Kensington Wall Pack Duo Increases Profits, Unclutters Outlets

A small device from Kensington gives resellers a low-cost way to increase sales and profits while offering customers a way to unclutter their outlet strips. Listing for $34.99, Kensington's Wall Pack Duo Charger provides two USB ports, each of which can deliver five volts of life-giving juice at a full 2.1 amps for charging even the most power hungry devices quickly.

Designed with Apple devices in mind, the unit includes a USB charging cable for most iPod, iPad and iPhone models, but will work with any USB cable with a "Standard A" rectangular connector. The included cable also can be used for syncing with a computer Apple devices running iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

In practical use, the Wall Pack Duo does not block the second outlet in a standard two-plug wall outlet, as the company claims. And since it lacks a parity plug (one prong isn't wider than the other) it can be plugged in upside down or right-side up.

However, the Wall Pack Duo is two-inches wide, so it will cover outlets to the left and right of it on many outlet strips and surge protectors. A detachable plug permits the unit to quickly adapt to foreign plugs and current. The Wall Pack Duo accepts voltage between 100 and 240 volts AC at 50 or 60 Hz.

Testers would have preferred to see a longer, more narrow design that would occupy no more outlet space than a standard plug. We also like LEDs on our wall chargers to indicate that it's plugged in and getting power. Better still would be an indicator or power as well as charge status as we've seen on other wall chargers, but hey, maybe that's just us.

Kensington's Wall Pack Duo lists for $34.99 and comes with a two-tear warranty. The CRN Test Center recommends this product for any retailer selling cell phones, smartphones, iPods and other rechargeable devices.