Twelve South’s HiRise Duet ($120) is a new dock that can charge an Apple Watch and iPhone simultaneously. As you’d expect from Twelve South, HiRise Duet is made of high-end materials — its metal construction is accentuated by leather, and a rubber base prevents the stand and dock from scuffing up a surface. A magnetic Apple Watch charging disc is built right into the front of the stand, allowing an Apple Watch to charge while in Nightstand mode. The Lightning connector above can be adjusted to fit different iPhone cases, and HiRise Duet will even dock and charge an iPad, excluding the supersized 12.9″ iPad Pro. Twelve South’s dock comes with its own AC adapter — users don’t have to provide any of their own cables.
HiRise Duet follows the design aesthetic of previous HiRise stands, preferring to use vertical space instead of taking up more of your desk or night stand. The dock has a square 3.75” x 3.75” footprint and weighs a pound. The small footprint — and lack of cable clutter — is much appreciated. HiRise Duet is mostly aluminum, but the visible soft black leather section isn’t just there for show — it provides a resting spot for the Apple Watch while charging. Twelve South’s adapter provides a total output capacity of 3A, which should be enough to charge an iPhone and Apple Watch in standard charging time. Anecdotally, the dock’s charging performance seemed typical.
HiRise Duet can be tweaked to your liking with relative ease. The iPhone’s rear support can be moved to accommodate different sized iOS devices and their cases, and the support can be removed entirely to loosen up the Lightning connector. Using a small hex key, the Lightning connector is loosened, and then adjusted into a proper position to accommodate your particular case. After that, the connector is tightened and the rear iPhone support is easily re-installed. In all, it should only take about a minute or so to get the proper fit for your iPhone case. Further adding to HiRise Duet’s customizable appeal are a number of included world plugs that can be swapped into the dock’s adapter.
It’s hard to find much fault with HiRise Duet. If you’re not dissuaded by its price, you’ll find a complete Apple Watch/iPhone charging dock that cuts cable clutter, offers rear support for an iPhone, uses Nightstand mode for charging an Apple Watch, and looks good while doing all of it. HiRise Duet is the best Apple Watch/iPhone dual charging solution we’ve seen yet, and it earns our high recommendation.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Twelve South
Model: HiRise Duet
MSRP: $120
Compatibility: Apple Watch, Lightning-based iPhones, iPods + iPads (but not 12.9” Pro)