Review: USB Battery Charger (EBL C9010N)
By @edent
· battery gadget review USB · 5 comments · 250 words
I'll review anything with a USB-C port. When hardware companies offer to send me a gadget to review, I'll always reply back with "only if it has USB-C".
The EBL C9010N has a USB micro socket. *sigh* We live in the future now. Don't buy anything which requires you to have multiple cables and adapters. In terms of what the products does, it is… basically fine. Plug in Ni-MH or Ni-CD batteries and they will slowly charge.
The batteries go in at a slight angle, which makes them slightly easier to get out.
There's an LED to show you if individual batteries are charging (red) or full (green).
And… that's it! There's no WiFi, Bluetooth, or percentage indicator - just individual LEDs. It won't ping you to say it is charged. But then, it is only a tenner.
Build quality is adequate. It is light and doesn't get too warm when charging. It clicks very gently as it charges. There's a misspelling on the back, indicating that it takes Ni-NH batteries.
If you want a cheap way to recharge batteries, this is fine. It's about a tenner for the charger by itself. If you want a charger and 8 batteries, that's about £16.
That's reasonable value for money. But, personally, I think you should treat yourself to something with more features and a modern USB port.
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@blog I’m with you on the USB-C thing. But this charger appears to be able to charge a single battery - all my other chargers insist on charging pairs. So I think I’ll get it just for that reason!
Why does this make me feel like I need to buy an RC car?
Much more expensive, but I'd recommend the XTAR VC8S (£46), which does have USB-C, works with all kinds of batteries including 18650 and 21700 Lithium-ion, has a per-slot status display and advanced features to recondition worn batteries.
A most dire inquiry says:
I've been following your blog for some time now and have never quite understood, what's with the C-type worship? I mean, I guess I'm an old fogey, but the port bidirectionality never seemed that much of a feature hmm. I agree with you if it's just to cut down on a standard, but why C specifically yknow (it's so small and flimsy! why not just A).
@edent says:
Because I remember when my watch, phone, laptop, printer, book, and torch all took a different cable. If I went away, I'd need to pack a dozen different chargers. If I went to a friend's house, I couldn't charge my Nokia because they were HTC people.
It having rotational symmetry is nice - but the fact that the entire world of electronics has converged on a single standard is a game changer. When I go on holiday, I take one cable and it does everything.
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