I by no means appear to have sufficient USB ports at hand, so I take advantage of UGREEN’s Revodok Max 213 Thunderbolt 4 docking station with my machine, and lately acquired Elgato’s USB Hub to hook up with my Stream Deck+, offering two further USB-C and two USB-A ports. Over the final two months, I used HiDock’s H1 alongside the Revodok, and whereas the H1 has 4 USB ports, that is not its finest function — removed from it.
The H1 is a USB-C dock with a distinction; it has a built-in speaker and mic that lets you attend conferences, and the perfect half is that it leverages AI to robotically transcribe audio and supply summaries. The dock makes use of GPT-4o to transcribe, and HiDock touts background noise isolation, the flexibility to report cellphone calls, a number of speaker identification, and a complete lot extra.
I take advantage of distinct instruments to get most of those options, so the concept of all-in-one machine is alluring. If you are desirous about a dock with built-in audio and AI, that is what that you must know in regards to the H1.
HiDock H1: Pricing and availability
HiDock unveiled the H1 on the finish of 2023, with normal sale beginning on the finish of Q1 2024. The H1 is on the market for $269 on the model’s web site, and you’ll decide it up in Slate Gray or Platinum Gray colour variants, with the latter costing a further $20. There’s additionally an H1E mannequin that has restricted ports, and it’s retailing at $229.
To get essentially the most out of the dock, you will have to take a Pro plan of the model’s HiNotes service. In that plan, 1200 minutes of audio transcribing and summarization will set you again $12.99, with 12000 minutes at $119.99. HiDock is now rolling out limitless quotas as effectively, with the one-year plan at $199 and a three-year plan obtainable for $599.
HiDock H1: What I like
The H1 is bigger than most docks, and that is due to the built-in speaker. The total design is fairly good, and it has a definite retro styling that I like. You get 4 chunky buttons with name controls, a knurled quantity knob, and a slider that allows you to modify the extent of background isolation.
The speaker is angled towards you, and the built-in mic picks up sound even at a distance. HiDock is understood for its convention speakerphones, so it is not stunning that the H1 does a very good job on this regard. The sound high quality out of the speaker is respectable because of a 7W driver and 5W tweeter, and you should use it to hearken to music along with conferences.
A singular addition is the removable earpiece, and it attaches magnetically to the proper aspect. The H1 is a USB-C dock, and also you get a wide selection of ports: there are twin HDMI ports, two USB-C ports, twin USB-A ports, SD/MicroSD card readers on the aspect, and a couple of.5GbE Ethernet connectivity.
The H1 takes up numerous room on the desk, however it would not entice an excessive amount of consideration. The construct high quality is respectable, and I did not run into any points within the two months I used the dock. You additionally get respectable USB PD charging; any linked pocket book will be simply charged at as much as 100W, and the USB-C port on the aspect delivers 18W of cost. The side-mounted port is sweet sufficient to cost units just like the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Samsung telephones.
Clearly, the most important speaking level of the dock is the AI integration; HiDock touts the H1 with “lifetime free” AI transcription, and that is broadly true, however there are just a few caveats. Buying the machine robotically unlocks the Membership tier of HiNotes, the model’s notes service. The tier contains limitless notes from cellular — albeit with a 10-minute restrict on audio transcribing — together with AI summaries and the flexibility to export notes.
I principally used the H1 with my gaming machine, and it did a good job recording conferences and delivering summaries after the very fact. HiNotes is on the market as an online app, and that is a very good transfer as you do not have to obtain something; all of the configuration modifications to the H1 and updates are dealt with through this shopper.
HiDock makes use of the GPT-4o language mannequin to transcribe audio, and it was adequate on this space; it did not decide up numerous jargon that is utilized in briefings, however that is okay. The Pro tier unlocks speaker identification as effectively, and it’s a welcome boost.
HiDock H1: What I do not like
While the premise of the H1 is nice, the dock clearly has numerous teething points. The USB-C ports are marketed as being 10Gbps, however that wasn’t the case once I plugged in storage drives to the dock — I acquired 5Gbps bandwidth as an alternative.
A bizarre quirk is that it wasn’t ready to hook up with my Windows machine through a USB-C to USB-C cable; I often join all equipment through USB-C, however the H1 necessitated a connection through the bundled USB-C to USB-A cable. It’s a minor factor, however when you’re seeing points whereas establishing the machine the place the dock is not exhibiting up, you will wish to swap cables.
Another annoyance is the dearth of Thunderbolt 4 connectivity; certain, it will have elevated the price of the H1, however it will have made the dock a significantly better possibility total.
While the audio high quality out of the speaker is fairly good, the identical can’t be stated of the earpiece. It is tinny and the mic contained in the earpiece is not good, however the greatest concern is the match; I simply could not get a cushty match, and I did not trouble utilizing it after just a few tries.
The dock has built-in background isolation, however it is not anyplace as efficient as my most popular answer (NVIDIA Broadcast). If something, Audeze’s Filter does a greater job on this space. Also, there have been situations the place urgent the recording button on the dock did not set off a recording, and I needed to reconnect the dock to begin over.
But the most important limitation is the truth that you will have to get the Pro plan to unlock the perfect options. The default Membership tier lets you add conferences of as much as 4 hours and get AI-assisted transcribing and summaries, however if you need all of the abstract templates or have to export notes in Word and PDF codecs, you will have to shell out a further quantity.
Background noise isolation is equally gated behind the Pro tier, as is speaker identification. These are helpful options that in the end make a tangible distinction in how the H1 holds up, and having to pay a further payment is annoying.
HiDock H1: The competitors
The H1 is exclusive in that it combines a USB-C dock with a convention speaker, and there is not fairly one other product prefer it. If you simply want a docking station, UGREEN’s Revodok Max 213 is a good alternative. It has Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, all of the ports you want, and coming in at $299, it is not that a lot costlier than the H1 — albeit with none of the AI options.
HiDock H1: Should you purchase it?
You should purchase this if:
- You want a straightforward method to transcribe conferences
- You need a USB dock with good design and respectable port choice
You should not purchase this if:
- You want Thunderbolt 4 connectivity
- You do not intend to make use of the AI options
To HiDock’s credit score, the model acquired loads proper with the H1, however there are foibles that in the end stop the dock from being an awesome product. The H1 is primarily a dock, however it has points with bandwidth, and I needed to reconnect the dock a number of instances within the two months I used it.
The AI options are nice total; the flexibility to transcribe audio and generate summaries of conferences is a novel addition. HiNotes is an efficient utility, however it’s irritating to make use of on cellular, and you will have to select up the Pro plan to get essentially the most out of the service.
There’s clearly potential right here, and if HiDock is ready to iron out the kinks, a second-gen H1 could be simpler to suggest.
