In a nutshell: Accell PowerGenius is a bizarrely designed surge protector, yet functional and is the answer to your “blocked outlet” woes.
Surge protectors are boring: they are mainly rectangular boxes with multiple power outlets designed to protect your device from voltage spikes. Bear in mind that these can be dangerous, considering that they may overload your chargers and cause it to short the circuits. They look dull and lackluster, but are essential if you regularly plug in your Mac and other electronic devices. And hey, who doesn’t?
We’ve also faced the perennial problem of having to deal with blocked power surge outlets. For example, you’re currently charging your iPhone, have an electric fan plugged in, along with another electronic device. There’s a single outlet in the middle, but due to the bulky nature of the Mac’s charger plug, there’s no way you can insert it.
In this case, where in the world can you charge it?
Well, you don’t have to look any further: the Accell PowerGenius surge protector is the answer to your woes.
Design and elements
At first glance, it doesn’t look much. However, do you notice the lines separating each outlet?
This is the beauty of the PowerGenius: those crevasses allow each outlet to somehow rotate 180 degrees. Basically, you can simply rotate one of the outlets and seamlessly insert another plug without any real estate problems. This comes in handy especially if you’re utilizing bulky iPhone and iPad chargers.
Apart from the outlets, there are also a couple of USB ports which can dish out five volts and 2.4 amps directly to a device using a USB charger. This is where it comes in handy: if you don’t want to use the outlets or if you have a fear of plugging them in, you can simply use the USB chargers.
The other elements are nothing new: it comes with a power switch to turn it on/off and a six foot cable. It also comes with two LED lights – the green one indicates if it’s doing its regular job of protecting your chargers and devices from power surges, while the red one tells you if everything’s ok. They should have switched it up though.
Safety
Accell PowerGenius does not only come with looks and functionality alone, but it also comes with a few safety features designed to protect your devices when the situation goes haywire for some reason.
First, it’s equipped with a circuit breaker (15-amp), which shuts it down if one of the devices you plugged, including chargers and appliances, malfunctions or ends up getting on fire. It also enables the surge protector to shut the power strip if its electrical intake exceeds the 1800 watts.
Second, Accell PowerGenius is also equipped with metal-oxide varistors which protect the plugged devices. They are in turn protected by fireproof casing which prevents it from catching fire if the electrical wires overload it with thousands of volts. Though this is unlikely to happen to you, it’s still a must: after all, it’s better to be safe than sorry!
Lastly, if the power strip is unable to protect devices from power surges, it will cease to function. The device will no longer conduct electricity to the power outlets to ensure your safety, along with that of your devices.
Though power surge problems are rarely an issue nowadays, bear in mind that it can still happen, especially if there’s a blackout and you left one of your devices plugged in. It happened to a couple of years ago: I didn’t remove my old MacBook’s charger from an outlet and when the power went back suddenly, I heard a little click and the charger was dead. Luckily, the MacBook was relatively unaffected.
Testing it
The Accell PowerGenius is pretty convenient and easy to use, especially when rotating the outlets. I didn’t have to exert a lot of force in doing so. As for inserting the plugs, I could seamlessly insert a four large chargers into the six outlets (with them rotated, of course). However, doing so required a bit of brainpower, considering that arranging them all to fit the surge protector is quite tricky. The charging time is relatively unaffected – it just went
Even if it does an impeccable job of protecting your devices, it does have a couple of downsides. First is the cable only being six feet: it could have helped if it were longer. Second is it having clamps or adhesives which can be used to stick them to a wall or under your desk. Though you can make it your next DIY project, it would have been better if it came equipped with any of the two.
Overall, we highly recommend Accell PowerGenius. It will definitely get the job done and it screams of convenience just by looking at it. It’s also affordable at $29.99 – it’s worth the investment.
