CharJenPro Stingray - Switch Dock Review

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free, I was not asked or required to write a review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received a CharJenPro Stingray for Nintendo Switch.  There was no requirement to do a review or post, but I think it is a neat little product so I figured I would share some thoughts and results from testing it out.

The device is pretty small, with just the adapter with a built-in USB-C cable.  Once you look at the device you can see why they went with the name Stingray (if you aren’t familiar with the shape of a stingray, google what a stingray looks like).  In addition to the cable with USB-C connector (that connects to the Switch) the device has the following ports:

- Ethernet
- HDMI (full size)
- USB-C for power
- USB 3.0 (Type A socket)
- USB 2.0 (Type A socket)

Red dots show the ports, you can see they are spaced out pretty well.
Left ports: USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
Front ports: USB-C and HDMI
Right: Ethernet

To test it, I connected two different USB-C power adapters.  The directions clearly state to only use the original Nintendo Power Adapter or CharJenPro Power Adapter but the whole point of testing things is to see what happens.  One power adapter caused the white LED to blink ( which means it is not compatible ) and the other adapter I tested made the LED solid which seems to show it is working.

Make sure you put the Switch face down so the vents are not covered.

Nintendo Switch on a computer monitor (excuse the cable mess)

I had to use a HDMI to VGA adapter, so I could use a computer monitor I had setup.  Once I connected everything ( power, HDMI and Switch ) it turned on fine.  I was able to play games with no problems, no glitch in video or anything.

I also tested the Ethernet port, the device did pull a different IP address than it was using on wireless and seemed to work fine.  I used the built-in network connection and noticed the download speeds didn’t change much (they fluctuate up/down each test so I can’t really say which connection was faster).  I did noticed that the wifi upload test would give an error, but upload test on the Stingray Ethernet worked fine which I found interesting.

Since I like to test things, I had to test this adapter on two other devices with the following results:

- I tried to connect this to my Samsung S9+ to see if it would work with video out or trigger DeX mode, but it did not.  To be clear this is designed for Nintendo Switch so there was no reason for me to expect this to work.

- I connected the adapter to my Lenovo C330 Chromebook.  The HDMI video output worked, and the power worked to charge the Chromebook was using video out.  This gives it a neat second use, but remember the primary purpose of the adapter is for Nintendo Switch.

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Compact: This is much easier to carry around than the original Switch dock for travel.

Ports: Despite the fact it is portable, it still gives you the same basic functionality as the original dock.  You can use it to play on TV.  You do lose one “Type A” USB port (the original dock has 3, this has 2) but you gain an Ethernet port.  The ports have good spacing between them in case you have a cable with a wider than normal plug.

Easy to use: The adapter is easy to use, and you can use the same cables (power, HDMI, and USB accessories) that you would use on the original dock.  No need to buy a special power adapter or HDMI cable just for this unit.

Bottom line: Neat little adapter to replace the factory dock for the Nintendo Switch that adds an Ethernet port.

CharJenPro Product Page: https://www.charjenpro.com/switchstingray
Amazon Product Page: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YSCQQX6/