If you own a Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, or Quest Pro, you probably leave it on a shelf in between uses, hooked up to the charger. While this is fine, it doesn’t look great, and it can be easy to forget to connect the charger after use. Whilst I love my Quest 3, I hate it when I go to use it and discover that I forgot to charge it.
Thankfully, the KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand For Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro aims to help you proudly display your headset, turning it into an appealing feature in your room, whilst also ensuring it’s always charged and ready to go whenever you want to use it.
I’ve recently been trying out the new KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand to find out whether it’s a must-have accessory or not. I was sent this product by KIWI Design to test, but have not been paid to produce this article and KIWI Design has had no input into the content of this article.
First Impressions Of The KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand
My first thoughts when unboxing and assembling the KIWI Design RGB Vertical stand were that this looks and feels like a premium accessory. The design is simple and appealing, and the build quality is excellent. It comes in six parts that have a push-to-fit design making it very easy to assemble, and I had the stand constructed within two minutes.
The packaging is very similar to that of the Quest 3 and the official accessories. The parts of the stand are well presented and the magnetic charging connectors are packaged separately to keep them safe. The only other thing in the box is a manual which is impressively detailed and clear, with simple, step-by-step instructions showing you how to assemble and use the stand.
The stand is made of smooth and sturdy black plastic and features the KIWI Design logo on the front of the stand. Other than the clear locations to place your headset and controllers, the other obvious feature is a strip of RGB lighting, which looks awesome when lit up, without going overboard.
Design And Features
At the top of the stand, there is a well-designed cradle for your headset and head strap that accommodates the Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro with ease. It can accommodate your headset regardless of whether you use the original head strap or the Elite Strap.
There are holders for both controllers that can be adjusted to your liking and will accommodate both the Touch controllers of the Quest 2, the Touch Plus controllers of the Quest 3, or the Touch Pro controllers.
There is a flexible magnetic charging connector that attaches to the charging stand and a magnetic USB-C connector that fits into the USB-C port on your headset. This allows you to simply place your headset onto the charging stand and the magnetic charging connectors will join, and your headset will start charging.
You can lift your headset off the charging stand at any time and the charging connector will disconnect, allowing you to start using the headset at a moment’s notice. I love this design decision as it makes the process of charging your headset completely effortless.
Below the headset hanger, the RGB platform features a strip of RGB lighting that is capable of displaying 16 different color presets. You can choose the brightness and whether the lights pulse or remain solid. There is even an option to have a continuously moving multicolored display that is definitely the most eye-catching. The RGB lighting is tasteful and not excessive, adding a highlight to the product, rather than being overbearing.
The lights are controlled by two buttons on the underside of the central panel. The power button on the right is used to turn the lights on and off, as well as adjust the brightness of the solid color options. The two-way switch on the left is used to cycle through all the available color options.
KIWI Design Is Made For Meta
The design and build quality are genuinely impressive, and with the packaging being similar to the Quest 3 and official accessories, it’s no surprise that KIWI Design has achieved “Made For Meta” status for its charging stand. Meta’s approval of this product for use with their headsets is a reassuring endorsement of the product and gives me confidence in its quality.
I don’t know how much collaboration there was between Meta and KIWI Design for this product, but it feels like it complements the official accessories very well.
Performance Of The KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand For Quest 2, Quest 3, And Quest Pro
Once you’ve put the stand together, you can connect your Meta Quest charging cable to the back of the charging stand, and set your headset on the stand to start charging. You can turn on the RGB lighting with the power button, but you don’t need to have the lights on to make the charging functionality work.
The charging connector works well, reliably making a connection with the magnetic connector when you place your headset on the stand. The magnetic connector is moderately strong and this has enough power to draw the connectors together if they are slightly misaligned.
The charging speed is similar whether you are charging the headset via the charger alone or whether you are charging it via the charging stand. The output power of the charging stand depends entirely on the power of the charger you connect to the stand. The charging progress is monitored through the LED on your headset, rather than there being any indicator or screen on the charging stand.
I have tried charging the Quest 3 and Quest 2 using the default head strap and also tried the Quest 2 with an Elite Strap, and the charging connector connects easily regardless of what setup I choose.
The RGB lighting is easy to adjust and can be turned off and on with the push of a button. Personally, I’m a big fan of modest amounts of RGB lighting, and I think KIWI Design has struck a nice balance with this stand.
The KIWI Design RGB Vertical stand has a sturdy base with sufficient weight to ensure that there is no risk of the stand falling over. There are also rubberized feet on the base to ensure it grips the surface you place it on.
One of the stated features is that this stand saves space, but I’m not sure that it does, as I don’t think my headset and controllers take up any more horizontal space when not using the stand compared to when I use it. For me, the main appeal of the stand is the aesthetics of the design, and the ability to present my headset as a decorative object, in addition to making it easy to charge.
What I Like About The KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand
I love the design and build quality of this charging stand, and think it looks great, particularly with the RGB lighting. It significantly adds to the aesthetics of my room and makes my Quest 3 look awesome on its shelf.
I also love that it takes away any effort to charge my headset. As soon as I set it on the stand, it starts charging, and I just have to lift it off to start using it.
I’ve never found a particularly satisfactory way to store my headsets and controllers, and they usually end up looking a bit cluttered. Having a dedicated holder for the controllers and a secure cradle for the headset is very convenient and ensures that you are protecting your headset and controllers while they are not being used.
The instructions and assembly couldn’t have been much easier, and no one who buys this product is going to have any issues at all with assembly.
What Needs To Be Improved
The one negative I have with the KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand is that it doesn’t provide a very elegant solution for people who are using an external battery, such as the Elite Battery Strap, to improve the battery life of their headset. In this scenario, the USB-C connector on the headset is already connected to the external battery.
The USB-C charging connector is not able to reach the charging port on an external battery, so you must unplug your external battery to use the charging functionality of the stand, and charge the headset and external battery separately.
Alternatively, you can keep your external battery connected to your headset and just use the KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand as a stand for your headset. You can then connect your headset charger to the external battery directly, and use this to charge both the external battery and the headset.
Thankfully, KIWI Design has recently launched a battery strap for Meta Quest 3 that is fully compatible with this RGB charging stand. It is able to charge both the headset and the battery strap via the magnetic USB-C connector. I am currently testing this battery strap and will soon be publishing a written and video review of it.
Verdict
Overall, I really like the KIWI Design RGB Vertical Stand for Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro. It provides a great way to put your headset on display and turn it into a feature in your room. The design and build quality are excellent, and it functions well with a range of head straps. The charging functionality isn’t as good if you already have an external battery strap, but it’s still an excellent stand nonetheless.