Yay, I can charge all 5 of my imported Chinese hoverboard's at the same time!

I have a Tronsmart 5 port mains charger which I saw on hukd deal and my buying reflex kicked. After I ordered I thought how daft why the hell do I need this but it has turned out to be the most useful thing ever. Firstly it charges my phone to full in about 50 minutes, secondly you can (obviously) charge 5 things at once without needing 5 chargers. When you're in a foreign hotel room with phone, Bluetooth speaker, tablet, sansa clip, noise reduction headphones, honestly you just pat yourself on the back for having the foresight to buy one of these.

this is a very old post but I wanted to say I bought this 4 or 5 months ago, it is very reliable and I have been using it continuously since I bought it - for my iPad, and phone (two ports) and occasionally other people's phones too. my cables are really good though. There was a high pitched buzzing sound one time and on investigation I noticed the main wire which connects the box to the socket was a bit loose so I popped it back in and unplugged the whole thing for a day. That was near the beginning and had probably happened when some tension fell on one of the cables as I'd vaccuumed or something. anyway bottom line is its good, for the common person, and safe so far.

Yup, mine has been working for a week now with 5 things often plugged in. No concerns so far...and nice to be able to actually charge my Surface 3 whilst the screen is on (my previous charger would only charge when the sceen was at 50%!)

Like the new iPhone 7 then? :stuck_out_tongue:

Bought got 2 of these, so far so good. Fingers crossed.

For those that have one of these, what does the red light on the QC port when charging certain devices mean? The instruction book has no info on it.

Ooof, doesn't sound good :/ I personally wouldn't have bothered plugging an iPad into the QC 3.0 port as it doesn't benefit from Quick Charge 3.0 in any way. However in saying that of course there's absolutely no way what happened should have happened. Really bad, could have been a lot worse. What brand of cables were you using, out of curiosity?

Perhaps it was my bad luck but I bought a white one 2 days ago from ALDI and returned it yesterday.

I was sitting on the sofa, the charger was on the table next to me with a few cables attached. The cables were draped onto the sofa but no devices were actually plugged in or charging. Heard a 'pfft' sound and looked to see smoke coming from the lightning cable (which was plugged into the USB 3.0 slot on the charger). Left a nasty singe mark on my white leather sofa. I quickly unplugged the charger and disconnected the cables. Shudder to think what would have happened if I'd not been in the room.

Can't say whether it was the cable or the charger or a combination of the two. Has made me think twice about leaving any cables plugged into other similar chargers I have at home - whether charging or not. Now wondering how to *safely* charge devices overnight?

Read the manual before operating it and again before returning it and if I recall correctly, it said something to the effect 'do no leave the charger unattended whilst in use'. Are you meant to babysit these type of chargers?

Btw the charger still seemed to work when I returned it - all ports charged and the green light was on. Should the power surge not have prevented the incident? If my ipad had been attached would it have been damaged?

Any recommendations on how to remove an unsightly dark brown singe mark from a white leather sofa will be gratefully received!

​ok got it, thanks for replays

It is a mains charger, it has 5 USB ports so you can charge up to 5 devices at the same time from a single mains socket. It has no battery in it.

​So what is it? And if phone battery is 3000mAh how many chargers can I get out of it?

I've plugged mine into a power meter, obviously at low power accuracy will not be quite as good, the device shows 2W consumption when not in use, when I plug my Lumia 950XL with it's type-c fast charge cable in the QC3 port, it shows consumption as 20W, swapping to a normal port it drops to 16W. Once the phone is within a few percent of full, it drops further to 13W, presumably the phone adjusting itself, finally once full it fluctuates between 6W and 9W.

To be honest I'm a little disappointed, but I've got one of the Philips varieties as well, so I'll test that later.

Assuming 2W is the consumption of the device, this would imply a 18W charge which equates to 3.6A in the QC3 port, 2.8A in the normal port and roughly 1A when charged but presumably still topping the phone up, this figure strikes me as too high.

Obviously the meter may have inaccuracies but it does at least show it will deliver a higher current than 2.4A on the QC3 port, incidentally the light remains green for my Lumia.

mike

Does any one knows mAh on it?

That sounds roughly the performance my USB charger is delivering into my Lumia, give or take a small amount.

