The CRG-70W can not in any way be compared to the lower priced Apple Universal Dock available from the Apple Online Store. This station includes a great deal more features then the official iPod dock. To begin with you are provided with two decent speakers which upon experimenting, produce a decent quality of sound. The speakers themselves are extremely loud, yet even at the highest volume the sound quality remains relatively clear. I’ve tested many speakers/docks and usually the sound quality deteriorates at the highest volume. The dock itself is connected to the speakers via two handy 3.5mm jacks and thus this inclusion allows you to connect a third party set of speakers to the product.

A large LCD Backlit display dominates the front of the dock itself and exhibits a built in alarm system. When setting an alarm using this product you are provided with three choices as to your wakeup call. You can be woken by the additional FM Radio, the built in alarm noise or one of the many songs that you’ve personally synced with your iPod/iPhone.

The Gear4 CRG-70W has many wonderful features that make this product stand out, but I have had issues with it myself. At times when connecting your iPod Touch or iPhone to charge or play through the speakers you will be presented with a notification on your iDevice that reads “This accessory is not supported by this iPod”. To remedy this issue you have to remove the iPod and then firmly insert it again into the dock. It’s an irritating issue that I’ve encountered and I severely hope that it’s only my device that has this issue.

In conclusion, this accessory is worth the price tag of £50, but I wouldn’t purchase it again without previously testing out any of its competition. You can check out the dock and much more reasonably priced merchandise right now over at Gear4.com.