MobileTechTalk There are many daily electronic devices that need topping up throughout the day, and if you’re device doesn’t have any form of Wireless charging, it will mean whipping out the cables. Whether that’s your tablet, smartphone, or even your laptop in 2017, the Bestek USB Charger might just have you covered, and looking good at the same time.
As you can already see the Bestek USB Charger has a little bit of class about it. Firstly, it has a nice contrasting design, and although others are available, this one fit the colour scheme of the desk it was being used on. Secondly it’s a nice shape. That doesn’t really matter but it’s something a little different. It’s even highlighted in the Bestek marketing as a “snail” charger.
What do you actually get for your £14.99? Well, to start with you get 4 USB ports, with 3 USB Type-A ports capable of delivering up to 2.4A of power and one USB Type-C port delivering up to 3A for faster charging and to charge the likes of the Macbook. You also get an included AC adapter which whilst braided with a lovely finish is white/gray, and not in line with the individual unit colour scheme which is disappointing. There’s also a multi language manual, but you won’t need to use it.
The AC adapter is quite long at around 1.4m which helps when you’re positioning the device on the desk. However anything other than situating at the edge of the desk is going to expose the distracting power cord colour, so I’d be sure to have this close to an edge of the desk for optimum aesthetics. There are a couple of padded feet on the bottom of the Bestek USB Charger which ensures there will be no scratching of the surface it lies on. I say lies rather than sits because whilst it’s obvious the device should stand on those pads when in use, the fact the unit isn’t all that heavy, and is rather thin, even a kin in the AC adapter cable will tip the unit over, and that’s without any cable attached to it. A wider unit or shifting the weight to the bottom of the device to stabilise would be more beneficial.
Performance wise we had no complaints here. Thanks to the way most devices charge now it’s always difficult to get the maximum power draw statistics. OnePlus 3 for example will tier back charging speeds when over 60% in incremental steps. However, we did manage to get some devices to sit at 2.4A such as power banks, as well as seeing the 3A fast charging from the Type-C port when the OnePlus 3 was sitting at just 15%. It didn’t quite charge as fast as the Dash charging, but it managed to get the device up to 60% in around 45 minutes, which is still good going.
So what would we improve here. For starters, we’d perhaps add another couple of ports; maybe a clean split between 3 USB Type-A and 3 USB Type-C ports would be nice. We might change the design a little to extend the footprint of the base so that it sits proudly rather than teeters under some circumstances. We used these cable holders to stabilise the AC cable and thus, the unit. Yes we’d change the AC adapter cable colour too, but if you’re not interested in the aesthetic as much as performance, then it won’t bother you at all. Neither will the potential sea of wires that spew from the top of the ‘snail’ when in use.
There really is nothing else we can think of. The unit looks good, with the pairing of laser cut metal and glossy plastic finish, and it performs. The icing on the cake is the fact it costs so little. £14.99 isn’t going to break the bank, and it’d be an acceptable cost to pay to maybe have this as a travel charging device too, such is the charging performance from the USB ports.
Check out more from Bestek over at their Amazon store, and let us know whether you’d consider something like this, or whether you want to hide as many wires as you can for your setup.
Bestek USB Charger
£14.99
Pros
- Stylish design
- USB-C included
- Good performance
- Great price point
Cons
- A little wobbly
- More ports please!
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