XtremeMac InCharge Home dual USB wall charger review

Provides: 2.1 amp USB charger
Developer: XtremeMac
Minimum Requirements: USB device
Price: $34.99
Availability: Now

Increasingly, we’ve got a lot of devices to charge, right? In my house, we’ve got two iPhones and an iPad, let alone all the other non-USB playthings. I know of other families with a lot more. To keep them all working, you either need a lot of chargers or you need one device that can handle multiple products. The XtremeMac InCharge Home aims to be that device.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully succeed. This is because it’s just too basic. It’s simply a device you plug into the wall that then powers two USB devices simultaneously. That’s cool and all, but you still need to use USB cables, making this kind of a messy solution. Considering so many charging devices now let you plug your device directly into it, or even just lay it on top of it, having to mess with cables seems kind of old school.

Also, XtremeMac only includes one USB cable with the charger. That’s not a huge issue, considering your device hopefully came with its own cable, but it’s something to know.

The big benefit here, though, is that the 2.1 amp device will charge your iPad. My previous method for this was using the plug and USB cable that came with the iPad, so at least here I can still plug in the iPhone if needed…I don’t lose another outlet. In fact, the InCharge Home is designed specifically to allow access to the top outlet when plugged into the bottom one.

And in all fairness, it’s not as if there are many devices out there onto which you can just dock an iPad without killing your desktop/counter space. You pretty much need to use the cable, but the ability to dock an iPhone onto the wall charger would help to clean up some mess.

So, there’s really nothing wrong the InCharge Home. It does what it’s supposed to do, it’s just that it does it in a fairly old-fashioned way. You can charge two USB devices simultaneously, including your iPad, but you still need to bother with cables. If you’re used to that, no worries. If you’ve moved on, $35 is a bit much to spend to move back.

Appletell Rating:

Buy the XtremeMac 3 in 1 Microdock