USB C Surge Protector with Power Delivery, Nekteck Power Strip Pad Desktop Charging Station, 45W USB C Port 4 Outlet 2 USB-A Ports 5Ft Power Cord for Travel Office(NOT Ideal for Note10/S10/10+PPS)

My goal: I was looking for a compact surge protector for my desk with 3+ outlets and a built in USB C Power Delivery port and 2+ standard USB charging ports. I wanted something that would sit flat on the desk and not move around much. For the outlets, I intended on plugging in a lamp, a fan, a laptop charger, and would have liked to have at least one more outlet as a backup in case I needed to plug something else in at some point. For the USB ports, I intended on plugging in a charger for my portable battery, a lighting cable for my girlfriend's iPhone, and then (the biggest goal) I wanted to use the USB C port for powering my Pixel Stand. I also wanted the USB C port with power delivery in case I upgraded my laptop to one that charges over USB C.Form factor: The plug is nice and flat against the wall allowing it to easily fit behind furniture and leaves the other wall outlet unobstructed. The cable is pretty thick and feels strong but is still flexible enough to move it around easily without it fighting me. Lengthwise, it is not the longest cable ever but was long enough to get from the outlet next to my desk to the top of my desk with some slack leftover. The surge protector itself is on the bigger side for compact surge protectors, being about the same length as my Pixel 3 XL and about an inch wider. It has some weight to it so it easily sits flat on my desk and doesn't move around unintentionally. It feels very sturdy and well built.While I don't intend on using it this way, I am happy that it has holes for wall mounting on the back. It appears that it is designed to easily be mounted horizontally or vertically depending on your needs. For those of you who are looking for something to throw in your bag for traveling, this probably isn't it. But it does work well for something that just stays on your desk.Usability: This surge protector has 4 outlets but realistically only 2-3 of them are usable at a time. They are all spaced very close together and if you plan on plugging something in that has a bulky plug it very likely will block the outlet(s) next to it. It would have been nice if it had been designed with all of the outlets spaced slightly further apart or even if just one of them had been offset with extra space on the side for the inevitable bulky plug. It's not the most comfortable experience if you plan on frequently plugging/unplugging things, but it's also not awful. The power switch has a nice tactile feel to it (although it does seem like it wouldn't stand up to constantly turning it on and off every day. It feels just a tad bit flimsy) and is paired with a very small green light for indicating if it's on or off. I love that it is noticeable just enough to know when it's on but is faint enough that it's not bothersome at night. The 3 USB ports are easily accessible and I was excited when I saw that they didn't have a separate power control. When I was browsing the market, I noticed that a lot of compact surge protectors had USB ports that you'd have to press a button to activate them and that when you unplugged your device they would deactivate themselves. So it seems like every time you would go to charge your phone you would have to press a button to start charging. That sounded exhausting. The USB ports on this surge protector are always active and for me that's perfect. However... The USB ports are where this surge protector failed to achieve my goal. The standard USB ports seem to charge things well enough and I have no complaints there. The USB C port, on the other hand, doesn't seem to charge reliably. When I plug my Pixel in directly it starts charging immediately at 3 amps (as measured by the app Ampere). After a few minutes though it drops down to 1.5 amps and occasionally will drop down to just 1 amp. My Pixel still indicates that it's charging rapidly and charges fast enough for my needs but it is noticeably slower than my other dedicated USB C adapters. When I plug in one of my portable batteries that is powered over USB C (an Anker PowerCore 26000) it will charge even slower and I will often wake up after a long night's sleep with the portable battery still not finished charging. The part that kills it for me though is that, due to the inconsistency of power output, the USB C port will not power my Pixel Stand. For the first few minutes it will activate and charge strongly but then it dips in power output and the stand turns itself off giving me the LED indication light that signals that it's not getting enough power. I currently don't have a laptop that charges over USB C so I can't test it on that yet but I am guessing that it probably will be a similar experience with inconsistent charging.Verdict: My main goal in all of this was for the USB C port and the USB C port on this surge protector missed the mark for me. It's possible that I was unlucky and got a defective unit. It's also possible that it's just my specific devices that aren't playing nicely (I know Google devices can be very finicky with what you plug it into). But this is my only Nekteck product I've owned and it's a company I hadn't heard of before my purchase so I can't speak for their track record with their quality. I purchased it 6 months ago for $20 (it seems to have gone up in price to $30 at the time of writing) and still use it regularly. At $20 it was definitely a good buy and I would probably still buy it at $30. However, in the end, it didn't accomplish my goal and I am still on the lookout for something that will.Good buy or goodbye?I'd say it's a good buy

