Mini-review: FŪZDock for Apple Watch, a compact charging stand ideal for nightstand mode

A lot of Apple Watch owners who splashed out on a nice charging stand must have been swearing at Apple when watchOS 2 was announced. Most existing charging stands out there position the watch vertically, which was the obvious thing to do at the time – but then along came watchOS 2, with Nightstand mode one of its headline features.

Nightstand mode allows the watch to serve as a bedside clock while charging – but only when on its side, with the buttons on top. Bad news for anyone who already laid out the cash for a vertical stand, and worse news for manufacturers whose stock was effectively rendered obsolete overnight.

For those who haven’t yet bought a stand, the good news is that manufacturers have been quick to respond. Zac Hall reviewed Spigen’s low-cost Apple Watch Night Stand, and now FŪZ Designs has launched a similarly-priced alternative in the form of the FŪZ Dock for Apple Watch … 

If the company’s name sounds familiar, you may recall it from the Bluetooth padlock shown at CES back in January.

The FŪZ Dock is rather similar in design to the Spigen model, but there are two notable differences.

First, the FŪZ Dock is a little taller. Second, it has cable management built-in, which to my mind makes it a little neater. The dock is formed of two pieces: a plastic frame, and a silicon outer. You insert your charging puck, feed the cable down the back of the stand and then place the silicon cover over it to tidy things up – leaving the cable to exit at the rear.

That little extra neatness costs you an extra ten bucks: the FŪZ Dock is $29.99 against the Spigen’s $19.99.

(Incidentally, the above photo makes it appear that the base sits unevenly – that was simply due to me leaning on the cable when I took the photo and not noticing until later; it actually sits flat.)

The metal charging puck supplied with the steel model Apple Watch is slimmer than the plastic one supplied with the Sport, so FŪZ designed the stand to accommodate the thicker plastic puck and supplies a spacer so that the metal one sits flush. I have the plastic one, and the black-and-white design looks pretty nice.

The silicon cover is available in a choice of black, white and blue, to suit three of the most popular Sport models of the Watch.

The silicon finish makes it an excellent aesthetic match for the Sport band.

With the Watch attaching magnetically to the puck, it gives the same secure attachment as any other watch stand. The base of the watch has a similar microsuction material to the Spigen, holding it firmly in place.

My single complaint is that the silicon material acts as something of a dust magnet – you can see that in the photo showing the puck in place – but otherwise this is a neat, affordable solution which will work well with Nightstand mode. Recommended.

The FŪZ Dock for Apple Watch costs $29.99 from FŪZ Designs.