A home for headphones: Satechi’s headset stand

Call me bougie all you want, I just get nervous when there’s too much stuff on my desk. A notepad, an iPhone, a glass of water, a few pens, the calculator. And finally, the headset for video calls and my AirPods Max for listening to music.

Too many things. I’ve given my desk a good spring clean. Some items have disappeared into the drawer, some paperwork has been digitised. As for the headphones, I ordered a headset stand from our range. Not that I’m 100 per cent satisfied. Still, one thing after another.

Headphone standsavailable in a few days

EUR68,–

Satechi 2-in-1 Headphone Stand

30

Headphone standsavailable in a few days

EUR68,–

Satechi 2-in-1 Headphone Stand

30

Scope of delivery and manufacturing

Both the foot and the stand in the shape of a big «L» come in a large flat cardboard box. In addition, I find a single screw, the matching Allen key and a USB-C cable that’s just under a metre long.

The stand measures 25 centimetres. There’s a six-centimetre notch on the top of the arm to accommodate your headphone’s earpiece. As a result, it hangs high enough to make good use of the charging dock in the base. The notch on the arm is covered in a rubberised plastic to avoid any slipping. It’s made of stainless steel, or more precisely, a non-magnetic alloy with chromium and nickel to avoid corrosion.

This makes the stand feel very stable and high-quality. The stand tube fits perfectly into the recess in the base. Even without mounting the screw, it holds. The screw simply tightens things up even more. It helps that the base plate weighs a whopping 400 grammes. In addition, on the underside there’s plastic that prevents slipping and scratching on the table.

The metal arm itself weighs 85 grammes. By the way, you could theoretically also mount it so that the headphones are suspended next to the plate. However, the laws of physics will quickly put a halt to this. A heavy pair of headphones will cause the entire stand to tip over. Only a lightweight headset allows for this option.

A parking space for headphones

Even headsets with a wide headband have enough space on the crossbar. However, my AirPods Max present a problem. Although Satechi uses exactly this model in its promotional photos, it somehow doesn’t fit. My AirPods Max only rest on the mesh part of the headband. The sturdy frame doesn’t even touch the stand. This means that the weight of the wickedly expensive Apple device constantly pushes the mesh upwards. And even with all the faith I have in Apple’s manufacturing prowess, I can’t imagine that this position is healthy for the fine mesh in the long run.

To provide that tidy overall impression, Satechi’s gadget also has a cable winder. This is handy when I want to tidy up my wired headset properly in the evening. A blessing for any clean freak.

Integrated charging dock

Multifunction devices aren’t usually my thing. I usually don’t buy them. Too often, companies just don’t go all the way. I made an exception for the headphone stand from Satechi. Its base isn’t just empty weight, it also offers a charging dock. I own enough gadgets that need power every now and then: AirPods, smartphone, the Apple Watch, a keyboard and mouse. Theoretically, I could even charge two devices at the same time: one wirelessly on the magnetic Qi dock, another with a cable that I plug into the USB-C port in the back.

But first, the headphone stand has to be connected to the mains. There’s still a free space in the power strip under my desk. The cable is included, but a power supply isn’t. Bit poor, I expect better for 80 francs or euros. I can’t be asked to look for a plug and there’s still a USB-C port free in the back of my Mac Mini. In goes the cable. According to the manual, at least 20 watts must flow from the power source to the headphone stand. Something the Mac Mini can manage. The first thing I do is charge the case for my AirPods. It takes around five hours until its half-empty battery is full again. My iPhone 14 increases its battery level from 14 to a meagre 27 per cent in just over an hour. No wonder, the charging dock only supplies 7.5 watts of power. But hey, there’s a small LED flashing at the front of the foot, signalling to me that at least something is happening.

Charging becomes even more frustrating when I connect a cable to the USB-C port on the back. That one only manages a maximum of five watts. Five! In practice, this eliminates Fast Charging on the Apple Watch, which requires 18 watts. The port can’t even manage an iPad. That requires at least twelve watts. It does do enough for a Bluetooth keyboard from Logitech. So that’s something.

Verdict: at least it looks pretty

The charging function of the headphone stand is barely usable for me. Strictly speaking, the thing is a power hog. It asks for 20 watts of input power and returns only 7.5 watts on the Qi dock and five watts via the USB-C cable. A bad trade.

Apart from the charging function, the stand looks good and fits the design of the Mac Mini pretty much perfectly with its square base plate and rounded corners. The plastic and metal used are impeccably crafted. Granted, the painted black plastic is a dust magnet. And the metal parts attract enough fingerprints to entertain any forensic scientist for a while. I recommend having a microfibre cloth nearby to wipe it from time to time.

The fact that Satechi of all brands, so closely snuggled up to Apple, offers my AirPods Max such an inconvenient parking spot is the biggest annoyance for me. In advertising photos, the headphones float almost majestically on the stand. In reality, they’re hanging on for dear life by a curved mesh.

But if the weak charging function and the AirPods Max problem don’t bother you, it’s a stylish and very solid headphone stand for around 80 euros or francs. Not worth the money in my case. I’ll keep looking. Tips from the Community are welcome.