The Only Safe, Portable Nintendo Switch Dock

It's never a good idea to get a third party Nintendo Switch dock. So, why not take your current dock and make it smaller? This BASSTOP dock enclosure does just that.

▶️New Videos Every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday!
🔴Wulff Den Live Every Wednesday at 8PM EST

👕W U L F F D E N A P P A R E L 👕

🛍Support the channel! Use these links to buy stuff:

• Access to Sponsor only Discord chat
• Chat badge & Emotes
• Watch new videos WHOLE HOURS EARLY (via discord)
• Priority game time for monthly multiplayer streams

butt touch (づ￣ ³￣)づ (___)___)

[fattiger]

You'd think Nintendo, who loves selling peripherals, would have released a mini dock by now. As shown by kits like this, it's not hard to scale down the dock and keep the exact same functionality. If that rumoured Switch mini ever comes out, it'll probably have something like this (possibly sold separately)

[johnwongtw]

The only safe, Portable Nintendo Switch dock .... is the official Nintendo dock in a 3rd party casing... i admit i have been clickbaited!

[itcamefromabox]

Let's not forget that this all comes down to Nintendo's decision to use non-complaint USB-C. The average consumer who doesn't watch these videos or does any research see's a USB-C port and thinks "OH! I can use this USB-C cable/dock/gagdget on this!!!" This is ALL on Nintendo.

Edit: Grammar.

[greg]

There are also plenty of 3D printable cases for this. If you have a 3D printer or access to one they work great

[gsix_]

“ i rarely play my switch portably “. You my friend don’t have a Nintendo switch. You have a Nintendo Docked.

[vuppet]

Seeing a lot of brick-related docks isn’t such a comforting thing, so I’m glad to finally see a solid dock pop up on the market!

[BraxtonKovary]

"I can't stop docking my f**king Nintendo Switch!" -
Strange Addiction (S03E12)

[bloodless]

I like the Linkstyle dock shell better than the Basstop because it keeps the spring-loaded part of the dock intact. For this mod, to get the USB C off the spring loaded section, there are two screws under that thin plastic sheet that you just take out. You didn't need to bend or snap that piece because you don't need the plastic that the USB C end is mounted to.

[Fayknol]

Welp the switch Lite doesn't even dock

[PlayerZeroStart]

"There's no reason for the dock to be as big as it is." Sure there is: protection. A mini-dock like that works fine for an adult who knows better, but a child taking a switch out of it's dock would just rip it off with no care. The design of the dock sort of makes it so you have to pull it straight up in order to remove the switch. I could definitely see a child, if they had a mini-dock, pulling the switch off the dock at a bad angle and fucking up the little USB-C thing.

Also, the thicker design makes it more resilient to damage in general, which is essential for any console targeted at kids.

[lyianx]

I got my 2nd Switch dock back when Bestbuy had them on sale for $40 :) I also did this with that doc, so i have the main one, and the portable one.

And yeah, there *is* a reason its so big. 1. it covers the screen to protect it from living room objects (think kids) 2. it makes it easier to align it so you know you are putting it in centered, where as with the portable ones, you have to be abit more careful to not break the connection.

Basically, its big to make it more 'fool'/idiot proof. I've been debating adding weight to mine to keep it more in place (tho i havent had much issue as it is since i havent plugged in wired controllers).

[Turuletee]

I have been using this dock since launch(or almost, i dont really remember when i actually bought it) and its great. Not only its easy to pop in/out from the dock itself but it literally fits in my pocket. Ultra portable, Super trustworthy and it really is easy to assemble given you know something about screws and hardware. at first i was like "probably gonna use it a few times and then go back to the OG one. Never went back since i changed to it. 10/10 would recommend

[distrustfulmonkey]

The size of the dock has a pretty important purpose. Bending the inside of the usb port can prevent charging even if power delivery is on point. The sides of the official dock keep the switch in place with 0 strain on the port. Any dock that uses the port itself as a means of physically stabilizing the console can still brick it even if it's guts are official. It doesn't have to be as big as the standard one but it definitely needs to be desogned with this in mind.

[CmRoddy]

This sounds extremely convenient. I travel a lot for work, and I hate having to to reach behind my TV console/furniture where all of my stuff is hooked up, and disconnecting my Switch's power cable and dock in order to take on a trip. This mod will make that process so much easier. Thank you for the video!

[TrueXiarno]

I 100% agree that this dock here 0:33 is one I very like. I've been using it for 1 year now and I just can't get over it I always use it.

[logicalfundy]

The Jumpgate Kickstarter campaign has some interesting information on bricked Switches - and they've done extensive testing to make sure their product doesn't brick the Switch. Basically, they believe Nintendo didn't protect the Switch enough from docks that didn't comply with the PD protocol and made some changes to try to cut back on hacking (which also makes the Switch a bit non-compliant). So as I understand it, virtually all docks that are in close or complete compliance with PD ought to be safe - Nyco docks apparently didn't do a good job of following the PD protocol. Considering the publicity around the incident, I doubt any third party dock manufacturer is going to repeat Nyco's mistake, and from the lack of news I'd say that nobody is repeating Nyco's mistake. Just don't get some some cheap questionable thing that would probably fry anything attached to it. I definitely don't understand the insistence on third party docks being unsafe and being the equivalent of throwing your phone on the floor.

Nintendo could have easily used a proprietary port for charging and video output. They've done it before. They could have even taken the USB-C pinout and put it into a proprietary adapter. But they didn't. IMO they had every intention of allowing the Switch to be used with standard USB-C accessories, including chargers and third party docks. Having problems with third party docks was completely unintentional and we were never actually supposed to be fearful of using third party chargers and docks.

You know, the "U" in "USB" means "universal" - it means that we shouldn't have to worry about this. The bricked Switches were an edge case, and shouldn't be treated as the norm. Considering that reports of bricking are largely non-existent these days, I'd say that continually bringing up these fears is counterproductive. Hopefully the next iteration of the Switch follows the protocols more carefully and we shouldn't have to even bring it up anymore.


As far why these kinds of mods aren't as popular as you thought they would be? Because they're unnecessary. Third party manufacturers might not be sharing publicly how they fixed the problem with bricking Switches - but they're certainly figured it out. I don't imagine there's really much of a demand for devices aimed at people who insist on saying a problem has never been figured out and can't possibly be fixed.

8:35 - plugging the old dock or charger into the new Switch shouldn't be a problem, because the official Nintendo chargers never had any problems. It was the Switch itself that was problematic. I have never heard of any issues using a Nintendo charger even with a non-Nintendo device. The vice versa (using the new dock / charger with an old Switch) also shouldn't be a problem because I doubt the chargers for the new Switch will be any different than the old ones, and Nintendo is not about to pull a Nyco and design a crappy dock that fries old Switches.

[RavishankarRaghavan]

The engineers at Nintendo need to consider all ages of potential users to design a dock. I highly doubt if a school going 3rd grader would handle a miniature dock as carefully as a grown up man. So instead of convenience for the adult demographic users, Nintendo took the safer route that will make sure younger users won't end up losing/damaging their dock every couple of days.

[JuanCurmina]

Why did the dock become so expensive? In Mexico costs almost the same as a new Nintendo Switch.

[BurgundyBurnouts]

I did this to my dock last year, only downside is that it slides like crazy if there's even a little bit of tension on the cables that are plugged in

[domdf]

"You won't believe how this man made his dock smaller and stopped it wobbling!"