to set the perfect cable length for your application.
The bottom of the Spec.Dock has a suction tape material that is pretty cool. Remove the protective covering and place the dock on your desk, it won’t slide around when in use. You can lift and relocate the dock with no residue left behind.
The Spec.Dock currently resides on KickStarter (until December 30th, 2014) for just $55. The goal is to get the project funded so they can upgrade their CNC equipment which should speed up production and lower costs going forward. Come on, pull out your wallet and support a great American company and product.