The Ultimate Switch Dock? Brook Gaming Power Bay Switch Dock with Gamecube Ports & Bluetooth Audio
103In this video, we unbox, set up, & test out the Brook Gaming Power Bay Dock for the Nintendo Switch & Switch Lite.
We've covered a ton of Switch Docks here on our channel. Most of them work identically, reducing the size of the original Dock to something that is both more portable & less expensive. However, they all pretty much do the same thing in different form factors. That is all about to change thanks to the folks at Brook Gaming & their Power Bay Dock. They reached out to us & asked us if we would be interested in testing out their new dock, & when I saw it I knew I had to.
The first thing you will notice about the Power Bay is the overall aesthetics of the dock. It looks like a scaled-down GameCube! The front features two GameCube controller ports & two USB ports for use with USB controllers and accessories, a turbo button that you can turn that function on or off with the GameCube controllers, & Bluetooth functionality to connect to headphones.
There is no power supply included, however, they recommend using the OEM Nintendo power supply. When I connected everything up to my EZCap 284 capture card, the display on the TV and on my Switch kept flickering on and off. For some reason, the video output was not compatible with what the input requirements of my capture card were. It also did not work with my mCable. My ElGato, however, had no issue passing the video signal through or capturing video.
I was able to pair my Raycon Bluetooth earphones to the dock pretty easily initially, however when you remove the Switch from the dock it doesn't remember the devices that it is paired to, requiring you to pair Bluetooth every time you want to use it essentially. I'm hoping this is just a pre-production issue that gets ironed out. But I will say this is one of the benefits of the power Bay with the Switch light, as it connects & accesses all of the ports. There's also no diode to prevent back voltage from the Switch into the dock, meaning the dock can be powered by the Switch itself. If you do this you are going to reduce your battery life.
One oddity I noticed was that I did not have to use game mode on my television while playing. Normally, game mode is required when playing games on modern flat-panel TVs due to lag & latency issues. This had none of those issues which could be why it did not work with my EZCap 284 & why it was not compatible with my mCable.
When playing on my TV, everything works great. The colors look good, as I mentioned lag and latency was not an issue, and there's just something awesome about playing with an actual GameCube controller on the Switch. While I did not show it in the video, because you can do this with the original dock as well, every USB controller that I have from Retro-Bit and Retro Fighters that I tested on the Power Bay worked flawlessly.
Why it RoX:
- amazing styling
- 2 integrated GameCube controller ports
- 2 USB Ports
- compact design
- compatible with Bluetooth headphones
- compatible with Wavebird
- dust flap protect USB C Port when not in use
What could be improved?
- Bluetooth pairing is not as seamless as it should be
- only one color option
- not compatible with certain capture cards
- not compatible with mCable
- only one color option
- at $55 it is towards the top of the price range
Should you buy one?
Even if you do not want to use GameCube controllers with your Switch, there's one asset that the Power Bay offers that to me makes it exceedingly valuable. Compatibility with Bluetooth headphones allows you to play completely wirelessly without disturbing others around you. It also is fully functional and compatible with the Switch Lite, minus output to the TV for obvious reasons. It is not inexpensive, but it packs a lot of technology into a very small package. I love the Bluetooth functionality, but its integration could be streamlined & perfected a little bit more. There's no reason that it should forget the device it was paired to when you remove the switch from the dock. The pairing is done to the dock, not the console.
For those who are hardcore Smash Bros fans, you will appreciate the fact that you can play using what is widely believed to be the premier controller to play the series without adapters with the Power Bay. It's small, compact, and lightweight, and when it comes to gameplay, it just works. whether having the integrated GameCube ports, turbo button functionality, & Bluetooth is worth another $20 to $25 you'll need to decide on your own.
The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.