That would suggest yours is not delivering as much power as mine, unlikely to be faulty, more likely either the cable or the phone are refusing to allow full charging speed. Do you have alternative charge cables to try? I'm using my original type-c cable.

mike

Ordered 2 white versions of this online and arrived fast, one has some cosmetic defects on the USB ports (slightly crooked ports) but they all work. No flashing green lights, no high-pitched electrical whines, using Micro USB chargers (LG G4 and Samsung Note Edge) as I don't have any USB-C devices yet. The warranty card in the box says it has 3 years warranty, now that depends how good their customer service is though. Worst case scenario, can always contact Aldi. Great deal.

Judging by comment #89, the reason you are having those charging issues is because the charger is faulty.

Looks like mines dodgy. Not having much luck with my Aldi purchases.The green light has started flashing and anything pluged in gets charges on and off with the pulse. Anybody body know if theres a reason for this ?

​Ha! That explains it.

I'll keep both chargers for future use.

It is ridiculous, sometimes you just want to bang the heads together of whoever is responsible for not talking to the others responsible and sorting it out. Look how long it took the EU to get the standardisation for a single usb port on mobile phones, which seems to have gone out the window now we have Apple or Type-C.

I think my Lumia 950XL is fast charging as a result of the higher current available on the QC port and the fact my cable is presumably well made, as it's the original supplied with the phone, having to be careful about selecting the right cable seems to hark back to the old days of 8 bit computers and cassette leads that worked with some but not other computers.

mike

That's not right. I picked on up yesterday and tried it when I got home the green light kept pulsing on and off and when I plugged in my phone it said charging then not then charging...repeat....

I returned it at lunch today and the new one I have the green light stays on solid and then turns orange when I plug my phone in to charge. Phone says quick charging, same phone as yours.

As far as I understand, QuickCharge 3 is different to USB C fast charging. So if you have a type C fast charge phone (Lumia 950/XL for example) then I don't think you'll get fast charging speeds with this charger.

It's a ridiculous state of affairs. These fast charging standards should be universal and backwards compatible.

​The type C cable I use are made by Choetech and got them from Amazon UK. Since the aldi charger isn't supporting type C port may be the problem (of there are any) is with the USB to type C cable I use.

What size battery is in the Nexus? My Lumia showed 58 minutes from 55%, which seemed fast to me, when plugged into the Aldi charger.

mike

The official charger is faster at charging the Nexus 6p from 51% to full in 51 minutes. while the Marcel charger is going it in 1hr 38m. This is just a rough test as I have to unplug each charger to get estimated times so it isn't entirely accurate.

I got two of these and just heads up for people that although it says it is a 3.0 charger from QC. it wouldn't charge my Nexus 6p rapidly.

(Nexus 6p shows rapid charging when a QC 3.0 charger is in use)

I am not sure what is going on here but someone may do.

Anker gear has a 18 month guarantee just contact them and they will replace

Bought. Initially none of the ports worked. Not sure why, but I checked all cables were plugged in. They were. Unplugged and replugged and worked, so keeping a watch and keeping receipt in a dangerous place (things we put in a safe place always go missing)

The pack of 6 that I mentioned is the wrong cable type, they are USB-C but the Moto G4 is still on Micro USB.

Something like any of these three items would be best. TBH you'd be looking at somewhere around £4 or £5 for the same quality cable sold by itself so you honestly might as well get the multipacks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RAVPower-Assorted-Lengths-Smartphones-Controller/dp/B00YAF14QK/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1473617867&sr=1-4&keywords=micro+usb

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUKEY-Micro-USB-cable-Pack/dp/B00VUXZCQ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1473617956&sr=1-1&keywords=aukey+micro+usb

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-3-Pack-PowerLine-Micro-USB/dp/B016BFFV6K/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1473617952&sr=1-3&keywords=anker+micro+usb

Picked up one of these from the Aberdeen beach store, works a treat, quick charging my s6 edge as we speak. Heat added

I've just bought this charger for my moto g4. Can someone suggest a fast charge cable for it too please? Just need 1, 6 would be overkill!

Spot on - as you say they can do multiple things, including sending multiple levels of power, you're looking for ones with the 56k pull up resistor which prevents it frying your devices.

