SnapPower Charger Review: Ditch Your Bulky USB Charger

Do you hate having to find your USB charger all the time? Does your significant other hate seeing your fat, ugly chargers permanently sticking out from the wall? Meet the SnapPower Charger, a simple outlet cover that elegantly blends design and function. Replacing an existing outlet cover within your home, the SnapPower Charger very literally snaps into place and offers up a single USB charging slot on the right side of the cover.

How does it get the power to charge you mobile devices? The two prongs on the left and right side of the cover’s interior clamp onto the screw contacts on the outlet hardware. Pulling power from those metal contact points, users can charge their mobile devices without having to locate their USB charger. Of course, you can still plug in USB chargers to the two remaining spots, thus giving you the option of charging three devices at once over USB.

Installation in the Kitchen

Installation is a Breeze

One of the best features of the SnapPower Charger is that you don’t need any electrical skills to install the plate. However, you will need to find the breaker box in your home and flip off the power at the location of the outlet for your future SnapPower Charger cover.

After the power is off, you unscrew the existing plate and push the SnapPower Charger cover into place. I had to wiggle it a little in order to get it on, but it fit very snugly once it was installed. After that, attach the single screw to hold the plate securely on the wall and go flip the power back on. That’s it! It took me less than 5 minutes to install it, zero roadblocks in the process.

Installation in the Bedroom

Performance & Usability

The amp rating is 1 amp, basically identical to the standard chargers that ship with an iPhone. I found no difference in charging speed between the SnapPower Charger and my iPhone 6 Plus wall plug. While 2 amp and 2.4 amp “Qualcomm’s QuickCharge” chargers certainly power up mobile device batteries faster, this is passive by design; likely to make installation so easy. Personally, speed wasn’t a factor as I just plopped my iPhone down with my keys, wallet, etc… and let it charge before I exited again.

This type of product would be ideal for outlets mounted at the kitchen counter level, ideal for charging up your gadgets and keeping the outlet plugs free for small appliances. It’s also a fantastic product for renters. While homeowners can swap out their outlet hardware easily, renters aren’t allowed to dive into electrical work. As long as you keep the old plates, you can simply pop the old plates back on when it’s time to move again.

You can still charge at a kid-proofed outlet.

Should You Buy It?

While $20 is expensive for an outlet cover, you can’t compare this product to outlet covers. It provides relatively the same function as this $20 outlet hardware / plate combo at Amazon, but doesn’t require any electrical knowledge to install. Are you paying a premium for that advantage? Sure. But you also gain more flexibility, ideal for renting at apartments / homes.

SnapPower sells the charger in two different styles, duplex and decor. There’s also three color options available, white, light almond and ivory.  You can also bring the price down to as low as $16 per plate if you purchase these in bulk. You can check out the SnapPower Charger on the official site.

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One Comment

1. 

   Cathy Philipps

   November 9, 2015 at 1:57 pm

   This sure would help if you lose your cords all the time like my granddaughter does.

   Reply