Time for my next techy review! It's been a while since I've done anything, due to personal reasons, and I don't think I could have found a better product to use.
I was asked to review a charger that can be used for up to 10 USB cables.This appealed to me straight away, as we have a lot of gadgets in our house (phones, tables, kindles, PS4 controllers/headsets, portable chargers, etc), and it can be quite awkward making sure everything has enough power!
I was asked to review a charger that can be used for up to 10 USB cables.This appealed to me straight away, as we have a lot of gadgets in our house (phones, tables, kindles, PS4 controllers/headsets, portable chargers, etc), and it can be quite awkward making sure everything has enough power!
First Impressions
First things first: packaging. I don't usually go into too much detail about the packaging - to me it just isn't as important as the product itself. This one was a little different though, mainly because it made me giggle.
Have a look at the pictures below. The first thing you might notice is that the packaging is clear, and shows the charger really well. There's not a lot of packaging, which is great in my opinion - no need to make a load of waste just to make it look a bit better!
Next thing you might look at is the writing on the front, next to the slightly over-eager model. This was the best part of the packaging for me. The models expression in itself is hilarious, with his little "thumbs up", but if you have a look at the writing next to the picture you should be able to see why I had such fun before I even opened the charger. The English isn't great, but you kind of get the jist of what the company is trying to say...nearly. That didn't phase me though, as I've seen a few that are worse when it comes to their translation skills.
Have a look at the pictures below. The first thing you might notice is that the packaging is clear, and shows the charger really well. There's not a lot of packaging, which is great in my opinion - no need to make a load of waste just to make it look a bit better!
Next thing you might look at is the writing on the front, next to the slightly over-eager model. This was the best part of the packaging for me. The models expression in itself is hilarious, with his little "thumbs up", but if you have a look at the writing next to the picture you should be able to see why I had such fun before I even opened the charger. The English isn't great, but you kind of get the jist of what the company is trying to say...nearly. That didn't phase me though, as I've seen a few that are worse when it comes to their translation skills.
Charger in Use
Moving on from my little giggle over the translation, I was very eager to get this out of the plastic and give it a go.
After getting the charger out I had a look over the design. Every surface was smooth and looked great. The cable and plug matched the main cylinder, and was easy to plug in. I was a bit worried that the parts that folded out would be a little too flimsy, but these were great too, very solid, and coped very well in the hands of a fascinated 3 year old.
The first thing I noticed when I plugged the charger in was that the top lights up when the plug is turned on. I think that's a great feature - I for one have a couple of USB chargers that don't work, but trying to figure out which ones they are can take a bit more time than I'm willing to devote to the task. The light reassured me that I had in fact turned it on, and that it wasn't faulty, as well as showing me which leads didn't work.
After getting the charger out I had a look over the design. Every surface was smooth and looked great. The cable and plug matched the main cylinder, and was easy to plug in. I was a bit worried that the parts that folded out would be a little too flimsy, but these were great too, very solid, and coped very well in the hands of a fascinated 3 year old.
The first thing I noticed when I plugged the charger in was that the top lights up when the plug is turned on. I think that's a great feature - I for one have a couple of USB chargers that don't work, but trying to figure out which ones they are can take a bit more time than I'm willing to devote to the task. The light reassured me that I had in fact turned it on, and that it wasn't faulty, as well as showing me which leads didn't work.
Testing
Having looked at the item online I had 2 main concerns - charging time and overheating.
First I thought it might be a good idea to compare the times of something I charge regularly: my phone. I have an Xperia Z5 which needs charging every other day, so I thought one of the first tests should be on whether this charger would save time or not. I suspected that the items would take longer to charge than in a single item plug, but how much longer was my main concern.
So I set my timer and plugged my phone in on it's own, before plugging it in with 4 other items. Both times I ran my battery down as much as I could without it dying (mainly so I could use the stopwatch). It took me 2 hours 20 minutes with the single item charger, and only 10-15 minutes more with the other products plugged in (I checked twice, just to be on the safe side). You can imagine how surprised I was with that - 15 minutes extra, and I can charge 5 things at once! Brilliant.
On to the overheating; I had read online that multiple chargers were more likely to overheat and could sometimes be a fire hazard. This worried me a little, especially with 2 little ones in the house (one mostly running, the other gurgling away to herself on the playmat). To test that issue I gathered all my gadgets and plugged them in, leaving them to charge for around an hour and a half. Having checked the charger every 20 minutes or so, I was again surprised to find that not only did it not overheat, it barely got warm before I unplugged them all.
First I thought it might be a good idea to compare the times of something I charge regularly: my phone. I have an Xperia Z5 which needs charging every other day, so I thought one of the first tests should be on whether this charger would save time or not. I suspected that the items would take longer to charge than in a single item plug, but how much longer was my main concern.
So I set my timer and plugged my phone in on it's own, before plugging it in with 4 other items. Both times I ran my battery down as much as I could without it dying (mainly so I could use the stopwatch). It took me 2 hours 20 minutes with the single item charger, and only 10-15 minutes more with the other products plugged in (I checked twice, just to be on the safe side). You can imagine how surprised I was with that - 15 minutes extra, and I can charge 5 things at once! Brilliant.
On to the overheating; I had read online that multiple chargers were more likely to overheat and could sometimes be a fire hazard. This worried me a little, especially with 2 little ones in the house (one mostly running, the other gurgling away to herself on the playmat). To test that issue I gathered all my gadgets and plugged them in, leaving them to charge for around an hour and a half. Having checked the charger every 20 minutes or so, I was again surprised to find that not only did it not overheat, it barely got warm before I unplugged them all.
Overall I was very impressed with this charger. I love that I can charge a few gadgets at once and not worry about them taking forever. Even though they take a little longer using this, the difference is so small that I don't even mind. Looks like I won't be without any of my gadgets from now on!
Click here to get yours now - I definitely recommend it.
I received this product for free or at a discount in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Click here to get yours now - I definitely recommend it.
I received this product for free or at a discount in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.