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With great tech gadgetry, comes the need for a great number of power outlets. One of the biggest headaches for those of us who use gadgets on our travels or outside our homes (and most of us do) is finding power outlets to charge them. Whether it is cafes, airports or hotel rooms, there is inevitably a search to find plug points where one can plug in and charge gadgettry that ranges from mobile phones to notebooks to tablets to TWS to cameras and portable speakers. Yes, power banks can help in some cases but guess what? They need to be charred too. So the quest for charging points – and hoping there are enough of them – continues.
Power strips which come with multiple charging points are a solution to this problem, but they have their own challenges. They tend to be bulky and heavy, making them inconvenient to carry, and well, the good ones tend to be expensive and the less expensive ones tend to be unsafe.
The AC outlets on the top are well spaced out. (Express Image)
So imagine our delight at finding a power strip that is not just compact and easy to carry, but is also of very good quality, and does not bust a massive hole in our bank accounts. We are talking of the Stuffcool ChargeCube 30. It was launched at about Rs 2500 in 2023, but is now available at as low as Rs 1,399 and with the right offers and deals can easily be got for under a thousand Rupees. And at that price, it is an absolute deal for those seeking power on the move.
A power strip that is actually easy enough to carry
The Stuffcool ChargeCube 30 is unlike your routine long, narrow power strip. It is square-ish and at 12 cm by 10 cm, is surprisingly compact, and it weighs just 363 grams, which is about as much as many 20000 mAh power banks! It comes with a 1.5 metre cable and a 6A and 250W three-pin plug attached to it. The plug will easily fit into most of the power outlets you find in hotels, airports and cafes. And once you have found that, you can get ready to plug in most of your gadgets, because this power strip comes loaded with charging options.
There is a USB Type A and a USB Type-C port on the other side. (Express Image)
On top of the ChargeCube 30 are three AC sockets, which can let one plug in any device that supports a regular 6A socket. You can pretty much plug in everything you carry on the move – a notebook, a monitor, a printer or a scanner to it. Just get into the hefty air conditioner, refrigerator or microwave zone and this handy power strip will meet most of your gadget charging needs. There is a switch on the side to turn the strip on and off, and in a very pleasant surprise, there is a USB Type A and a USB Type-C port on the other side, making this a very versatile gizmo.
Charge five devices at one go, from one wall outlet!
The presence of those two ports means that you can charge up to five devices at one go from the ChargeCube attached to a single wall outlet – three from the AC outlets, and two from the USB ports. One can actually charge even more devices if one uses an adaptor with multiple ports, but with a device this handy, the need does not arise. The USB ports also are pretty brisk chargers – they can charge a device at 30W. The best part is that it all works very smoothly indeed. The ChargeCube is made of sturdy plastic and is easy to carry – we have been chucking it into our bag and carrying it for a while now.
The AC outlets on the top are well spaced out – putting a plug in one will obstruct the other. Three is just the right number of AC sockets to have on a power strip – we have got sick of the times we have had a power strip with 5-6 outlets, with 2-3 almost never being utilised. The sockets are also well designed and plugs lock into place and do not wobble or fall out. The ChargeCube rests on four dot tacks that keep it in place and prevent it from sliding around on a surface. It also has a wall-hanging socket on the back, which allows one to hang it from a wall, if need be. Most importantly, it is super safe and comes with a surge protector, and the fact that it comes from Stuffcool, one of India’s leading tech accessory brands, is very reassuring. We have been using it for a while and have often charged notebooks, tablets and phones from it at the same time, with no problems whatsoever. The 30W charging in the Type-C port on the side is good enough to charge a MacBook Air or an iPhone at a brisk speed, when we do not feel like carrying their charging bricks along.
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It weighs just 363 grams, which is about as much as many 20000 mAh power banks. (Express Image)
Our only complaint about the ChargeCube is the cable accompanying it. While it is of excellent quality, its 1.5 meter length means that one has to be relatively close to the power outlet to which the ChargeCube is attached. It also restricts its ability to work as a sort of extension cord. It would have been nice to have a variant with a longer cable. And while on the subject, we would have appreciated a black or dark coloured variant too – the white and grey option and its snow white wire collect dust too easily and too often.
At Rs 2,500, the Stuffcool ChargeCube 30 had struck us as being a little on the expensive side. But at a price that is close to a thousand Rupees, it is an absolute no-brainer for anyone who carries a stackful of gadgets in their bags and keeps forgetting to keep them charged. Just like we do.
