Power Puck - USB-C Laptop Charging with upgrade options
Recently a customer told us - “we’re not ready to implement the floorsight desk reservation system in our current office, but could we install just the wireless and wired charger in the current desks, and then upgrade to full desk reservation when we move to our new office and work in a more agile way?”
But of course
We recently looked at top-of-desk charging options available in the local Australasian market and came away a bit underwhelmed.
It seems options are either “expensive” for a top of desk rail that has GPOs + USBA/C/Wireless charging, or “very expensive” for a universal docking station that has Dual monitor, Ethernet, USB-C power. Then there are the point solutions offering just wireless phone charging which are relatively low cost but create more clutter for a single function.
No existing solution enhances the intelligence of the desk itself.
On the top of desk power - especially in Agile working setups - we’re noticing a trend away from mulitple GPOs on top of the desk actually in use, with instead most new installs customers are opting for 4-6 way under desk GPOs which is sufficient for 2 monitors, laptop/PC power, the sit-stand desk motor and then 2 free for expansion. Top of desk is either nothing, or a docking station if the dual monitors are fitted or a single GPO
USB-A is still useful, but tablets, laptops and bigger Android phones are all converging on using USB-C for charging - the “PD” or Power Delivery standard allows for this single port to run dynamically between 5V to 20V and output upto 100W in some cases - fast charging small phones to large laptops in a very short time.
Most iPhones and Android phones as well now come with “qi” Wireless charging as standard. The convergence on a single standard for both iPhone and Android along with the improvement in the charging rate from 5W to upto 15W has made wireless charging actually useful.
All this leads to the power-puck - our USB-C, USB-A and wireless charger with single GPO option that can have the floorsight desk reservation / occupancy sensing feature enabled later. While its not going to replace a dual-monitor docking station, for Agile desks without dual monitors we think its a great low-cost yet future proof solution for top-of-desk power, and even for those desks with a docking station it offers a far more functional wireless charging solution that docking stations don’t offer.
Powerpuck is available now from any or our Resellers, or directly from our webshop here