If I were any more of a moth than I am, I would be butting my head relentlessly against Nanoleaf’s latest gamer smart light that brings a bare ounce of practicality to the normally goofy gamer ambiance. The company’s new $60 Pegboard Desk Dock is a combination RGB gamer lamp, charging dock, and pegboard with hooks to hang up your controllers, headsets, handhelds, or other accessories. It could help me and other RGB-obsessed insects declutter our desks.
Nanoleaf’s latest device is your typical RGB color-changing light fixture with 32 LEDs per side and a total of 64 color zones offering a glow both toward the user and against the wall. One side features the light without a cover, while the other is concealed with the cheese grater-like pegboard. The neat thing about this device is you can take it off and flip the light around if all you want for the moment is to bathe in lava lamp light. You can control lighting settings through the Nanoleaf app, where you can also set it to different color effects like “candlelight” or “fireplace.” If you connect it through the desktop app and enable Music Sync, it will adjust colors depending on what you’re listening to.
While you need to plug the dock base into its own power source, the device includes two USB-C and a single USB-A port for power passthrough for charging a wireless mouse or controller at a respectable 15W. The Pegboard Desk Dock comes with two sets of arms and given there are only 10 inches of pegboard space you’ll likely only be able to fit two items at a time on it.
That might not seem like a lot, but it should allow you to stick your Steam Deck or other handheld PC on it and finally free up some space on your workstation. For handheld gaming, you’d still want HDMI passthrough as well for the sake of treating your desktop monitor as a second screen. In that case, you may still be better off getting a dedicated handheld dock. If you want one with RGB lights, you could check out the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma. The Pegboard Desk Dock is better for when you need to grab your headset and controller without needing to stretch out an arm or leave your desk. Plus, it’s more gamer chic than any industrial-sized desk peripheral or Ikea product.
Because of my job, I’m constantly surrounded by at least two pairs of headphones, not to mention controllers. I can imagine the device would only save me a few inches of space that I would immediately fill with a mess of papers and peripherals. The company does sell a 2-pack for $100 instead of $120, so maybe all I need to do is buy multiples, then surround myself with Pegboard Desk Docks like I’m conducting an arcane ritual to summon tech Cthulhu. Or else, I’ll just bathe in the sauna of my ever-glowing RGB-filled desk space.
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