Belkin Dual Car Charger

Belkin is known for a variety of different accessories that can help make your life easier without costing a lot of money.

If you’re like me and own a bunch of different electronic gadgets you take on road trips, it’s likely you also worry about how long those gadgets will last on a battery charge, especially when it comes to smart phones.

Belkin Dual Car Charger
[What’s in the box]

The 12-volt cigarette socket found in most vehicles can be used to charge devices such as a smartphone or tablet. Enter Belkin’s Dual Car Charger with Lightning to USB Cable.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

Belkin’s charger can power (or charge) two separate USB-based devices via the vehicle’s 12-volt cigarette socket, giving each USB port 10 watts at 2.1 amps, the recommended power needed to charge devices quickly.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

It also comes packaged with a 1.2M (4 ft.) Lightning cable for (newer) Apple products. Any USB charging cable that’s compatible with your device will work. While some vehicles have dedicated USB ports, they’re typically used to interface devices to the vehicle’s stereo and usually not designed to charge devices quickly.

Design

Compared to other 12-volt USB charging devices I’ve used, Belkin’s is a bit larger, likely due to the electronics used to maintain the 10W/2.1A per port without blowing up devices attached to it. In one of our vehicles (2013 Mazda 3 Sport), the 12-volt port is hidden behind a small panel and if we use this particular charger, we’re not able to close the port.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

Belkin Dual Car Charger

This model also has a nice blue LED ring around both ports to let you easily see the USB ports while confirming that it’s receiving power from the car.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

Due to its larger footprint, Belkin Dual Car Charger’s easier to remove. My current charger – although it allows me to close my console panel – is really hard to remove from the 12-volt port. Belkin’s is much easier to grasp and remove when I need to stow it or use it elsewhere.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

Test Drive

When it comes to actually using the Belkin Dual Port Car Charger, it does deliver as promised. When driving, I’ve found that while I use Waze for GPS and live traffic, my Apple iPhone 6 Plus actually charges during my drive instead of just maintaining current battery level — at the very least, battery depletion is slower.

Belkin Dual Car Charger

I tested it on a drive home from work which ended up being about an hour due to traffic. My phone was at 56% battery and when I arrived at home it was almost at 80%, something the previous car charger I used couldn’t achieve. In fact, that leads me to believe that my previous car charger is not a true 2.1A charger as it claimed to be.

The Belkin Dual Car Charger definitely performs and ensures that whatever I attach to it will be charged more than it was before starting the journey.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a great way to charge your electronic devices while on the road, I would recommend checking out the Belkin Dual Car Charger. You may want to check to ensure it fits where your 12-volt port is, and if it fits, it will keep your gadgets power-happy as you go about your driving adventures.

The included Lightning cable is a nice touch, as this product is designed For iPod, iPhone and iPad — you can’t go wrong with an extra cable in the vehicle. The Dual Car Charger retails for $44.99 and is available online.

Photos (with exception of top image) by Tyler Ingram.

About Our Contributor Tyler Ingram

Tyler Ingram

Software engineer Tyler (@TylerIngram) has worked with computers for over 30 years. Fascinated by the latest consumer gadgets, he’s always looking for the next exciting gizmo to play with. Tyler’s an avid photographer who loves capturing images of landscapes, wildlife, travel and people.

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