Kensington Mini Car Charger for Mobile Devices with USB Port

I have a Motorola Droid smart phone that eats battery power for lunch, especially when using the GPS feature, so I needed a car charger for longer car trips. Instead of buying an OEM charger that is only designed to work with my phone, I decided getting a universal USB charging port was the way to go. After looking at a few options, I decided on the Kensington mainly because of brand recognition and low cost.

The charger itself is just a simple plug that you insert into your car's power port. Then you plug in your USB cable to it and voila, you've got continuous power to your device while charging. The "mini" car charger really is small and nearly sits flush inside the power port. I barely notice it's there.

The only thing that didn't really work to expectation was the power LED light. It is SO dim that you can barely see it at night and can't see it at all in daylight. I tried two of them to be sure. Also, it doesn't look the same as in the Amazon photos. It's slightly different. One, the piece of plastic inside the USB port is black, not white as in the picture. Additionally, the LED is not open but rather sits behind plastic, which is flush to the face. Maybe that's why it is so dim since it is trying to glow through black plastic.

The Kensington Mini Charger is really pretty cool given what it is. I like the size, price, and utility. I know that you can get 2-port USB chargers for just a few dollars more, but I didn't need multiple ports and preferred the "mini" size. I highly recommend it.

The item was received well before it was promised but it was not the exact item protayed. The image and infromation states that it has a power indicator light but not on the item I received. It would be a nice addition to the user. The item does work great just miss the power indicator.

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The plus side for this device is that it is compact and the LED power indicator doesn't blind you.

Unfortunately, this charger does not work with all of my devices, as the output is only 700 mA. Check to see what your device needs before buying it.

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Originally I said:

"As warned in other reviews, my unit does NOT have the very useful indicator light! If you think that you are getting what they advertise, you are wrong.

"I have only had it a few days, so cannot comment on reliability, but it APPEARS to be well constructed. But, bait and switch is no fun for the consumer."

PS: When I spoke with Amazon about the bait & switch, they very kindly shipped me "...a new unit WITH the light. Just like the photo."

Not exactly.

It arrived as promised and that was kind of them. There is no LED visible on the 1st or 2nd one if you hold in your hand. The 2nd is IDENTICAL to the 1st. Upon careful examination I found that the first one sent DOES have a dim LED deep inside the case, that can be dimly seen through the translucent end case when the power is on, but it is hard to see.

I apologize for not being able to see the LED and saying there was none. I still say that it does not look like the photo. The light is hidden. But if you look VERY close in dim light or in the dark, there is one. So, they and I are both sort of correct, sort of wrong.

It is very compact and does look high quality. Time will tell on that. I paid for the 2nd one and kept both. How weird is that?

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Works great but not as pictured. There is no indicator light. Even the box that it comes in shows the indicator light but the actual product does not have one.