Logitech tries to fix hotdesking headaches with $699 Logi Dock Flex

AppleInsider

Logitech's latest $699 USB-C docking station is designed to make desk sharing in an office even easier, thanks to new built-in desk booking software.

Logitech's Logi Dock Flex

The Logi Dock Flex is an all-in-one USB-C docking station, built specifically to alleviate some of the stresses of hybrid work environments. The standout feature, something not typically available on standard docking stations, is the eight-inch display that sits above the base with all the ports.

On the front of the station are a pair of USB-C ports, and a single USB-A port which Logitech calls "USB 3.2" ports without specifying speed. There are two more USB-A ports on the back, just in case you need more, along with one more additional USB-C port.

A Kensington Lock slot is on the back of the Logi Dock Flex, paired with a gigabit Ethernet port. The new docking station also supports up to a pair of external 4K monitors, via the HDMI port and DisplayPort.

Up to 100W of charging power can be supplied to a host laptop, through USB-C.

That eight-inch touchscreen supports different work tools necessary in a shared workspace, including Zoom Workspace and Microsoft's Teams. It can also be used to do simple things, like show a calendar, away messages, or photographs.

Where the shared desk management comes in, is through Logitech's new desk booking software. It works via Logitech Sync, and manages who is using which desk, and when, not just for workers but for management as well.

The Logi Dock Flex will be available in one color, off-white, and retail for $699 when it launches in the fall of 2023. Logitech's desk booking software is free and available starting May 24. The Logi Dock Flex is the successor to Logitech's Logi Dock, which launched in late 2021.

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ITGUYINSD

Is this a late April Fool's article?  $700 for a dock with a screen that, to be honest, can't figure out who would use it since you're already connecting a laptop to the dock!

I have Dell monitors that does everything this dock does (monitors with USB-C hubs built in along with Ethernet and PD charging to laptop) that cost less than half this gadget and I get a 24" 1440p screen!  

samads

This is designed for shared desks. In some offices, workspaces (including desks) are shared. This dock not only provides the connectivity to the desk's hardware (display, keyboard, mouse, etc.) but also provides an interface to reserve the desk for specific times. That schedule is then shown on the display, among other things.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it solve a niche problem? Yes. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not.

ITGUYINSD

samads said:

This is designed for shared desks. In some offices, workspaces (including desks) are shared. This dock not only provides the connectivity to the desk's hardware (display, keyboard, mouse, etc.) but also provides an interface to reserve the desk for specific times. That schedule is then shown on the display, among other things.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it solve a niche problem? Yes. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not.

I get it, but it seems a company can just setup a calendar for scheduling shared desk usage for free.  If you don't have access to this gadget, you'd have to reserve it some other way than the fancy screen, right?

I setup 4 stations at a client office that is used for mobile workers who visit the office.  A shared Outlook calendar does the trick.

chutzpah

ITGUYINSD said:

samads said:

This is designed for shared desks. In some offices, workspaces (including desks) are shared. This dock not only provides the connectivity to the desk's hardware (display, keyboard, mouse, etc.) but also provides an interface to reserve the desk for specific times. That schedule is then shown on the display, among other things.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it solve a niche problem? Yes. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not.

I get it, but it seems a company can just setup a calendar for scheduling shared desk usage for free.  If you don't have access to this gadget, you'd have to reserve it some other way than the fancy screen, right?

I setup 4 stations at a client office that is used for mobile workers who visit the office.  A shared Outlook calendar does the trick.

My office has entire floors of hotdesks, hundreds of them.  A shared Outlook calendar very much would not do the trick.

ITGUYINSD

chutzpah said:

ITGUYINSD said:

samads said:

This is designed for shared desks. In some offices, workspaces (including desks) are shared. This dock not only provides the connectivity to the desk's hardware (display, keyboard, mouse, etc.) but also provides an interface to reserve the desk for specific times. That schedule is then shown on the display, among other things.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it solve a niche problem? Yes. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not.

I get it, but it seems a company can just setup a calendar for scheduling shared desk usage for free.  If you don't have access to this gadget, you'd have to reserve it some other way than the fancy screen, right?

I setup 4 stations at a client office that is used for mobile workers who visit the office.  A shared Outlook calendar does the trick.

My office has entire floors of hotdesks, hundreds of them.  A shared Outlook calendar very much would not do the trick.

Apparently, then, hundreds of $700 docks will do the trick?

chutzpah

ITGUYINSD said:

chutzpah said:

ITGUYINSD said:

samads said:

This is designed for shared desks. In some offices, workspaces (including desks) are shared. This dock not only provides the connectivity to the desk's hardware (display, keyboard, mouse, etc.) but also provides an interface to reserve the desk for specific times. That schedule is then shown on the display, among other things.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it solve a niche problem? Yes. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not.

I get it, but it seems a company can just setup a calendar for scheduling shared desk usage for free.  If you don't have access to this gadget, you'd have to reserve it some other way than the fancy screen, right?

I setup 4 stations at a client office that is used for mobile workers who visit the office.  A shared Outlook calendar does the trick.

My office has entire floors of hotdesks, hundreds of them.  A shared Outlook calendar very much would not do the trick.

Apparently, then, hundreds of $700 docks will do the trick?

We already have a hotdesking management system in place.  Not Logitech Sync, but similar.  I imagine these docks would definitely be of some interest, though moreso if we were already invested in Logitech Sync; it's in the company's interest to make working from the office as frictionless as possible, and $700 isn't all that much when lots of our consultants are on 4 figure hourly rates, so saving them time and effort means more time spent on client billable work.

Companies with lots of high cost, mobile workers will pay out to keep people working rather than faffing around with admin to ensure they have a desk and its in proximity to their co-workers.  And there's a lot of such companies around, getting in with even just one of the McKinseys, Accentures, Deloittes, PWCs, or any of the others would probably justify the product on its own.