Charge4All Charging Tube Review

We use affiliate links. If you buy something through the links on this page, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Learn more.

charge4all review 1I’ve been using one of those inexpensive, black plastic charging stations on my bedside table for recharging my phone, iPod touch, and my Sony reader.  Those stations are nice because they only need one outlet, but it takes up a lot of room on my table.  I like the idea of those charging mats, but they don’t seem to work with all my electronics.  I’d also like something compact and easily packable – something I could easily use at home and just throw into my gear bag when I travel without adding bulk and weight to my overstuffed Tom Bihn bag.  I found what seemed to be the charging system of my dreams recently when I was surfing to find interesting items for Gadgeteer news posts.  Charge4All makes a series of charging stations that consists of a thin, tube-shaped charger with four outlets to connect adapters used by your various gadgets.  It certainly seems compact, but is the Charge4All system what I’ve been looking for?

charge4all review 2Charge4All offers three systems, any of which certainly classifies as compact.  I decided I’d just buy the simplest system consisting of the charging tube, its power adapter, and a set of five charging cables.  The Charge4All systems are all supplied with the following cables:  Apple iPod/iPhone connector, mini USB, micro USB, LG Chocolate, and Samsung SCH.  I have no use for the last two in the list, but I need all three of the others for various devices I use.  Charge4All offers a total of 29 charging cables (including the five already listed) you can purchase separately, each about $5.00.  Each cable works for a multitude of devices, so you should be able to find a cable for any hand-held device you own.  Luckily, they offer a Sony PSP cable; it also works for the Sony ebook readers.  I added a PSP cable to the cart, too.

charge4all review 3
(left to rt) Optional Sony PSP cable, Samsung SCH, LG Chocolate, iPod/iPhone, micro USB, mini USB

The Charge4All is designed to charge small electronics only.  You can charge cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras, and other hand-held devices.  You cannot charge laptops or other high-current devices.  There are four ports on the charging tube, and you can charge four devices at once.  Charge4All says using a single power outlet to simultaneously charge multiple devices is very efficient, saving up to 75% of the energy used to charge them separately.

charge4all review 4

charge4all review 5
Rubber strip to prevent rolling

I connected four of the cables (all except the LG Chocolate and the Samsung SCH cables) to the charging tube.  I arranged the cables so that half my devices would be on each side of the tube – no scratching of screens this way.  A rubber bar along the length of the charging tube keeps it from rolling.  There is a lighted power button on one end of the charging tube.  I hooked up my phone, my Sony reader, and my iPod touch, punched on the power button for the charging tube, and hoped for the best.

charge4all review 6
Charging my devices. The power button glows red while charging tube is powered on.

I was startled to see that my phone flashed a “this cable is not recommended for this phone” message.  The LG env3 phone is supplied with a powered micro USB charging cable, and the message quickly disappeared, so I decided to be brave and continue charging the phone.

All my devices charged with the charging tube in about the same time they normally take to charge using their own charging cables.  Luckily, my phone didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects from charging with the Charge4All charging tube.  I did send a question asking about the safety of the micro USB cable with my phone using their customer contact page.  It’s been at least a week, but I’ve had no reply from the people at Charge4All.

The Charge4All charging tube takes up much less room on my night table than my old charging station did, and it seems to work well with my devices.  I put a Strapeez velcro strap around the middle of the charging tube to keep all my charging cables at hand for travelling.  The charging tube, its power adapter, and a few small cables will certainly fit better in my Tom Bihn bag than a bunch of individual chargers.  It seems like a good investment for only about $25.  (Charge4All has a 2-pack of charging tubes for about $40.  The Sony PSP cable was an additional $5.)

 

Product Information

Price:$39.90 for a 2-pack of charging tubes; Individual charging tube kit is $29.95; $4.95 for each additional cable
Manufacturer:Charge4All
Pros:
  • Compact
  • Useful at home and for travel
  • Variety of power cables available
Cons:
  • No choice of cables included in the base kit

10 thoughts on “Charge4All Charging Tube Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. yikes! A week with no response from the company. *red flag alert*

    Besides that, it looks like a nice cat toy with all of those dangly cables hanging off of it. My 10 month old kitty would love it. 🙂

  3. Does your LG enV get that message if you use a non-LG charger? It could be one of those goofy proprietary charger things, like Apple does with certain iPhone/iPod accessories.

    What’s funny is when I saw the photo of the package, the miniature pictures of the iphone and other gizmos made me thing the charger was HUGE until I realized it was just the box. Oops.

  4. @Andy My husband said he had seen that message when charging his enV3 phone using his non-LG car charger. His phone seems to work well still, so it must be a CYA-type message.

    Yes, the first picture makes the charging tube look like something you could use as a support beam in your house, doesn’t it? I should have put a quarter in there for perspective!

  5. Janet Cloninger

    @Bonnie McIntosh The only contact info I had was the link to the website. That seems to be gone now…

  6. The Charge4All site was gone for a while, but it’s back now. I actually ordered a few new accessory cables a couple of months ago.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *