Belkin has a pretty solid reputation when it comes to Apple accessories. Their MagSafe chargers, docks, Power banks etc. Are usually pretty much the best on the market, so when I got the chance to review the Belkin Auto Tracking Stand Pro with Dock Kit, I had high hopes.
The Belkin Auto Tracking Stand Pro with Dock Kit is basically a MagSafe dock that simultaneously charges your phone and tracks your movement, keeping you in frame while recording or on video calls. For someone who dabbles in content creation and spends a fair bit of time using FaceTime, it seemed like it was going to be a very useful addition to my daily life, and honestly? When it works, it works really well. The problem is, it just doesn’t work as consistently as you'd expect.
One thing Belkin nailed here is setup. Thanks to apples "Dock Kit" there is no need for any third party, overly complicated apps, no annoying Bluetooth pairing process, just tap your iPhone onto the stand, and NFC does all the work. It’s basically plug and play but wireless if that makes sense? This is something I really appreciate, it went from in the box, to, ready to go within a matter of seconds. If only the tracking was as hassle free.
The first time I used it, I was genuinely impressed. The movement was smooth and natural, and it just felt like a high end product. I thought, “Alright, maybe this thing is as good as I expected.” But the more I used it, the more I noticed its "quirks".
It bugs out every so often, jumping slightly or making strange, sudden movements rather than maintaining smooth tracking. This doesn't render it unusable by any means, but it’s noticeable enough to be distracting, especially if you’re trying to record something professional looking.
Where it really falls apart however, is in busier environments. If there’s more than one person in the frame, it gets confused very easily. And if you’re somewhere with a lot of movement like a crowded event it struggles to decide who to follow, often tracking the wrong subject entirely. Now I know this probably isn't one of its "intended" uses but I have watched the CES demo videos and launch presentations, where they specifically mentioned how it handles crowds of "up to 10 faces" pretty well and that's just not the case. In fact, I found that while testing it with my wife and I that if one of us moved out of frame it would move and completely cut out the stationary person from the video. Which just doesn't make sense for just about any use case that I can imagine. What would improve this would be some kind of automatic zoom control through the phone software, that could zoom in and out to keep both subjects in frame as much as possible. Just an idea. If you do plan on taking it on the go, A. Good luck to you, B. You'll be happy to know it has an advertised 5 hour battery life to keep itself powered on the go, but in my experience its actually a bit higher. So that's a valuable upside.
One of the biggest reasons I was excited to try this was for my daughter. She's almost four years old and absolutely loves Face Timing her grandparents. If you’ve ever Face Timed with a toddler, you know keeping them still in front of the camera is basically impossible. My immediate reaction to this product is that it would be perfect for allowing her to do so more independently! I can set it up on the table, and it’ll track her around the room so she stays on camera. And well, that didn’t really happen at all.
Even though the stand can rotate 360 degrees, it often loses track if she moves too quickly or goes slightly out of sight. And if anyone else walks into the room? Chaos ensues as it for some reason, would start tracking the person moving into frame rather than staying on the person it was already tracking. The stand can’t decide who to focus on and sometimes even seemed to lock onto faces in framed photos on the wall, which is just… bizarre.
So while it sort of worked, I still had to keep adjusting it manually, which defeated the purpose and was a bit of a letdown considering what it’s supposed to do.
Despite its quirks, I do think it could be useful for certain types of content creators. For example, if you’re a streamer who wants to ensure you stay in frame while gaming or doing a simple talk style stream, it’s actually pretty great. Since your movement would be limited, it tracks well and won’t be overloaded with extra motion. If you’re recording something fairly stationary, like a cooking demo or a desk setup tour, it can be helpful. If you’re taking FaceTime calls while sitting in one place, it mostly does the job well. But the moment there’s a lot of movement or multiple people, things start falling apart.
I wanted to love this product, and when it’s working as intended, it’s actually quite good. The problem is that it’s just not reliable enough. If you’re mainly sitting still while recording or streaming, it’s great. But if you move around too much, have multiple people in frame, or use it in a crowded setting, it struggles big time.
For what it does well, I’ll give it a 6/10. Better than a gimmick, but still a bit of a disappointment from Belkin. If they release a second gen version with improved tracking, I’d be willing to give it another shot. But for now? It’s an expensive charging stand with a fun, but flawed, extra feature.
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