A Google employee by the name of Benson Leung gives his approvals and disapprovals on various USB Type C cables and it's very informative, worth checking out. The best value USB A to Type C cables I've found that are Benson Leung approved as safe and with the 56k pull up resistor are these. I've ordered them and they work great Plus, £15.99 for a 6 pack of various lengths is a bargain.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHOETECH-Durable-Galaxy-OnePlus-MacBook/dp/B01HX9X638/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1473614116&sr=8-4&keywords=choetech+usb+c

on a side usb type c cables are a nightmare as they can do multiple things, which does mean - don't buy cheap ones

Good to know this thanks. In the past I always find returning the item like HDD is very inconvenience it takes a lot of energy and time ....

Yeah it was easily missable. Aldi's poor description has probably cost them sales here... I only faintly noticed the QC logo and clicked on the image, and low and behold... QC 3.0!


Cheers. With a bit of luck this might be my first deal to reach 1000° :sunglasses:

Bought, nice bit of kit for the money.

Heat added.

I was really surprised when I went to my local Aldi after 1pm and managed to buy a white one. I shop there anyway and needed some supplies so had nothing to lose.

As I already knew the fast charge doesn't work on my huawei p9 but I just needed something to charge multiple devices as I only have a 2 port charger currently.

It looks pretty cool and its nice and compact.

I spotted this in the brochure last week but in that it mentioned usb 3 x 1 and 4 usb 2 and no mention of quick charge 3 and the picture wasn't clear enough to spot it.

Thanks op
Heat added

Unfortunately QC, the various phones and the various cables is a minefield at the moment. Sometimes certain devices just don't want to play ball for no apparent reason. LG G5 is a swine for it too, fussy over cables and chargers.

Yes, the one that came with my S7 Edge.

I believe the Galaxy S7 is only quick charge 2.0 and not 3.0,this is the mistake I made when suggesting another charger that is not quick charge 3.0

That said I would have thought that it should still be quicker than 6 hours

Are you using a compatible cable?

Plugged my S7 Edge into the quick charge port but its saying over 6hours to fully charge?

Bought one of these today from my local Aldi store. Seems alright for the money. Confirmed the Quickcharge port working with my HTC One M8 (the light changes to orange when you have a compatible device connected... ooooooh).

Unit does feel a little light (but its only got 40W in total this is to be expected) but the shell is a nice soft touch material and feels top notch for the money.

Buuuuuuut at this moment in time they are only available to buy in store.

Not unless you know of any deals on time machines,so I can go and get one yesterday :smile:

I ordered yesterday for £9.99, with free delivery :wink:.

As for returns - Amazon have a growing track record of banning users who return items. So I would far sooner have the no risk in-store returns of Aldi than take a chance with my Amazon account.

Whichever way you butter this, the Aldi option is much the better one.

Ah, but you'd have to go to the post office to return the Amazon item, or wait in for the Amazon collection, which possibly might cost more in distance or time, depending on location of Aldi vs Post Office.

I'd have to say stylish is a debatable feature anyway, I personally don't want my usb charger to stand out, unless I've misplaced it, I'll be happy with a nondescript boxy black box, rather than something silver that won't blend in.

mike

You said about Amazon delivery and returns but to be fair I could argue that you have got to travel to a store to collect this item or return it,so that could cost you a few quid in fuel,but like I said I won't mention that :wink:

You've got the wrong end of the stick. It's still the wrong description. It's not 1x USB 3.0 and 4x USB 2.0. It's Quick Charge 3.0. They are very different. One relates to the USB version and the other relates to the Quick Charge version.

It is indeed just 1 x Quick Charge 3.0 and 4 x standard USB charging ports.

It is still very cheap for a Multi Port + 1 port QC 3.0.

​thanks

Not sure if it uses anything when nothing's plugged in, might be minimal like standby wattage. They do indeed stop charging when the device is fully charged. They wouldn't be on sale if they didn't.

Had issues with USB cables from Anker before.

30 second e-mail to them. "No problems Mr Robinson, we'll get a new one set out to you today. Don't worry about sending the old ones back, you've been inconvenienced enough".

Just worth pointing that out. Definitely worthy to pursue a quick e-mail to them. As I said, their customer service is exceptional. Shame you've binned it now, but for future reference.

No QC 3.0 port, less than half the warranty, a minimum £20 spend requirement for free delivery, a more difficult returns process....AND £1 more :smiley:

Yeah no quick charge on that one. Average price for what it is.

