So, this is my review of the Tronsmart TS-CC4PC Car Charger. Disclosure being, Tronsmart was looking for reviewers for their product, and driving a tractor trailer, I am in a unique position to give products a bit of a more thorough testing than most people can, due to the large amount of miles I drive every week. Tronsmart agreed and sent me a unit directly at no cost to me. For reference, the cost currently on amazon is 19.99$ fulfilled by amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_2&sr=8-2Lets start off with what it comes with, it does come in a nice box, you get a small Volt IQ booklet, a user manual, and a USB cable. The USB cable is a nice touch, as one can never have to many USB cables. The Volt IQ booklet just states that Volt IQ selects the fastest charging speed for the device you plug in. And the manual is, well, it's a manual, it's there if you wish to take a peek at it. I personally did not look at the manual for a car charger!
Size wise, it's about the length of my finger, the knife in the picture is just a 3inch blade, 5inch closed utility knife that I use. The charger itself is right around 3.5inches x 2inches. Not the smallest, as it is a 4 port after all. But it fits nicely into my personal vehicle, and my tractor.
Probably one of the reason you'll buy this charger is for the Quick Charge 2.0. The quick charge port is denoted by blue in the ports, similar to how USB 3.0 is coming off the motherboard of your pc. If you own a Note 5 like myself, your phone can take advantage of it. And yes, it is fast. Basically a full charge in a bit over an hour. I generally leave my phone plugged in almost 24/5 while I am in my truck, for the past couple of weeks, I have not been doing that, I've been letting it sit unplugged, and then plugging it in as it drains to various levels to test the capability of the fast charging. You can literally watch the % go up when charging if you feel the need, but either way it's fast......Please remember as well, from my knowledge some USB cables won't use the quick charge, the tronsmart cable that comes with it does, and the 2 other cables I had that I tested it did. But some older/cheaper cables may not use the fast charging.
Now, this is the 4 port version. I actually specifically requested this model, as driving a truck I have tons of electronics plugged in at various times throughout the day/night. My charger is also plugged in permanently in my truck, with cords being swapped out quite often throughout the day as I go in/out, and into my sleeper and back to my cab. So far it's handled everything I've thrown at it, I did test it with 4 products plugged in, and it worked great, and charged fine although my testing with this was limited, as generally I have 3 plugged in(bluetooth headset, note 5, nexus 9), and with those being plugged in multiple times a day, it still, works perfectly as expected. I've often had problems with other car chargers due to low power output when it comes to my nexus 9 tablet, and my note 5, I often times load up the hotspot on my note 5 and stream netflix on my nexus 9, while browsing on my note, and this charger had no problems keeping both charged, and I cannot tell you how irritating it was to be watching netflix, and happen to notice the battery on my nexus 9 would be down to 10% just from streaming. This was one of my main concerns with the charger and figured if it failed, I wouldn't even be able to recommend this charger, luckily it handled it without issue, and even continued to charge my nexus 9/note 5 while streaming, which the cheap chargers will not do with a nexus 9 with it's large screen.
Another problem I have with car chargers in a truck, is build quality. A serious issue is with them popping loose out of my cigarette outlets due to poor roads. The Tronsmart actually is built quite well. It's not heavy by any means, although a bit heavier than the cheap chargers you'll get from gas stations or truck stops, it feels solid in your hands. The side metal pieces actually have a bit of resistance when pushed in, which helps keep it planted in the outlet. Generally I've noticed on the cheaper chargers they are just simply a piece of metal, this charger actually has almost a 'springy' feel to it, they also give a satisfying 'click' when you push them in with your finger and release . I don't expect any build quality issues anytime soon with this charger.
I was also concerned about heat issues with having a 4 port, as often times sitting in my truck, in the sun, will be quite hard on the electronics. I didn't notice any excess heat with this charger at all, and while it's certainly almost winter, so the temps in the 90+ are gone, with the sun beating down on the truck, it gets warm fast in there.
And thank you Tronsmart for not including an LED light on this unit. I cannot stress this enough, it's so easy to simply plug your phone, or something into a car charger to verify it's working, I don't need a bright led light to shine into my eyes to tell me it's on, I can plug it in and test it in 3 seconds myself. Such a little thing, but it's welcome in my eyes.
The one issue I did have, was with the provided USB cable. It is a quick charge cable, but it's still a little on the cheap side. The USB cable connector for my note 5 was starting to bend occasionally, my guess is this is due to the abuse, and fairly constant unplugging/replugging into my phone, getting smacked accidently as I move around in my truck, etc. I've simply bent the connector back and haven't had any issues, that said, should it bend to far, longevity of the cord that comes with the charger may be an issue depending on how much abuse you put it through, which for me, is far more than the average person. And of course, the USB cable is just a nice addition to your purchase, most of us have plenty of these lying around already, and it's nice of Tronsmart to add another to my collection, even if it's not the highest quality.
For reference the vehicle in the picture it's installed in is a 2014 Freightliner Cascadia if anyone is wondering why there is so much room, and it looks far different from any other vehicles dash setup, it is a 20k lbs tractor ;)
At the end of the day, for 20$ currently on amazon, I find it hard to think you could ask for much more out of this charger, the fast charge works, the other ports work well, the power output is high enough to keep whatever you need charged, even while in use. It holds in your outlet well, and it doesn't have any annoying LED light lighting up your vehicle in the middle of the night. I actually hope to grab myself a 2nd, or even a 3rd to place into my sleeper of my truck instead of dealing with the cheap one I currently have back there and for my personal vehicle. I can't say I've ever owned a non-cheap one before this, but let me tell you, I should have bought one years ago instead of wasting my time with the cheap walmart/gas station ones.......And if there are any questions, feel free to ask as I'll subscribe to the thread.
TL;DR If you need a car charger with 4 ports and a fast charge port, this charger works well, and I really don't see how you could be disappointed with your purchase of this charger.
