Category: Docks
Works With:Lightning iOS Devices
Price: $10
If you’re looking for an ultra-simple dock, or just for a way to stop your iPhone skittering across your desk every time you snap it’s cable, then you might like the Rolio from Blue Lounge. Not only is it one of the most versatile iPhone and iPad charging accessories around, it’s also one of the most affordable.
What It Is
The Rolio is a little plastic frame around which you wrap the Lightning cable that came with your iPhone or iPad. The Lightning plug peeks out of a recess on the top edge, showing just enough metal to be poked into your iDevice for charging and syncing purposes, and this plug is held in place by the cable itself as you wrap it into the channel around the Rolio’s edge.
When wrapped, you can mount it horizontally onto a desk using the included bracket, which has a sticky pad on its base and a small nubbin on top, which fits into a matching hole on the Rolio itself.
Or you can stick the big end of your Lightning cable through this same hole, and then plug the USB plug into your charger. Used in this way the Rolio turns your charger and cable into a wall-mounted dock.
The Good
The Rolio is very versatile, and can be used as anything from a simple cord-wrangler for wrapping your cable, to a desk-mounted charger to a full-on wall charging dock. Not bad for a $10 gadget. And of course you can use it as any of these three things whenever you like.
My favorite part is the desk mount, which sounds weird but is actually really useful, as long as you are carful about dropping things onto your iPad or iPhone when it’s in place. With the Rolio mounted onto the sticky foot, you can just put your iPhone or iPad down flat on the desk and then push it onto the Lightning plug. I have this cable hooked up to the iMac on the desk making it a great way to quickly sync or charge the iPhone while I’m working. It’s better than a regular dock because you can pull the iPhone off without lifting up the dock.
I also like the charger-mounted option, but as your iPhone or iPad is held in place by nothing more than the Lightning nubbin, it feels a little wobbly.
The Bad
There’s not much not to like about the Rolio: it’s even a fun puzzle to work out how to use it when you first open the box. The only downside it that it makes a pretty big cable storage device, if that’s all you use it for, and the adhesive is one-use only, so you’d better make sure you choose a good spot on your desk before you press it into position
The Verdict
Recommended: it’s cheap, it does three things – one of which it does very well indeed – and it’s cute. Say goodbye to tangled cords and to yanking your iPhone off the desk when you trip on its cable.
Product Name: : Rolio The Good: Super useful, super cheap, and very tough. The Bad: Not great as a dock as all the weight of your device is supported by the Lightning connector. The Verdict Handy, and a really great gift for anyone in your life with a desk and an iPhone. Which should be pretty much everyone. Buy from: Blue Lounge |
