Hands on: Asus Nexus 7 dock review

Among Asus's considerable offerings at this year's CES convention in Vegas was a minor but well-made dock for Google's Nexus 7 Android tablet.

The Nexus 7 carries Google's branding but is made by Asus, and the Taiwanese company took special care to design an unobtrusive and sturdy dock for the 7-inch tablet.

The Asus Nexus 7 dock isn't going to win any beauty contests - it's got no bells and whistles, aesthetically or otherwise - but its design is simple and effective.

TechRadar stopped by Asus's suite at CES to check out the dock in person and weigh in with our thoughts.

The

Gets the job done

Asus's Nexus 7 dock is made of sturdy plastic with a rounded design and the word "nexus" emblazoned across the front in Google's familiar but attractive font.

Around the back you'll find a microUSB port for charging and an audio out for headphones or speakers, though the lack of an HDMI port will limit the dock's media-output capabilities.

An HDMI port would have been nice

It's definitely not meant to help you integrate the Nexus 7 into your home theatre system; rather, it's essentially a charging station where you can leave the tablet when it's not in use, propping it up in landscape orientation.

And at that it excels; despite its plastic material, the Nexus 7 dock is sturdy and heavy enough that the tablet is unlikely to tip over. A rubbery foot will help it stay in place as well.

This thing is not going to tip over

Questions remain

Asus did not have pricing or availability details to share with TechRadar, though several other sites have reported a U.S. launch at $40 and a £24.99 release in the U.K., possibly as soon as the end of the week.

Nexus 7 users hoping for more features in a dock could wait for a more versatile version to come out, but for those who simply need a place to prop up their tablets, this will do fine.