MPOW 4 Port Wall Charger gives you a single charging location for 4 Devices [Review]

Keep our devices charged is a constant battle. Most people own and carrying a phone, tablet, Bluetooth headset and in many cases, also a smartwatch or wearable of some sort. Right there you are looking at needing access to 4 charging cables. No one likes to take up a whole wall or have to walk room to room to unplug devices before heading out for the day. Not to mention that most of us also have to take a charger or two with us just incase we need some power while we are away from home. Don’t even get me started on traveling, staying at friends houses or the under powered hotel room. There are a number of products out there that can help you along your power hungry life all while consolidating your charging to one, or two, power outlets. That is what MPOW is doing with the 4 Port USB Wall Charger.

What’s in the Box

• MPOW 4 port USB Wall Charger
• AC Adapter
• Instruction Manual

The MPOW 4 Port USB wall charger is a fairly interesting take on a wall charger. Unlike some of the dual-port ones you might have seen, this one comes with a 3 foot power cord that plugs into the back of the unit. This gives you additional distance to get out from behind a nightstand, under a desk or out from behind a bed. Not mention, helps get the charging block closer to you so that you can easily reach your devices while they are charging if need be.

Obviously the name infers the number of ports. Yes, it has 4 USB ports on it. Two are 5V2A and two are 5V1A all combined, offers up 30 watts of charging power.

The physical size is quite a bit larger than a tradition charging brick, as well it should be. Measuring in at 105 x 30 x 90mm (4.13 x  1.18 x 3.54 inches) and weighs in at 170 grams (.37 pounds/5.99 oz).

The outer casing is hard plastic with the wall plug in the rear and the charging ports in the front. When it is plugged in there is a BRIGHT blue light that lets you know it has power. There is no on or off switch to kill the power to the device, or o the blinding blue light. It is wither plugged in and on, or unplugged and off.

Does the MPOW 4 Port USB Wall Charger Work

 

Sure it does. I have been using it nightly to charge up my Sony Xperia Z and the Republic Wireless Moto X. The long cable gets it near my bed from the side wall and allows both devices to sleep right next to me while they charge. I’m not cool enough to have an end table, so they charge next to my pillow.  I have been using it nightly for about a week without issues. I haven’t noticed the physical box getting warm or either device failing to recognize that it is plugged in. I ran a few small 30 minute tests with the Xperia plugged in all by itself and used Battery Monitor Widget by 3c on 60 second intervals to record the charging progress. I took a screenshot before I plugged in the device another and again at 30 minutes. As you can see I went from a 50% to 72% in 30 minutes on the 2A out ports. There was a few drops in charge rates that could account for it only getting 22%. Most likely due to messages, emails, notifications and the screen coming on for many of them.

I ran a second test on another 30 minute interval, this time with both the Moto X and the Xperia plugged in at the same time. Still using the readings from the Xperia Z, you can see little to no change in charge rates, still being in the 1000+ mA, except there towards the end when it starts to slow the charge rate from 85% on up. Which is exactly what it is supposed to do since the MPOW offers over-heated, over-current, over-charging protection and will stop charging when your batteries are full. It will continue to trickle charge and keep you at 100% until morning.

 Both tests had Wi-Fi connected as well as Cell Service and Bluetooth. Obviously individual results will vary based per-device and per battery size.

What we liked about the MPOW 4 Port USB Wall Charger

While it is relatively big, it is still very much so portable. The long length of the AC adaptor easily helps you get to plug-ins that your tradition charging block would have made it difficult to use unless you had a USB extender or an extension cord. The 5V2A out ports charge quickly without fuse. I find using the 2A outs are great for charging rather quickly while sticking to the 1A charging ports for smaller, less power hungry, devices.

What we didn’t like about the MPOW 4 Port USB Wall Charger

I am not a huge fan of the bright blue led light at all. Especially in a dark room. If you are sensitive to light when attempting to sleep, this will drive you insane. I actually have it tucked inside a bag next to the bed to keep the light from lighting up the room. Not having a physical on/off switch is also a downer. It is simple enough to unplug the MPOW from either the wall, or from the connection to the back of the unit, but you shouldn’t have to.  It would have been slightly more powerful had all 4 ports been 2A vs the split. However, we can see how having both the 2A and the 1A options benefit more devices and users in the long run.

Overall thoughts

There are a few various options out there for devices that are similar. Some are less powerful, others are more powerful. The Anker 25 watt 5-Port charger comes to mind and has a 5 foot AC adapter cord with a special usb port just for the Samsung Galaxy Tab at 1.3A or their new 40 watt 5 port using their smart charge ports that deliver the fastest charge to whatever you plug in. The MPOW 4 Port USB Wall Charger is mixed right in there with companies trying to keep your devices charged in the simplest one-stop-shop charge possible. It works, and works well. While I might not be a fan of the blue light and the hard plastic construction, in the end, it charges what I need without taking up multiple wall sockets in various places around the bedroom. I plan to utilize this one often and may even opt to do some sort of custom mount job at my desk so I can charge easily.

You can pick up the MPOW 4 port USB wall charger on Amazon for $19.99 currently. They come in black or white.