Khadas Mind Dock Hardware Overview
If the base Khadas Mind seems underwhelming from an I/O perspective, that is because it is really meant to also have a dock. Khadas is working on docks with external GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti, and even ones for conference room monitors. We have the more base-level dock that just has a ton of I/O.
On the front, we get a USB 3 5Gbps port, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a SD card reader.
On the sides, there are vents.
On the back, we get a 2.5GbE port, two HDMI ports, two USB 3 Type-A 5Gbps ports, and a USB Type-C power input.
On the bottom, we get a giant rubber pad.
On the top, we get a number of features. Two include the left-side fingerprint reader and the right-side physical volume knob.
These are cool features, but a bit strange on the dock. Logging into a PC and authenticating is a basic task that is a base-level task in a PC. It is strange to have the fingerprint reader providing authentication on a dock. It feels like that should be on the main unit. When away from the dock, you would not have the fingerprint reader. On the volume knob, it feels great, but most keyboards have volume adjustment functions. That is especially so in keyboards likely to be paired with this system given its price. Since it is on a dock, one would assume there is a static keyboard attached to the dock so this becomes a duplicate feature.
The other big connector is the Mind Link connector. This can carry things like PCIe, and it takes a lot of work to get a hot plug working on a connector like this. Kudos to the Khadas team for making this work.
The Mind is secured via magnets to the dock, and the connection is strong. You can flip this over held without latches and the Mind will stay attached.
With the full setup, the Mind has a good set of ports.
One somewhat fun quirk of this setup, however, is that if you have the system docked, you will probably use the Mind Dock’s USB-C port for power input, freeing up the Mind’s left Type-C port for display output or other duties. If you do that and disconnect the Mind, then you lose power, and the system will go into standby mode very quickly since there is only a 5.5Wh internal battery.
Next, let us get to the performance.
This seems like expensive for expensive’s sake.
Reminds me about those home consoles you could stack , back in the days… 64DD, Sega Genesis, … anyone? ^^