The main benefit of this device over others is the Quick Charge 3.0 port.

I don't think that offers a Quick Charge port though, so it is technically lower spec.

I have one of these,which in my opinion looks a bit more stylish for only £1 more.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01358RU9W?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=de_a_smtd&showDetailTechData=1#technical-data

Just picked one up in local store had 100+ on display, seems very good quality and very compact thanks.

I think you can charge your imported Apple & Android devices too when you're not charging your 'hoverboards'. :sunglasses:

Got up early and went in store and bought 3 of these. Can confirm the input is direct from the mains fig8 connection, no big daft transformer! :wink:

OOSO...

Well If you could get it. I have checked it with all Argos Store in London nothing available ....

Unfortunately I have binned it. Also I got it for about £12 (?). so not worthy to pursue this option spending time for £12

Do these cut off the electric supply (so no cost) when nothing is plugged in? And do they also stopped charging when the device is fully charged.

Yep
Picked two up today 1 USB 3.0

Philips at £9.99 now!

I'd wager the description is correct and it only has 1 USB 3.0 quick charge port judging by the photo (the green one) and that'd also explain the cheap price.

Thanks OP, just ordered the 'last' black one online.

​Anker customer service is amazing. 18 months fuss free warranty. You'll have no problem getting them to send a new one out to you.

Contact anker direct, their ask for the serial number and possibly a picture and in my experience willl replace.

quote=pantaiema]http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/philips-power-bundle-11-99-argos-2477765
I have been trying to find this Argos deal in London but it seems no more store have stock them at this price.
I have the one from Anker® 40W 5-Port USB Wall Charger, It is broken just after one year. Very disappointed
Looking purely into the specs.
Which one is better this Qualcomm one or the Philips one
Also Has anyone previously used this product find them good ??[/quote]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/philips-power-bundle-11-99-argos-2477765
I have been trying to find this Argos deal in London but it seems no more store have stock them at this price.
I have the one from Anker® 40W 5-Port USB Wall Charger, It is broken just after one year. Very disappointed
Looking purely into the specs.
Which one is better this Qualcomm one or the Philips one
Also Has anyone previously used this product find them good ??

Black and White OOS online

Is quick charge 3.0 backwards compatible with a quick charge 2.0 phone? as in it won't just charge at a normal rate but at a 2.0 rate?

Also is it true that using quick charge shortens the overall life of the battery quite dramatically?

Any idea if this is would fast charge a Lumia 950XL, despite having the compatible processor, I don't believe they've built in the QC3.0 capability, but some are supposedly capable of fast charging via it's type-c cable?

mike

Thanks, perhaps it's worth a trip out just to see, would be handy for a work trip to have a fast charger - the hotel rooms I get only have a couple of sockets so it's a pain to charge all the devices. The more I think about it, the more I think I need the device regardless - damn this site....

thanks

mike

Would this work with my Nextbit Robin (Quick Charge 2.0)?

OP here, 40w should suffice for most people. I've an USB voltage/amperage meter and QC 3 comes it at (depending on the type of cable) when connected to my LG G5:

Cable 1: Stock LG G5 USB Type C Cable: 7.08v at 2.25a
Cable 2: CHOETECH USB Type C Cable: 6.50v at 2.40a

This was using an Anker QC 3.0 Car Charger.

Both of these equate to just a fraction under 16 watts (I read online 18 watts was the upper limit for QC 3.0).

I have my iPad Air 2 (stock charger at 10 watts) and my droid phone (16 watts) so leaves 14 watts for lower powered stuff if you need it. Not to mention the QC device will be done after an hour anyway, freeing up more watts. This is fine unless you're absolutely desperate to fast charge numerous devices simultaneously.

Horses for courses though. If you needed masses of power, could buy something with greater wattage. Or at this price, just buy two of these :wink:

lol. Another charger, another heated theoretical/theatrical debate

It may not mean anything, but this device does not appear on the current list (PDF) of Qualcomm Quick Charge certified chargers.

Heat added

Unlike all those other 5 port QC3 chargers. :neutral_face:

So you thought that all five ports would be Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0?!!

:confused:

A 40 watt charger could never drive 5x QC 3.0 ports...! So there is nothing for anyone to 'beware' about!

