As part of its Surface event today, Microsoft announced the Audio Dock, a USB-C docking station that can serve as your computer's speakers and microphone, too. While the dock doesn't include Thunderbolt 4 or even USB4, the compact device further attempts to earn a small space on people's desks with USB-C power delivery and a dedicated Microsoft Teams button.

Microsoft is calling the Audio Dock, which works with Windows and macOS, an "all-in-one speakerphone." It can connect to and charge PCs over USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) with up to 60 W. That should be enough to support some ultralight laptops, but you can find greater charging capabilities—even from a speaker dock. Logitech's Logi Dock offers 100 W over USB-C.

The Microsoft Audio Dock rounds out the port selection with two more USB-C (3.1 Gen 2) ports. Both support 7.5 W charging, but one of them also supports DisplayPort over Alt Mode.

You can also connect a monitor to the dock via its HDMI 2.0 port that supports up to 4K resolution at a 60 Hz refresh rate.

Clearly, you can get docks with greater throughput and port selection. But Microsoft's Audio Dock targets those who don't need the most advanced ports but could use a set of speakers, plus mics for conference calls.

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The Audio Dock's speakers carry Microsoft's Omnisonic branding, the same branding as the speakers in Microsoft's Surface devices. The dock has a 15 W woofer measuring 2.13 inches long, 1.92 inches wide, 1.63 inches tall, and 5 W tweeters measuring 1.02×0.46 inches.

Microsoft claims the dock can output at up to 90 dB. For comparison, that's the same volume output that the Razer Leviathan V2 X soundbar claims. Microsoft is also speccing the device with a frequency response of up to 70–20,000 Hz. That's not quite as deep as what the Logi Dock claims (60–20,000 Hz) but not extremely far off.

Microsoft says the Audio Dock's frequency response drops to 200–8,000 Hz for conference calls. Naturally, Microsoft certified the dock to work with its own Teams software. It also included a dedicated button for joining Teams meetings and raising your hand once you're there. But Microsoft also guarantees the Audio Dock will work with Google Meet and Zoom.

To ensure people can hear you on those video calls, the Audio Dock has two microphones that Microsoft describes as forward-facing, noise-reducing, and omnidirectional. There's also a mute button with a light, so you can quickly see if you're muted or not.

The dock will be available on October 25 for $250. While less powerful than the Logi Dock, it's also significantly cheaper than the $400 rival.

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