
We own a ton of electronic devices and since they are all portable they go with us in our vehicles. Toss in a couple of grandkids and add in their equipment and then you have a lot of electronic devices being used on long trips that need to be charged. You might also be limited to the number of car power sockets that are available in your vehicle. Most USB car chargers have one port and they are limited to 1 Amp or 2 Amps output. This big brother of all chargers has two USB ports and can handle 15 watts of DC power or 3.1 Amps of total charging power. That means I can charge my iPad 3 and my iPhone simultaneously without any issues and at full speed.
This is a good car charger that features two USB charging ports that can be used at the same time. One USB port is designed for Apple products and it is labeled with an A. The NA port can charge your iPhone and any other compatible USB device. My iPad 2 and my iPad 3 could only charge in the A port. Both outputs are rated at 3.1 Amps but the total current out of both ports combined while in use at the same time is 3.1 Amps
The unit comes with no cables but since it is touted as a universal charger and there are so many different types of charger cables I cannot fault them for not supplying one. Many chargers with cables are over $20 to $25 and the cables may only fit one family of devices.
Pros
* Dual port
* Charge an iPhone in either port
* Can charge the iPad 2 or 3 in the Apple A port at 2 amps even if you are charging your iPhone at the same time
* Both ports charge up to 3.1 Amps if only one port is being used
* Nice red LED light around USB ports so you can see it in the dark, know it is in a live car charging port and you can see the USB plug location.
* Max 15 watts of charging output which will charge two iPhones at the same time quickly.
* Self-monitoring circuitry protects for over-heating, over-current and over-charging protection.
* Provides fast charging of an iPhone 4 using which is very useful if you are in a hurry.
* Features four spring loaded retention balls to securely hold the charger into the car DC power plug
Cons
* Charger body is longer than many plugs, it can be easy to bump but it is nicely designed and functional.
Products I tested it with:
* Apple iPhone 4 works in both ports
* iPad 2 worked in the Apple port only
* iPad 3 worked in the Apple port only
* Kindle File worked in both ports
* Kindle Keyboard worked in both ports
* HP TouchPad did not work in either port as the specifications state.
* It is also not compatible with the Asus Transformer or the Motorola Xoom
This is a good product and the price is good also. It provides excellent performance and it worked well in all of my testing. I highly recommend it to you.
I was provided an evaluation unit for testing and agreed to provide a fair and honest review.

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I just bought the iPhone5 and wanted to be able to charge it on the go in my vehicle. This works great. It holds securely in the 12V rounded plug in my vehicle. It does not wobble once in. It does not stick out too far, only extends to the end of the flip cover over the plug, not beyond it. It has a little red light to indicate connection. Actually you can see a bit of red glowing from the two USB ports in lower light. The USB ports are clearly marked for Apple "A" and non-Apple "NA". I connected the lightning to USB cable to my phone and this charger and my phone immediately sprang to life to indicate it was charging. It seemed to charge rather fast too, compared to the charger I use in the house. Great little charger and seems well made.
2/18/13 Update I have been using for over 4 months now and it is a fantastic charger. I can leave it in my vehicle even in sub-freezing weather. It works perfectly as soon as I plug it into the socket.
4/28/13 update looks like my photos have been removed. Not sure what that is all about. Looks like a different amazon product pic than what was on here before so don't know if they removed photos in the process. Hmmm.
Buy PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A 15w High Output Car Charger - White Now
(#1 REVIEWER)I tested PowerGen Dual Port USB Car Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player. My original test for Nexus devices was using Jelly Bean 4.1, I repeated the tests for Jelly Bean 4.21 and saw a significant difference. I updated this review to show the differences between two releases.
I received PowerGen car charger for testing from the manufacturer to write an honest and unbiased review and you will find both pluses and minuses of my experience in this review.
I am attaching a collage of 3 photos labeled with numbers 1 through 3 under customer photos that I will be referencing in this review.
The first thing I noticed that this car charger is fairly short (3 inches in length, 1 inch by 1 2/8 in width). Photos #1 shows this plug plugged in.
The plug has two ports labeled "A" and "NA" which stands for Apple and Non-Apple devices. I own all Android devices but I tested both ports to see their behavior with my devices. The charger comes without a USB cord, so tested it with the USB cords that came with my devices.
I used Battery App to determine how each device recognized the external battery pack. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.
The key findings:
(1) Samsung Galaxy 7.7 cannot be charged with this car charger with either port
(2) "A" port provides reduced power for some non-Apple devices and does not work for others
*** Update 1/11/2013 ***
I repeated the test with Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.21 and both ports are now charging it at AC rate. The original test which showed poor performance on Apple port was Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.1.
I also retested Galaxy Nexus Phone running CyanogenMod 10.1 version of Jelly Bean 4.21, both ports also show charging at AC rate.
