Dock or Cradle Suggestion

[mzdrati]

I am looking for a decent cradle or dock to charge my Note 3. I am looking for one that has the ability to charge a spare battery as well as the phone. I see them available on Amazon etc, but anyone have any personal experience / suggestions?

 

[Johnny Umphress]

I have purchased two different ones and didn't like either one. The biggest problem in trying to line up the plug when setting the phone in. Using them for only a couple weeks left scratches on the chrome bezel around the charge port. Also, they will not work with a case on the phone. My case is the Samsung S View.

 

[mzdrati]

Thanks for the reply! Which docks did you try and dislike? Did they have the additional connector on the bottom, or just the standard micro USB connector? I used an "EZO Power" dock for my previous Galaxy S3, and it was excellent (for a non-Samsung dock). I'll probably try one of those unless I get some recommendations.

 

[Johnny Umphress]

This is one of the cradles I bought: Amazon.com: E-Tong 2013 New Dual Desktop Charger Cradle Dock for Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Note III N9000,N9005: Cell Phones & Accessories The other one was almost the same except it has the battery charger slot on the back for the spare battery. That one I got off eBay.

 

[jedi105]

I tried 2 of the cheaper ones available on Amazon. The first one worked and had a battery slot but it was a USB 2 connector on the unit and the USB 3 connector to the phone. It was stupid slow to recharge. It took all night for it to charge from 67% to 95%. I chucked that one and then bought this one

Amazon.com: VicTsing USB 3.0 Dual Sync Dock Docking Station Cradle Battery Charger For Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Black - Fast USB Charging & Data transmission: Cell Phones & Accessories

This one works very nicely. It has a USB 3 connector on the unit and the connector for the phone is also USB 3. It charges very fast and it also has a battery slot. Only problem is it is a little difficult to line up the connector with the port on the phone but it does line up. Its just awkward. The second thing is (contrary to the Amazon listing) it does not launch the dock app when you plug the phone into it. Not even if you have a headphone plugged in like some reviewers say. Lastly, it DOES fit phones with the official Samsung flip cases (both the s-view case and the wallet case). There is a plate in the dock that is removable for those with different cases but I have heard it is hit or miss for those. In all, it was a no brainer.

 

[cjsmoove]

I'm just gonna spend the extra cash and get the Official Samsung one, it only comes in white but o well..

 

[mzdrati]

In the interest of helping anyone else interested in a desktop cradle, I thought I'd update this post.

I tried several (non-Samsung since I needed a spare battery charging slot) docks / cradles, and I can tell you that the EZO Power dock for the Note 3 is the best one that I have tried. The VicTsing dock mentioned above is okay, but while it does have the faster charging USB 3 connector, it is not as well built as the EZO Power dock, and the USB 3 cable literally falls out of the back of the dock without you even noticing it. Another problem with the VicTsing dock that I had was that the spare battery slot would charge the battery, but you has to insert it at a slight angle (presumably the power connector down inside was slightly off the mark.). It would have been better to have the dock USB 3.0 connector that interfaces with the phone be less rigid so you have a little flexibility in docking and undocking.

The Ezo Power dock uses a standard micro USB connector (which is mounted on a spring mount, so you can get it connected even if you are slightly off), which makes charging slower, (but I don't need fast charging since I use this dock on my nightstand when the phone is docked overnight), but it may contribute to making docking the phone easier, and it seems the fit is better too.