Scosche POWERVOLT POWER DELIVERY 3.0 REVIEW Dual Port USB C and USB A Wall Charger
With Christmas just around the corner, many people struggle to find a gift for those who seem to have everything. I know that my wife struggles with this problem every year. People may ask for tablets, phones, gaming consoles, and larger tech pieces, only to forget about upgrading their cables and wall chargers. With wall charging real estate at a premium, the single port chargers that come with these devices are woefully inadequate. Additionally, as the charging medium shifts from USB-A to USB-C and from USB-micro and Lightning to USB-C more devices require you to obtain a USB-C capable charger or to use some form of an adapter/dongle. It is for that reason that I suggest looking into multi-port chargers like the dual port USB-C USB-A charger from SCOSCHE.
The SCOSCHE POWERVOLT arrived in a 3 3/4 inches wide by 6 inches tall by 1 1/4 inches thick retail box. Similar to Apple packaging, SCOSCHE intelligently utilized a pristine white background on their packaging. Along the top of the cover, you will find the title was provided in three languages, English, French, and Spanish. I loved the bold color but felt that the other two languages should have been in the same bold black color and not lighter grey. Along the left edge of the cover, toward your right, there was a 3X battery icon which added a touch of lime green coloration. With the white background and black font, the splash of color was refreshing. Beneath the battery icon, there was a folding prong icon, an icon detailing the ability to charge two devices and three icons showing compatibility with MP3 Player, Android phones and tablets. The eye-catching centerpiece was the 2×2 inch raised-glossy black picturesque image of the dual port charger. The left side panel contained a subtle SCOSCHE icon, and the right side panel provided a bilingual verbal list of USB-C compatible devices (smartphones, tablets, digital cameras), detailed the three-year limited-warranty and provided the product specifications: input 100–240VAC/0.8A at 50/60Hz, output USB A 5VDC/2.4A (12W), USB-C 5VDC/3A and 9VDC/2A (18W). The top panel provided a hanging hook and listed the product title. The bottom panel provided a product SKU, the typical product labels, a designed in the USA and manufactured in CHINA logo.
Turning the packaging over, my eyes were immediately drawn to the graph along the top. Having spent numerous years in college taking science classes, my inner nerd was appeased. Charge time in minutes was listed along the X-axis and Battery % was listed along the Y-axis. The legend showed the black line to represent a standard 5W iPhone X charger and the green line represented 18W USB-C PD (power delivery). The device is capable of a maximum output of 30W, 18W from the USB-C port and 12W from the USB-A port. Evaluating the graph, charging over a 45-minute time frame, the standard charger would take your phone from 0–25%, and the 18W USB-C charger would take your phone to just under 75%. By 115 minutes, the SCOSCHE charger would fully charge the phone, and the standard 5W charger would take 165 minutes, to get to full power. Within the packaging, I found a clear plastic tray/lid, containing the 2 3/8 inches long by 2 1/4 inches tall by 1 1/8 inches thick dual-port charger. The back of the charger had a well placed, retractable, type-B wall plug. I was pleased SCOSCHE did not centralize the port, instead opting to localize the port closer to the top of the charger. The placement of the wall port allowed the charger to rest low enough to not crowd the upper wall port. Unfortunately, if you plug this device into the upper wall port, you will block the lower outlet. This device is also not ideal for surge protectors/powerstrips that have their ports oriented with the axis of the device. I prefer surge protectors/powerstrips that angle the ports perpendicular to the axis for this reason.
To test the output, I plugged the SCOSCHE POWERVOLT into a lower outlet and then plugged a DROK USB-C Multimeter into the USB-C port. I added a USB-C to Lightning cable and plugged the lightning cable into my iPad Pro 10.5″. At 10:51 PM, and at 77% power, the iPad began to charge. The USB-C Multimeter display showed that the iPad charged at 9.07–9.11V/1.57–1.98A. By 10:57 PM, my iPad Pro 10.5″ was at 81%, by 11:06 PM it was at 88% and by 11:15 PM it was at 91%. During this test, I plugged a second DROK USB-C multimeter into the USB A port and simultaneously charged an iPad mini 4. While the iPad Pro 10.5″ charged through the USB-C port at roughly 1% every 1.5–2 minutes, the iPad Mini 4 charged at 5V/1.92A. The iPad Mini was at 13% at 11:23 PM, 18% by 11:28 PM, 21% by 11:32 PM and was at 40% by 12:00 AM. In the meantime, my iPad Pro 10.5″ was charged to full by 11:39 PM. I repeated testing with my iPhone XS Max and with my Nintendo Switch and found that the charge rate was more than satisfactory. The black coloration of the charger provided a tactical feel, and the retractable wall outlet enhanced the portability of the charger. I liked those features, and I was glad to hear that the company built the chargers with overcharge and overheating protection. If you are looking for a device that can charge two iPhone XS Max simultaneously, this may be your device. As I typed this review on my 2015 MacBook Pro, I wondered how the power delivery system would work for the newest MacBook Pro. I look forward to using this device with my new iPad Pro 11 inch, once it arrives. For now, the device works well to charge both USB-C and USB-A devices. For those looking for a last minute stocking stuffer, this device may be a great option for the tech lover in your family.
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Originally published at macsources.com on January 3, 2019.
