Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Product review: Plugable 12 Outlet Power Surge Protector with Built-in Dual USB Charging Ports


Plugable 12 Outlet power surge protector provides 12 power outlets and 2 USB ports. 4 of the AC outlets are set away from the others so I could plug in my battery rechargers without covering any other outlets. The power strips measures 12" x 6" x 1", has a 6 foot cord. It claims 4320 Joules of surge protection for all 12 power outlets. The switch on the side of the power strip servers the role of power switch as well as the circuit breaker switch. Each outlet has an individual sliding cover, so you can close any outlet that is not in use or is partially obscured by another plug/charger.

I am attaching a collage of 2 photos: Photo #1 shows a variety of battery chargers, USB chargers, and a regular size small plug in this power strip. I found the outlets well spaced out to fit my needs. Photo #2 shows one minor annoyance I found in this strip. Both sides of the strip glow with green LED lights that cannot be turned on. It seems fashionable for every device to glow in the dark, I wish this was an optional light with a way to turn it off.

To test the USB ports I ran the test I use to test all chargers and power banks. The benefit of running the same test on all devices is that it allows me to compare them to each other in "apples to apples" comparison. My methodology is to charge each mobile device on each port of the unit for 10 minutes and measuring how much each unit was charge in that 10 minute period. Each line in the table below represents a separate 10 minute test.

I use Battery App by Elvison to determine how each device recognized the charging source. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.

iPad Mini
_________

Port 1................ 2%.....AC
Port 2................ 2%.....AC

Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet
_________________________

Port 1................ 0%.....discharging with data cable
Port 1................ 2%.....AC with charging cable
Port 2................ 0%.....discharging with data cable
Port 2................ 2%.....AC with charging cable

iPad Mini and Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet at the same time
_________________________________________________________
Port 1................ 2%.....AC (iPad Mini)
Port 2................ 3%.....AC with charging cable (Galaxy tab)
Port 1................ 2%.....AC with charging cable (Galaxy tab)
Port 2................ 2%.....AC (iPad Mini)

These charging rates fall in the middle range of my tests, not as good as the fastest chargers but not the slowest. Given that it a bonus functionality on the well spaced power strip I am satisfied with this performance.

Plugable products offers a one year limited warranty against any defects in materials or workmanship. The warranty information can be located on Plugable web site by selecting "Support/Warranty" from the top menu of their website (and the website name is the product name followed by dot com). They state that they will repair or replace products which fail because of any defect in the first year after purchase.

Plugable provided this unit to me for testing, evaluation and review be it positive or negative. I am very pleased with the layout of the outlets. The USB ports provided reasonable speed of charging even though they were not as fast as the best rapid chargers I own. Overall, I recommend it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


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