Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station Review

The End All Charging Station for iPhone Users

Energizer is no stranger when it comes to batteries, but in recent years the company has been trying to break into new markets with their strong brand name. Energizer has been releasing accessories for smartphones for some time now and this fall we noticed that they came out with a charging power station for travelers with an Apple iPhone or iPod, called the Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station.

The Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station was designed to be the all-in-one device that you need for all of your charging needs when you travel out of town. The features for this 120V AC device are rather impressive.

Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station ENG-SPMFI1:

• 3 Surge Protected Outlets Rated at 612 Joules
• 30-pin Apple iPhone and iPod Charging Dock
• 1 USB Charging Port Rated at 1-Amp
• Nightlight with Switch to turn on and off

As you can see the Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station offers a wide variety of charging solutions that should all be handy to frequent travelers.

Inside the box you’ll find the charging station, three docking plates (iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS & iPod) and a small one-sided page of instructions.

The docking plates just pop off and on and ensure that your iPhone or iPod fits properly in the charging station. If you use a case on your device then you won’t be needing any of the docking plates as the phone will be too thick to fit in the respective plates. The Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station is fully compatible with all iOS devices including iPhone, iPad and iPod. This means that you won’t be seeing the Charging is not Supported message that comes up on your iPhone when you plug it into a non-compliant USB or 30-Pin dock connector.

On the right side of the charging station you’ll fine the single USB charging port that is rated at 1 Amp and the on/off switch for the LED nightlight located along the bottom of the device. When we first heard about this device we saw some renderings that had two USB ports and while the plastic housing looks like it was designed for two USB ports only one made it on the final product for some reason.

The nightlight emits a white light that is enough to illuminate the immediate surroundings, but not bright enough to drive you crazy while you are trying to sleep at night. As we mentioned there is a switch to turn it off, so no big deal.

The a 120 VAC power plug is able to rotate 180-degrees to fit into tight places. If you plug it into the top power outlet you’ll still have access to the power outlet, so by using the iSurge Travel Charging Station you’ll end up with a total of four 120 VAC power outlets, the Apple 30-pin connector and the USB charging port. Notice that you need three prong outlets with a ground, so beware if you travel to old hotels or motels.

It should be noted that this is not designed for international travelers as this is a 120 V product and can’t be used in an adapter in a country that is running 220 V. The 120 V limitation is due to the 612 Joules surge protection feature. The designers of this product had to choose between offering surge protection or the ability to support 110-220 V power grids and Energizer picked surge protection over maximum flexibility.

One other area that we need to touch on is that power plug doesn’t fold flat for packing, so the device does take up a fair amount of room when packing. We couldn’t find any measurements or the weight on Energizer for this device, so we found them on our own. The charging station measures 3.750″ x 2.625 x 2.563″ and weights 5.5 ounces. Not a very small device as you can see.

At the end of the day the Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station was found to be a nice charging device. It has the ability to charge an iPhone, a USB port and three devices plugged into the grounded and surge protected 120V outlets. The one thing that we haven’t mentioned yet is the price and there was a reason for that. We wanted to show you what the charging station could do before dropping a bomb on you. The lowest price that we could find the Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station was $59.99 shipped. That is a pretty hefty sum for a charger, but think about all the cables and headaches that it will eliminate when traveling or even at home.

We hope that Energizer sticks with this design and maybe come out with a second version that has some new features. Many consumers would love to have the ability to pick between white and black color options to match their phones. We’d also like to see one designed for international travelers that has a lay flat plug and the ability to work on 110-220 Volt outlets.

Legit Bottom Line: The Energizer iSurge Travel Charging Station is the Swiss Army Knife of chargers, but still has room for improvement.