I am on the constant search for power in the form of transferring electrons from one device to another. This has now got the point where I am actually running my car on electrons (that is for another day!). I am also now following a new mantra for my life which is surmised in the acronym ABC Always Be Charging. This is both true for my car as it is for my phones. Whatever I can do to make this process easier will make my lif e easier. It is for this reason that when I was asked to test out some of Anker’s latest kit, I jumped at the opportunity. The kind team sent me over a few different things to test, first up was the PowerWave Pad 7.5 wireless charger. The other thing I was sent was the Anker USB Charger 5.4A/27W 4-Port. Both of these will help me to satisfy my need to be able to keep things charged. Let’s have a bit of a closer look at them.
First up I am going to look at the multi-port charger.
Quite simply this does what it says on the tin it is a charger that has not one but 4 USB type A outputs. These outputs will work at 2.4 Amps if more than one is used and if you only use the 1 then it will jump up to a 5.4 Amps output. Whilst these levels do not seem to be that high, (because well they aren’t) it is enough to slowly charge your devices. I have mainly been using this to charge ancillary items such as Bluetooth headsets and my ageing Yogabook. This allows me to make sure that I have these ancillaries ready to go when I need them to be without having to carry around a large 4-way gang plug socket. What makes this charger particularly useful though is that it comes with a European plug adaptor in the box. So when I am off on my travels I only need to take this away with me. This is a massive benefit for me whilst I am on the road. and saves some weight and importantly space.
I would have liked it to have been able to fast charge my devices and it would be handy for me to be able to power my Laptop from it but you cannot have everything! The charger is compact and works well with adequate spacing for the cables to be plugged in without too much problem and it is definitely a part of my travel kit going forward. I can even charge my beast of a powerbank that I have previously tested, albeit overnight which is fine.
Next up is the flat PowerWave 7.5 Pad.
Insert chrging picture here
This is as the name suggest is a flat QI compatible wireless charging pad that will charge at up 10W which is incidentally fast enough to qualify for QuickCharge 3.0 signoff. If you plug in a 9v power supply it will give out 2 Amps and if you use a 12V you will get 1.5Amps in output. The good news is that if you own an Apple device you can still get 7.5 W as an output which is great news, particularly as the iPhone does not provide a quick charge solution in the box of any of it phones!
Again I have been very happy with the charger and it now takes a permanent place on my desk at work where it is used daily to make sure I am fully juiced up throughout the day The one minor annoyance is that you will need to provide your own plug to get the fast charging for the appropriate models which is a bit of an oversight. It also will not work with the above multi-adaptor for fast charge.
It would also have been nice to see a USB type C connection on the charger as more and more devices are now coming with this as the standard for powering themselves.
I am been very happy with both of the chargers that I have been using although they are both for very different purposes. They have both ticked the appropriate boxes. In particular, if you are after a charging pad for your new shiny QI enabled phone then the PowerWave is certainly worth a look as it is £10 cheaper than the Samsung equivalent and significantly cheaper than the rumoured (yet to be seen let alone announced) AirPower from Apple.
If you are the type of user who prefers to have your phone upright when charging there is a stand version of the wireless pad available as well for even cheaper at £19.99.
The PowerWave Pad 7.5 is £29.99 from here
The PowerWave Stand 7.5 is £19.99 from here
The Anker USB Charger 5.4A/27W 4-Port is £12.99 for here