This is a really well designed surge protector. I ended up attaching my units to the wall (using command strips, which are holding up well). One went behind my desk, the other behind my bedroom night stand. These are really versatile since they have high powered USB-C ports, regular USB ports, and 4 AC ports. I'm able to plug my phone and smart speakers into the USB ports, and leave the AC ports free for my lamp, alarm clock, and heated blanket. At my desk, it works really well for keeping accessories charged, and I can plug my laptop into the USB-C port.The design is really clever, with the USB ports on top of the unit (when mounted on the wall), with the AC ports sticking straight out. One thing I really like is that the AC ports are very secure, once something is plugged in, it is not going to fall out. I've tried a bunch of different surge protectors over the years, and this one is by far my favorite. The only downside is that the AC plugs are a bit close together, so if you have stuff with larger plugs, you might not be able to use all 4 plugs. The upside to this is that the surge protector is pretty small, it's easy to conceal behind a nightstand.

I use this as the power hub for my nightstand. I don’t even need the power cord outlets yet since the USB ports are enough to charge an (old) iPhone and two iPads (one old, one new) but it’s good to have the capacity to expand. I have good hearing and I haven’t noticed any high frequency whining or buzzing so far, which is important since it’s near where I’m sleeping. I like that the power cord is grounded, but bear this in mind if you have very old power outlets without a space for the third prong.The USB-C port is perfect for my iPad Pro (2018) since from what I read it can pull up to 45 watts when fast-charging via USB-PD, and this charger has sufficient capacity to let it draw as much as it wants. That also frees up the 18 watt (wall wart) charger that came with the iPad for use with an iPhone (8 or newer) that supports USB-PD charging, since iPhones will not draw more than 18 watts.So where this really would shine is if you have a new iPad Pro and an iPhone 8 or newer, and you want to be able to fast-charge both. For the price of this power hub and a lightning-to-USB-C cord, you can do it. Plug the iPad into the power hub’s USB-C port and plug your iPhone into the 18w charger that came with your iPad (using the lightning cord) and both can now draw their full potential wattage when needed, using a single power outlet.It’s kind of bulky and the cord is thick, which is perfectly fine for my purposes but doesn’t seem great for travel in the jet-set/carry-on sense at least. However, if I were traveling in a group or with family, I would probably bring it anyway, just because airports and hotels have scarce power outlets and this one box can charge a whole slew of devices at full capacity at once. Having this with you during a long layover will make you a hero to all nearby.

I like the form factor and appearance of this product compared to its competitors. It looks like it belongs on a desk in a professional office. It does a good job of staying in place and, so far, it does exactly what it is supposed to do with no issues. The only real problem is the same one showing up in other reviews: the outlets are too close together. The only way you’ll use all four outlets at the same time is if you’ve got four standard plugs. No transformers/AC adapters. No USB charging blocks. For each non-standard plug, you can subtract one extra outlet; in other words, think of this as a two-outlet device. Frankly, a design with three outlets that were more widely spaced would be a preferable design. Also, be aware that this looks like it has a metal housing in the photos but the housing is actually plastic.Bottom line: Would I recommend this product? It depends on how many plugs you need and what you need to plug in. If you only need two plugs regardless, I can easily recommend it.