Orico 10-Port Multi-Charger REVIEW | Mac Sources
Orico 10-Port Multi-Charger
8.8
120W Multi-port charger can keep multiple devices charging simultaneously at up to 2.4A per port.
I know it is likely stereotypical but my wife nominated me to maintain the technology in our home. More than simply making sure that we had television and WiFi internet, this meant that I was in charge of chargers/cables/cords and cable management. In addition to my iPad Pro 11", my three eldest children had an iPad Mini 4, an iPad Mini 5, and an iPad Air 2. With so many devices to charge, they often fought over wall plug real estate and my wife repeatedly relayed her dislike of the visible charging cables. We had tried several dual/triple-port wall chargers but found that they only partially fulfilled her criteria. While providing adequate charging opportunities, they unfortunately left our iPads to sit awry on the floor or end table. Turning to Amazon, I searched for other multi-port charging options. I had never tried a multi-slot power station and was excited to use the Orico 10-port Multi-Function Power Station. This promised to be the Highlander of device chargers, the one to charge them all.
The Orico 10-Port Multi-Function Power Station DUK-10P arrived in a 12 3/16 inches long by 5 inches tall by 6 1/2 inches wide robin egg blue/white retail box. The front and back panels displayed a 4 1/4 inches long by 2 1/4 inches tall oblique image of the 10-port power station and four 9/16 inches diameter icons, which detailed the 10x USB Ports, 120W Fast Charge (2.4A Max output each port), Intelligent Match, Multiple protection. The left side panel provided a useful product specification chart detailing the 10 ports, DUK-10P model number, AC 100–240V-50/60Hz 2.0A max input, 5V/2.4A output per port (120W max), and the box contents (10 port charger, user manual, power cord, service card). The opposite panel provided a small 2 inches wide by 1 3/4 inches tall image of the multi-port charger, a QR code that linked to the www.orico.cc website, UPC sticker, typical manufacturing labels, and contact information. The top robin egg blue panel listed the ORICO name, the model number and product name in white, and a 4 3/4 inches long by 3/4 inches wide carry handle.
Opening the packaging, my eye was immediately drawn to the four visible grey slots of the multi-port charger wedged between two pieces of white foam. I removed the charger and found a 6 inches tall by 4 3/4 inches wide by 1 5/8 inches thick accessory box housing a 48 inches long power cable, comment card and bilingual instruction manual. The front of the power station had 10 stacked USB-A ports evenly spaced between the six central 5/8 inches wide by 5 inches long charging bays. The back panel had a power line input and an on-off power button. The bottom of the multi-charger had four 5/8 in inch diameter rubberized feet perfectly placed at each of the corners and a centralized 3 1/2 inches diameter cooling port. The instruction manual proved to be acceptably written and detailed the over current, surge, over voltage, short-circuit, overcharge, and over overpower protection. Furthermore, the manual detailed the fire-retardant nature of the product and that each port functioned independently to charge phones/tablets. Perfect for home, office, school, restaurant, the ten-port charging device seemed to be the perfect option to keep our iPads at-the-ready.
One of the first things that I realized was that the device/packaging did not provide any USB-A to USB-micro cables, USB-A to Lightning cables, nor any USB-C ports. Thus, you will need to provide your own cables. Let me simply state that I am still in search for a charging bay with included cable management. Since most cables come in lengths of one to two meters, you can expect a lot of cable sticking out of the front of your charger. As noted above, cable management to reduce the visible eye-sore was one of the features that my wife requested. With a quick search on Amazon, I was able to find several options for inch long charging cables. However, many of these options were not MFI certified and many of them would require spending more money on cables than on the multi-port charger. For example, Anker had a two-pack of USB-A to Lightning cables for $15. I did not want to spend another $50-$75 to obtain the ten cables that I needed. There were a few cheaper options but again, cheaper meant sacrificing quality. Many people already have several micro-USB and lightning cables and for some this may prove to be the perfect charging solution. If cable management is important to you, this product may not be the best option for you.
The charging bays/slots worked well to hold our unadorned iPads while charging. However, when cases were installed, the slots were not wide enough. We found that the cover style cases could be opened, the iPad could be slid into the slot but the adjacent slot needed to house the cover of the case. Thicker cases without the option to remove the cover panel did not work with this charging option. Additionally, the slots were a little too thin for my iPhone 11 Pro Max inside of most cases. I would have preferred there to be 8 slots, to have rubberized margins, and taller slots. With so many case options on the market, a thin slot to house a naked iPad does not make much sense. I would personally chose to sacrifice a few charging slots to drastically increase convenience. By widening the ports and increasing the height, This would still allow you to charge several devices but would allow the user to charge devices within cases. Even though the slots could have been a little wider, this was not a deal breaker. Since we can choose any number of case options, it may be impossible for Orico to choose a proper slot width to appease everyone/every case width.
Lastly, with the change from lighting charging to USB-C for my iPad Pro 11", and the inclusion of USB-C to Lightning options for the iPhone 11 Pro Max, I felt that the device was a little outdated. I would have loved a QC option, and at least one USB-C port. With most home circuits on 15–20A breakers, you will not be able to enjoy 2.4A output to all ten ports at once. The device has included smart technology to detect the correct charging speed, but you can expect decreased charging speeds as you increase the total number of devices. I plugged my DROK USB-C Multimeter into one of the ports, a DROK USB-A Multimeter into another and charged an iPad Mini-4, an iPad Mini-5, my iPhone 11 Pro Max and my Apple Watch Series 4. It was at this point that I realized that I would have liked to have a slide out Apple Watch tray or an accessory that would slide into the outer slots to create a table. I was able to charge my watch with the Apple Watch cable but the watch had to charge on the surface of my nightstand. This further increased the footprint of the device and increased the number of visible cables. Returning to the power output, the multimeter attached to the iPad Mini 4 read 4.97V/1.66A, while the multimeter attached to the iPad Mini-5 read 5.02V/1.19A. Charged singly, the devices each read about the same. I moved the USB-C multimeter to my iPhone 11 Pro Max and it read 4.79V/1.46A. This was nowhere near the speed of the USB C to lightning charging option but was on par with most available wireless charging options. Thus, you will need to decide if you are interested in charging speed or maximal device charging.
To summarize, there were two features that my wife requested in a multi-device charging solution. She wanted to get the iPads off of the floor/end table and to reduce the cable clutter. The Orico device promised a lot but it did not satisfy our basic needs. I was pleased with the length of the included wall charging cable, with the location of the power button and with the shape of the device. The rubberized feet decreased slippage of the device and added height to allow the cooler to keep the device cool. Despite the positives, I was dissatisfied with the placement of the USB-A ports, the width of the charging slots, with the lack of short charging cables, and with the device when using longer cables.
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Originally published at https://macsources.com on October 10, 2019.
