Genki Covert Dock Mini
Image: Human Things

The Genki: Covert Dock was already a stunning piece of portable kit that let you dock your Switch at a friend's house without having to lug around your bulky bit of plastic and your chunky AC adaptor around with you. We even said in our review back in 2020 that "The Genki Covert Dock is a top of the line product that will probably have you retiring your standard Switch dock and AC adapter for many reasons."

So, how on earth do you improve on that? Make it even smaller, of course. As part of the Genki: Waveform Earphones Kickstarter - which ends in three days - Human Things included a Cover Dock Mini as part of their stretch goals. But the smaller dock has proved so popular that the creators have decided to make it purchasable on its own!

Genki Covert Dock Mini X3
Image: Human Things

The panda-coloured design matches the Switch OLED perfectly and comes with an HDMI output adaptor, which means you can connect multiple devices to your screen while also charging your Switch. And it's 20x smaller than the actual Switch dock, which is basically pocket-sized. Our only real complaint about the original dock was that it didn't have an LED indicator to let us know if everything was connecting okay, but Human Things has listened and has included this with the updated model. Hurrah!

Don't just take it from us, though - here are the details of the dock from a blog post on the earphone's Kickstarter page:

It's Mini. The original dock without its charging brick is 17.5*10.4*5.0cm = 910.0cm^3, with the charger being another 6.6 x 5.1 x 3.6cm = 121.2cm^3 (and that's not even considering the fact the prongs don't fold in. The Covert Dock Mini on the other hand is 3.3*4.2*3.4cm = 47.1cm^3. Sorry we're doing this all in metric, it's just easier to multiply out but that's (910.0 + 121.2) / 47.1 = 21.89x smaller!

It's 4K. We're happy to say now that the Covert Dock Mini supports 4K/30 output. This means you can get 4K gaming with it on a SteamDeck or Switch 2(?), but also means you can enjoy higher res movies if you're using it to output your laptop, tablet, or phone to a TV.

And some other stuff. There's a new LED indicator on top that lets you know when the device is just in charging mode or if its in dock mode. It comes with a 6ft/1.8m USB-C 3.1 cable (needed for charging and video output). And it has foldable prongs and can fast charge most phones and tablets with its 20W output (or slowly charge a laptop). Some of you may ask what's it lack that the original Covert Dock doesn't have? Well mainly there isn't a 5W USB-A accessory port and there isn't a global adapter pack - and that's really it!

You can pledge for just the plug for $49, or around £38. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new Switch dock. Not only that, you'll be able to select whether you receive a US, UK, or EU region plug once the campaign for the earphones ends and surveys are sent out.

If you need a refresher on what we thought of the original dock and want to see it in action, the lovely Zion from our video team demonstrates just how good it is. And this new one looks to be even better.

Will you be pledging for a Genki: Covert Dock Mini? Drop us a comment to tell us what you think of it.

[source kickstarter.com]