I don’t normally do this, but I have to issue an apology to Natalie. She’s the PR lady for Kensington and I did tell her that I’d review this product a good three months ago.
“Pah, it’ll only take a few minutes to review that”, I thought.
Wrong. Why? Well, because I put it in my car, started using it and then forgot that it was a review product on loan because, quite simply, it did its’ job quietly and effectively. I’ve just stumbled across the pictures on my hard drive so it’s about time I finished of the review.
The Kensington 1 amp car charger is known as the “PowerBolt 1.0” and this particular one doesn’t come with a cable for your smartphone. If you want one that includes the required cable, check out the this slightly different version. I was quite happy using one of the many microUSB cables I’ve got kicking around the house.
First up, this will pump out a whole 1 amp, which basically means “no trickle charge”. That’s good, and means that when you reach your destination your phone is actually charged up, not the same charge it was when you plugged it in. This system is known as “Powerwhiz” and basically means that you get a nice fast charge.
Secondly, it’s dumpy. By that I mean that it’s fairly short, so it doesn’t protrude much and get in the way of your gear change / handbrake or radio.
Plug it in and it’ll charge up your phone or tablet without fuss. Just plonk your cable in the top and there’s a small LED to indicate that charging is under way.
As for buying one, we found it for as little as $12.74 in the USA and just £10.40 here in the UK.
Dumpy ( or low profile ) is actually what some people want ( like me ) who have their port in the center console. Height is an issue as it can be caught be peoples hands ( or feet in the case of the rear one). Ideally I’d like one even lower profile then with my right angle USB it would be fairly out of the way. T