Gelid Zentree Smart Docking Station for iPhones and other smart devices
The Gelid Zentree in detail
The Zentree comes in two parts out of the box; the white charging dock and 3D Tree Array with its silicone rubber pad. The 3D Array Tree’s green rubber cover is what makes the Zentree stand out of the crowd. Made of soft Silicone rubber it looks just like stalactites found in caves. Not only does this design have an aesthetic appeal to it, they also help you place multiple devices on the charging dock effortlessly.
The 3D Array Tree is offered in 3 other color options; namely White, Light Gray & Light Pink. While my personal preference is the default green, it’s always good to have few choices.
3D Array Tree & Base Unit
While the Tree array may seem flimsy, it’s infact strong enough to hold iPad’s or other types of Tablets, Phablets you may have. The design allows you to place your devices horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Depending on the devices being charged you can decide on the optimal arrangement for their placement. This silicone cover is attached to the base unit through two clips which you need to snap them in place. Press the clips again and it’ll release the unit. The rubber cover serves 2 purposes.
- Ensure no device connected to the Zentree gets scratched
- Prevent devices from slipping out of the charging station.
Installation of the Zentree
The base unit consists of 4 USB ports, 2 each facing opposite directions. You can install the supplied USB cables or attach your own before fixing the 3D Array tree. Since each port is capable of supplying 2.4A of power, you can simply attach any device to the Zentree as long as it supports USB charging. An improvement we would like to see in a future revision of the unit is better cable management. There’s only so much cable you can coil up inside the base unit.
The unit itself does take up a fair amount of real-estate off your table spanning at 224 x 159 x 95 (L)x(W)x(H) (mm). However considering the fact that it reduces the clutter it’s a fair trade-off. Since you can stack the charging devices on a horizontal and/or vertical pattern the overall space taken is less than what it would take if you were to charge them individually.
The power port is similar to most standard printer power cables, so we did a quick swap with one of them for this review.
Gelid Zentree
Pros
- Unique Design
- Stable Performance
- Smart IC Charging Chip
- Automatic Shut Off
- Price
Cons
- Only includes one type of USB Cable
- Need better cable management
