Trond Prime VIII Surge Protector with USB Charger Review

Trond Prime VIII Surge Protector with USB Charger Review

Buy it at Amazon: Trond Prime VIII Surge Protector with USB Charger [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Flexible mounting and plug arrangement options, plenty of outlets, power, and protection, built-in USB power/charging, strong plug grip.

You’ll receive the surge protector, a pack of mounting screws, a wall mounting drill template, and a quick start guide. The surge protector measures 9.5” long by 3.75” wide and is 1-1/8” tall. The 14 gauge power cable is 5 ft long and comes with a Velcro cable tie. The grounded plug is flat with an offset angled design, so the wire extends from the lower-right corner rather than straight down or straight out allowing it to fit in spaces with tight clearances, so you can push furniture right up to it.

On top, the power strip has two indicators. The left green one is surge protection and the white one on the right is the power indicator. Adjacent to the power cable is the power switch with on and reset to the right hand side and off to the left. There are 5 outlets arranged vertically and 5 side-by-side outlets for a total of 10 grounded outlets. The side-by-side ones are spaced 1.5” apart (38 mm) on center and work well for wide power bricks which would otherwise block adjacent outlets preventing their use. On the vertical outlets work well for adapters that go off to the side, so you can utilize outlets above and below rather than block an adjacent outlet. At the front of the into you’ll find 3 USB-A outputs that can deliver DC 5V at up to 2.4 Amps and a USB-C port that delivers DC 5V up to 3 Amps with a combined max output of 3.4 A across all the ports.

At the outside corners are 4 mounting tabs so the unit can be secured to a wall, floor, or other surface like the underside of a desk. There are also 2 keyhole hanging slots that allow you to hang it vertically or horizontally; use the included drill template to accurately position the mounting screws. If simply setting on the floor or on the desk, the four rubber feet on the bottom prevent the power strip from sliding around easily.

The specs for the unit are printed on the back, but are a little hard to read. The surge protector accepts input voltages of 100-250VAC at 50/60Hz, has a max power rating of 1875 Watts with a maximum 15 Amp output, and can protect against power surge surges up to 4000 cumulative joules over time. Since joules required to absorb such surges are permanently destroyed each time, surge protection is only is active when the green light is lit; if it goes out this means that the absorption capacity has been exhausted and it can no longer protect against future surges so would be time to replace the unit.

Since the maximum power output from the USB ports is 15Watts, unfortunately they won’t meet Power Delivery or QuickCharge2.0 or above requirements. However, plugging my smartphone into the USB-C port does allow it to charge, although at a slower speed than if I were to use its power brick. You can intelligently power or charge multiple USB devices using the other ports as well since each one would draw only the amount of power it needs, but note that this may lower the individual power output for each device. While none of the outlets have built-in dust or tamper-resistant covers, I did find the slots for the plug blades to have good tension and none of the plugs felt loose or like they would slip out after plugging in and unplugging my devices.

Overall this surge protector offers a good amount of flexibility when it comes to mounting, the types, sizes, and shapes of plugs you can use, and outlet arrangement for maximum utilization up to 10 devices. It has adequate power capacity of 1875 Watts to accommodate higher powered devices as well as surge protection of 4000 Joules and automatic overload circuit tripping in addition to being able to power and charge up to 4 USB devices including a 3 Amp output USB-C port. Last but not least, the product carries an 18-month warranty and has a 100% satisfaction and 30-day money back guarantee.

Buy it at Amazon: Trond Prime VIII Surge Protector with USB Charger [Affiliate Link]