Samsung Limited Edition Accessory Pack

Customers who preordered the Samsung Galaxy S4 (SGS4) and bought at launch were promised a Limited Edition Accessory Pack. It’s supposedly worth $160, and for those who were issued a redemption letter, the accessory pack is now available for collection, until June 30.

This Limited Edition Accessory Pack includes three items: a desktop dock, a car charger, and a HDTV adapter. I would have hoped for a second battery. $160 seems to be a bit much.

You might be thinking the same like me, the three items can probably be picked up from Ebay for easily under $30. Some people may be willing to pay a little premium for Samsung original accessories, but probably not anywhere near $160.

The three accessories were neatly packed into the box. I was quite honestly surprised at the quality of the accessories, and the desktop dock was particularly impressively well made.

The HDTV adapter is what’s also known as a MHL-HDMI adapter. One end connects to the microUSB port on the SGS4, and the other connects a standard HDMI cable. Samsung has included a RF choke, that’s the split magnetic ring you see next to the HDTV adapter in the picture above, which isolates electromagnetic and radio frequency interference. You clip the RF choke unto your HDMI cable.

The desktop dock is really nice. It’s really compact when not in use, because you can fold the docking part down into a small slab.

When when you want to use it, you open it up.

The docking portion swivels open and close smoothly, and clicks firmly into position at the opened and closed ends.

Another surprise is how easy it is to dock the SGS4. Despite using the microUSB interface for docking, you can still connect and remove the SGS4 almost as easily as if they were using pogo pins. The trick seems to come with having designed the microUSB plug to have a loose fit. You can even pick up the SGS4 from the dock without the dock trying to come up with the phone!

The base that the microUSB plug sits on has enough give, so you can rock your hone forward, backward, or even sideways. I haven’t tried, but I think you should be able to use the dock with a thin phone cover attached to the SGS4.

The bottom of the dock has a rubber textured material, which will help prevent it from sliding around your table.

I can appreciate that this dock would cost more than other typical phone docks. But, still, $160 is pricey for this accessory pack.