After posting a blog post and YouTube video reviewing Imuto’s 1,038 Wh Solar Generator/Power Cube, the company reached out to me and mailed me a few more products to review. One of the items I received was their 65w USB Charger.
Earlier this week I was out in my workshop shooting a video when my iPhone died. When I pulled out my iPad (which I sometimes use as a backup or second camera) I noticed that its battery was low as well. Although I’m kind of new to all this YouTube/video stuff I’ve already learned that if you’re not recording, you should be charging. If the whole point of your recording was to capture footage of a project in progress, when the recording stops, so does the project.
In a case of serendipity, I was standing in my driveway about to go inside and grab my chargers when an Amazon deliver truck stopped in front of my house. The driver hopped out, ran up the driveway, and handed me a box. Inside the box was a USB charger from Imuto. It is difficult to imagine better timing.
Imuto’s 65w charger has two ports: a 45w USB-C port and an 18w USB-A port. Simply plug the adapter into any wall outlet, connect your cables (not included) to the adapter, and off you go. I used a USB-C cable to charge my iPad and an older USB-A cable to charge my iPhone. Both devices chimed, and the charging began.
One thing I like about this adapter is that it has a blue LED next to the USB ports, letting you know it has power. Out in my workshop, I am constantly testing outlets to see whether or not I have power. I use a lot of power strips and it seems like half the time I plug something into one, either I’ve moved the strip and forgot to plug it back into the wall, or accidentally hit the switch and turned off power to the entire strip. More than once I’ve plugged a charger into a power strip only to return later and realize it wasn’t getting any power. The blue LED on Imuto’s charger may seem like a small feature, but the minute it lights up I knew I have power. It’s just one less thing to worry about.
In my YouTube video, I mentioned that this charger wouldn’t work well for charging laptops. I should have been more specific. My laptop came with two USB chargers, one 90w and the other (for powering a USB dock), 130w. So while this charger will eventually charge my laptop, it would do so slowly. That being said, the item’s description mentions charging a MacBook Pro, which I think requires much less power.
I tend to lose a lot of adapters and break a lot of charging cables, so it seems like I’m continually re-ordering these things. For a long time I didn’t even look at brand names — I just assumed a cable was a cable. But the more of these things I order, the more I’ve realized that some companies repeatedly sell garbage while others tend to put out reliable products. So far, I’m 4-for-4 with Imuto. The Solar Generator/Power Cube I purchased from them has been working great, their braided USB cables are working with no problems, I just tested this USB charger and they also mailed me a rechargeable power bank which works great and I’ll be reviewing soon. That’s a pretty good track record for one of these companies. It’s also nice that all of these products are available on Amazon with Amazon Prime, which means instead of waiting a month (or longer) for something to travel across the ocean, it’s 1-2 day free delivery — and, if something should happen to go wrong, it also means an easy return through Amazon and not trying to mail a package to China, which can be a hassle.
My only problem with Imuto’s 65w USB charger is that after using mine for a couple of days, I already want a second one — one to keep in my laptop/travel back, and a second one to remain in my workshop!