Box, a company that you might not have heard of yet but is one you might start hearing a lot more about. They’re a UK based tech company who make peripherals for your phone, tablet or laptop and they gave us a chance to take a look at some of their latest products.
The first is arguably the least exciting but certainly the handiest I found, it’s a good old socket extender. Now, of course, if you’re updating a classic for 2016 then it needs to look sleek and the Surge Smart is a nice addition to the living room or bedside. It’s designed from a single piece of aluminum and wouldn’t look out of place next to a sleek new Apple Macbook or iMac.
Safety is a top priority too, it’s underwritten by a £25,000 (€25,000) insurance policy so if you want to take the highest precautions with your devices you can. It also features 4 USB ports free-ing up the plugs from chargers. It’s an incredibly useful bedside charger, right now I have a Smartwatch charger, phone charger and two Micro USB cables plugged in and I still have all my plug sockets free. My only gripe? The cable! I had to re-jig the set up in my room to get things right as the 1m cord was too small. Here’s hoping some longer versions come out but it’s honestly worth it
Next up, the old reliable. The portable charger. Box’s portable charger is decked out in a sandstone finish (which OnePlus owners might know well), features two USB out ports and one Micro USB port in to charge. Tap the device and it’ll light up and show you how much battery is life.
I have to say, this thing is STURDY. I accidentally dropped this on my toe one morning on the way to work and let’s just say my toe lost the battle, not the charger. It’s 6000MaH capacity should get your phone charged up easily, but you might struggle to charge a full tablet. Size wise, it’s a bit big for a 6000 MaH battery, but I’ve found it to be really reliable.
Lastly, I got to try the Car Smart, a 4 port car USB charger. Now, I’m still learning to drive so I didn’t quite get a chance to test drive this but I gave it to a friend to review for me. It has the capacity to simultaneously charge up to four tablets (but whether you’d want to put such a strain on the car battery is a different issue!).
The charger is well designed and is very handy for charging a phone or two at a time. There’s a lot of these on the market, you’ll see them in every car garage. If you’re going to have something draw so much power from the battery then I advise you, go with Box’s Car Smart. It’s very high quality!
I’m really excited to see what they come up with next, especially with a USB C revolution around the corner. You’ll find Box products at most online retailers and Dixons Travel in Dublin Airport.