Does this have a separate charging block? Or is it just a mains cable that plugs into the back of it?

(Planning on taking this travelling - but don't want to lump around a big transformer + charging block)

White is still available

HERE

Sweet just bagged the last black one online. Saves a wasted trip tomorrow in store. Wouldn't have stocked/ found it anyway.

Cheers OP

Apologies if this is a silly question, but does it come with an ordinary 3 pin plug please?

Ordered. Thanks.

I have a Tronsmart 5 port mains charger which I saw on hukd deal and my buying reflex kicked. After I ordered I thought how daft why the hell do I need this but it has turned out to be the most useful thing ever. Firstly it charges my phone to full in about 50 minutes, secondly you can (obviously) charge 5 things at once without needing 5 chargers. When you're in a foreign hotel room with phone, Bluetooth speaker, tablet, sansa clip, noise reduction headphones, honestly you just pat yourself on the back for having the foresight to buy one of these.

For anyone looking for a QuickCharge car charger, Geekbuying have a good deal on a 42W Tronsmart for about £6 which includes a decent 20AWG cable:

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Tronsmart-Quick-Charge-2-0-2-Ports-Car-Charger-For-Samsung-Galaxy-S6-S6-Edge-HTC-M9-Nexus-6-Xiaomi-3-4---Black-351302.html

Okay thanks. I think with the amount of discussion that has been had people have a good idea of what the product is and isn't capable. Thanks for the input.

I'll end as I started but add a little qualifying comment. For me, 40 Watts is insufficient for a 5 port charger.

The part where you said it would "mean a maximum of 1.6 amps per port". Assuming it dynamically controls the power requirements for each port, then each can achieve a higher maximum if fewer devices are plugged in, eg. 2.1A per port, or even 2.5A depending what it is capable of outputting down a single port, but with five devices plugged in, they would not all be running at this max. That would require somewhere in the region of 60W+ to give 18W to the QC port and 10.5W (5v 2.1A) to each of the other ports. It should still support five devices at lower draw, or fewer devices at a higher draw.

What they actually said was that if you needed the QC and two 2A ports, then that would virtually max the draw.

Which part was I wrong on? I'm not 100% sure but didn't you just say that it's only going to have enough power for 3 of the 5?

You're wrong, and I will correct You
The sole purpose of those cheap multi charges is to charge multiple devices 2-4 at once, if you going for device with QC you must have one which would benefit from it (snapdragon 800 and newer devices)
Even if you would use 1st port max power which is 18w this will leave you 2 more usb ports for 5V times 2A = 10W each and last one for something crappy like usb spearker
Again I just put the max theoretical output, most of the time you wont be using more than 2 of them at the same time and if you think you do just buy 60W version of amazon

Perfect for.my five Galaxy Note 7's.

Right, if you want all ports to run at max , £10 is not possible or even at 2 or 3 of the ports. The weight of the transformer would be quite big and heavy too. I have a Tecknet 6 port USB charger 5V 12.6A 63W 6-Port each deliver 2.1A, but the transformer is very heavy as the weight of these things go up exponentialy with watts or amps.
And if you go to Amazon you will see those people moaning about the size of the transformer without realising the higher amps means bigger transformers unless you pay much price where the coils could be made smaller with much more expensive magnets. That's why the Aldi marketing photo does not show you the transformer size.

Correct me if I'm wrong but 40 watts means a maximum of 1.6 amps per port? That's lower than most standard chargers these days. I've no idea what the spec of QC 3.0 is and I can't be bothered to do the Googling but surely that port would draw 4 amps on its own?

In fact, I have done a little Googling and I've found a website that states gives 2 different figures for QC 2.0. 18W and 20W. Whichever is accurate that's nearly half the output of this charger for just one port. Lets not forget that this charger supports QC 3.0 so I guess the power draw would be a bit higher.

Yay, I can charge all 5 of my imported Chinese hoverboard's at the same time!

40W doesn't seem a lot for a 5 port charger let alone with a QC 3.0 port.

Bought, thanks

good price and free delivery on the white one - ordered.

Yeah not a bad deal at all! Glad to be of help.

Nice one, thanks. The three year warranty is worth a mention too. I've pre-ordered the white one. :smiley:

Free standard delivery linked to their summer sale atm as well so an even better purchase for me!