The table below summarizes my findings:
Nexus 7 Tablet
--------------
A port -discharging (Jelly Bean 4.1)
A port -AC (Jelly Bean 4.21)
NA port -AC
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone
--------------------------
A port -USB (Jelly Bean 4.1)
A port -AC (Jelly Bean 4.21)
NA port -AC
Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (photo #2 and $3 show Galaxy tablet is running battery app and showing "discharging" on both port)
--------------------------
A port -discharging
NA port -discharging
SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
A port -charged at USB rate
NA port -charged at AC rate
The behavior with Nexus devices was consistent and good on "NA" port. After upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21 both Nexus devices are charging at AC rate on the Apple port.
Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 did not work (was discharging) in both ports.
The MP3 player worked in both ports, but as USB rate in "A" port and at "AC" rate in in "NA" port. When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger (photo #3), the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon, the MP3 content is not played. When MP3 was plugged into the PowerGen plug (photo #3) it continued to play the content. I listen to books on my MP3 player so this caused me to move forward in my book and I had to manually reset my position by a few chapters to get back to where I was when I started charging. The positive side of this, is that is possible to continue listening while MP3 is recharging.
To summarize:
I liked:
---------
1. Good behavior with Nexus devices.
2. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
3. Can charge two devices (but one at a reduced rate for non-Apple devices)
I did not like:
--------------
1. Did not work with for my Samsung Galaxy tablet
2. (Not applicable after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21) For non-Apple devices one port has less power or does not work
3. (Not applicable after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21) For non-Apple devices the less useful plug takes up a little extra room
Overall, after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21 this plug has an excellent performance on both ports for Android devices.
Ali Julia review
Read Best Reviews of PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A 15w High Output Car Charger - White Here
After reading many reviews I finally purchased this PowerGen 3A car charger and a PowerGen 2A charger http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0073FCPSK/ for use at home.
It is quite difficult to find a non-OEM charger for home or car that will charge a smartphone at a fast speed (AC rate) as many chargers are designed to meet the charging specs for Apple devices despite claims to be compatible with Android smartphones. Apple uses a configuration that is completely different/non-compliant (not a shock considering its Apple) from the USB standards used by nearly all other manufacturers for identifying a source as AC (1A+) vs USB (500mA) to signal the device that a higher amperage charging rate is available.
I tried several locally available chargers including a couple of different Griffin chargers that were advertised as 2A smartphone and tablet compatible. All delivered a USB rate (500mA) charge according to the battery monitoring app on my phone.
Both of these PowerGen products provide an Apple and non-apple charging port. Unlike many other products, however, the NA charging port on both this car charger and the home charger in the link above provide true AC rather than USB charging rates for smartphones as the manufacturer has chosen to abide by the USB specs. The two middle data pins are "shorted" together on the NA port so that it is identified by the phone as being capable of supporting more than the 500mA draw that would be available from a computer's USB port. I can't speak to if the Apple port works correctly with Apple devices as I don't own any, but the A port is certainly capable of charging a "dumb" cell phone at the same time an Android device is charging.
For anyone who has a charger already that seems slow, check your charging rate to see if it says USB or AC in the System settings on your Android device. If it reports USB, you can make a charging cable by cutting into a micro USB cable and clipping the white and green data lines. Twist and solder the white and green wires together on the side leading to the mini USB plug but do not connect the two on the side leading to the full sized USB plug.
Amazon sells a charging cable http://www.amazon.com/Naztech-Micro-USB-Charging-Cable/dp/B003VYBCAY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=20C2BFV6B1WUU&coliid=I23ZHJ3HLNQAQE if you don't feel up do making one yourself.
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I have tested this car charger with OEM Apple Cable, not aftermarket cables.
It will charge any iPhone including iPhone 5 while a iPad mini or 4th Gen with Retina Display is plugged into the 2nd port. While charging time was decreased on both devices, it served its purpose of giving any of the combination of iOS devices listed above a charge at the same time.
Charging the iOS device one at a time as needed worked as expected with no decrease in charging times.
The 2.1amp port also helps give the iPad mini or iPhone 5 a much faster charge time, than their OEM chargers. Due to the fact that the iPhone 5 and iPad mini only come with a 5 Watt power supply. This car charger supplies up to 10 Watts (which is what iPad 1st Gen, 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen needed).
Keep in mind that the iPad 4th Gen with Retina uses 3.1 amps not 2.1. The OEM power supply is larger than any other iPad, coming with a 12 Watt power supply (3.1amps) instead of 10 Watt (2.1amps). However this charger still works, just a decrease in normal charging time.
Hope this helps, as there were really no reviews on if this car charger works with 2012 iOS devices, mainly iPads (Mini, 3rd & 4th Gen). All test were run on 11/28/2012.
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