[Nexus 5X Accessories] Alcolawl:
Introduction

One can never have too many wall chargers; especially in a day and age where people own multiple devices or live in busy households with many cellphones users under the same roof. I am one of those people, so wall chargers with multiple ports often come in handy. There are plenty on the market, but which one is the right choice? Also, I'm not a professional photographer, so some of the pictures will be less than fantastic, especially when you consider the Nexus 5X I used sucks at close-ups for some odd reason. Anyways, lets dive into the Tronsmart 33W Dual USB wall charger.

Disclaimer: I received the reviewed products from Tronsmart in exchange for this review. I have no financial stake or affiliation with this company. I've actually never even owned a Tronsmart product before. No bias exists here.

Details

Device: Tronsmart W2PTE Dual USB Quick Charger

Price: $21.99 (at the time of this review)

USB-A Output: 5V/3A(MAX)

USB-C Output: 3.6V-6.5V/3.0A,6.5V-9V/2.0A,9V-12V/1.5A(MAX)

Initial Impressions

Along with the charger, I received boxes of Black and White USB-C and USB-A to USB-C cables (four cables total). This review will not focus on the performance of the cables, as they have already been reviewed here. They do, however, adhere to the USB-C standard.

The packaging is pretty standard. They're cables and chargers, so nothing fancy is really required here. I did notice, almost immediately, the USB 2.0 logo. I'm a little disappointed that the cables are not USB 3.0 but we're really treading into nitpicking territory here. My Nexus 5X isn't USB 3.0 capable but my future devices down the road might be.

My first impressions of the charger are good. It's made of a mixture of textured and gloss plastic, the design itself is quite attractive. There are no visible seems or sharp edges in the plastic. Additionally, it has a nice heft to it, sometimes indicative of quality. The swiveling mechanism moves with an authoritative "snap", inspiring further confidence in the build quality of the product.

As mentioned previously, I received two USB-A to USB-C cables, one black and one white, and two USB-C cables in the same color arrangement. The cables are terrific. The first thing I noticed was that the cables are a bit thinner than the Choetech cables I have (same gauge as the cable that came with the phone), but are far more flexible. The flexibility is nice when charging the phone on my desk so I don't have to bend and manipulate the cable to get it in a state where it's not constantly tugging on my phone. With the less flexible Choetech cable, I felt that sometimes the cable with putting a lot of stress on the charging port of the phone. I don't have this concern with the Tronsmart cables. This is also great for travelling where I can easily coil them up and throw them in a bag without having to twisty-tie them together. The ends of the cables are also a bit nicer as well. The USB-C ends having a sloped, ergonomic shape that fits my fingers quite well.

Design and Features

The charger sits in a normal wall outlet vertically. When plugged in, it has an indicator light that glows green, which is a nice touch, but doesn't really mean anything other than that your wall outlet is working.

The charger has two ports. A USB-C port and USB-A port. The USB-C port is a Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 capable port. An ability that my Nexus 5X can't take advantage of, but is much appreciated by me nonetheless. I'm sure the charging speed will come in handy in the future. The USB-A port is a "Volt iQ" port. Volt iQ is essentially a small circuit that is able to detect the current required by the device that's being charged. It's a pretty cool feature that expands the compatibility of this charger to almost any device, even Apple products or older devices before standards (like 2.1A charging) were set in the industry.

Performance

I'm gonna be honest here, I had planned on presenting a bunch of data and results from readings taken using the popular app, Ampere. Unfortunately, readings were so sporadic I didn't even bother to continue with recording the information. I'm assuming this has more to do with the phone and its battery temperature / CPU usage and less to do with the actual charger itself. I can tell you that a pattern that quickly emerged is that the phone would not charge any faster than 2540mAh from either port, using any of the supplied cables.

2540mAh is a very respectable number and while the phone is capable of charging at 3000mAh, this number doesn't really bother me because, if anything, the battery will stay healthier longer.

It should also be mentioned that immediately after receiving these cables I visited a good friend of mine for a weekend. He has two young dogs, one German Shepherd that's 6 months old. To my dismay, I came downstairs one morning to find the dog chewing on the cable. I removed the cable from the dog's mouth and to my surprise, there was no damage to the cable. If anything this is a testament to the cable's durability. Teething Puppy-Approved.

Overall

Overall, I'm quite happy with the quality and performance of the charger and the cables. I would recommend these products to anyone looking for a good and up-to-spec charger for a decent price.

Additionally, I'd like to thank Tronsmart for the charger, cables and the opportunity.