Kensington PowerBolt™ Micro Car Charger

Reviews for Kensington PowerBolt™ Micro Car Charger

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.0 out of 5 stars

Based on 22 reviews

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Died in 6 months

    • Written by from New London

    Hi-pitch hum after charging for a while. Received in early March, died in mid August. At time was highest rated car charger in Apple store with 3 stars. Don't get one of these.

    196 of 199 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Weak cable

    • Written by from Hollis

    Sleek looking but very weak cable at the iPhone end. Bought two of these and the charging cable broken on each within a few months. Apple Store replaced under warranty but the new cables broke a few months later.

    196 of 200 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Works for 3mths and useless after that

    • Written by from Johor

    Bought it to charge iPad and it works fine....until 3 mths later it stops charging the iPad. Initially thought faulty cable but it wasn't because I can still charge iPhone.
    Wat a rip off

    30 of 33 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Form factor and removal...

    • Written by from Chagrin Falls

    I wanted this mostly for travel so the small form factor appealed. However it will be a fingernail buster to remove from some cars. I drilled two small holes in the flange and tied a loop of strong thead through the holes. Now it's no problem getting it out of any rental car. The designers should have thought of this. Will be a 4 star product if it holds up.

    184 of 192 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Stopped working

    • Written by from Mortdale

    Initially, this charger was great. Really like the plug is small.
    But after 6 months, stopped working.
    Like other reviewers, I found the 30pin connector is separating from the cable. Maybe this is the reason that it no longer charges my iPhone 3GS?

    9 of 12 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Super charger!!!

    • Written by from RICHMOND

    I can honestly say this little wonder has been a life saver in the car. I make a lot of phone calls in the car and my battery was always dying while I was out and about, which was really frustrating if I needed to make urgent business calls. So got this charger and voile! problem solved!!! Not only does it charge well, but it's SUPER quick, and has a nice thick cord so it's a lot more sturdy than other cables for these devices. Other reviewers have commented that the socket plug is hard to remove from the car, yes it is a little tough at first but so what!! It eases up a little over time without going completely loose like other products of this type can do. GREAT buy I say, I'm buying one for my hubby's car right now :))

    2 of 4 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Do NOT buy this charger if...

    • Written by from Fredericia

    You have purchased one of Apples original bumper covers for the iPhone 4. The reason why is that the Kensington socket which have to go into your phone cannot pass through the hole in the bumper cover. The Kensington socket is slightly thicker in the plastic than your original Apple socket – What a bummer Kensingson

    2 of 6 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Useless

    • Written by from HUNTINGDALE

    Had to change the charger twice after it just stopped working. The third time around I just got it swapped for another brand. Don't waste your money on buying this product. Its doesn't live up to its expectations.

    2 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Waste of Money

    • Written by from Fleming Island

    I bought this charger for two reasons-1) I could not find many choices to choose from, and 2) because of the Kensington name, as I've had and faithfully used a Kensington FM transmitter for my iPod for 4 years now-it's been a wonderful, wonderful device.
    When I bought an iPhone, and found that the old transmitter's charging function doesn't work on the much newer device (though it still plays music through the speakers), I wanted a basic back up charger for emergencies. Nothing fancy.

    So I bought this piece of junk and now don't know what I'm going to do with it!
    The product is in two parts-the charging end that fits into the lighter/outlet, and a detachable usb cord. The cord too easily disconnects from the charging end and the two pieces do not even fit together all the way. You can see about 2 or 3 mms of the silver of the USB port sticking out of the charging end when the two are pushed together!
    And when people say that the charger is difficult to remove-they're not kidding! If you are going to leave this in your car full time, I suppose it's manageable, but if your car is like my 2005 Mazda and has only one outlet, don't insert this into it! I had to resort to pliers to remove it! The exterior of the plug portion sits almost flush with the dash, so there's nothing to grab to remove it. If you happened to try to disconnect it using the cord (which you usually would not want to do anyway for the risk of damage to the wiring), as I said, it is already too loose and disconnects immediately. The one time I dared to use this garbage, it didn't even charge quickly.

    Don't waste your money! Personally, I'm just going to look into an updated transmitter!

    92 of 112 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Poor cable

    • Written by from Tauranga

    After a month of very limited use, the cable decided to stop working. Hopefully its not going to be a hassle to get it replaced. Although the unit has a great low profile design, the cable that comes with it is shocking. Extremely long, thick and rigid. Great if you are Dirk Diggler, bad if you are a USB iPhone charger. Whats the point of a low profile charger if you've got a big black python sticking out of it that is hard to conceal. I would have expected better from kensington.

    3 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Good, though a couple of negatives.

    • Written by from Braintree

    Initial impressions were good, though the lead is a very hard and thick material. Consequently it can be a little frustrating to manage the mess of cable depending on where your 12v socket is. In addition the lead is separating from the 30-pin dock connector so I have resorted to using the white Apple lead as it is better made and an easier cable to live with. Other than that it works fine.

    9 of 12 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Works well with new cars, won't work with OLD cars

    • Written by from Third Lake

    It worked fine in my 2009 Prius. Then I took it along in our 1999 Saab and the charger wouldn't light up! I assumed it was burned out after a very short period of use and contacted Kensington. They sent me a new one, took that along on a road trip in the Saab and THAT one didn't work.. When I got home, I tried both again in the Prius and both work. The plug is very short, and I'm guessing that the older cars have longer jacks, maybe from the old days of actually having lighters and ashtrays in cars.

    The other minus for me, is that it's very hard to pull the plug out of the shorter outlet. I'm going to let it stay in my dashboard jack, to use on ipads, ipods and iphones. If you have strong fingers and a newer car, this may be perfect for you.

    Sorry, don't know when the change between old enough 1999 and new enough 2009 occurs.

    84 of 100 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    poorly constructed connector

    • Written by from BEAVERTON

    The product functions well but the iPad connector has already started to fray and expose internal wires after light use. Also, it falls off of the iPad more easily than the Apple-made connectors do.

    66 of 68 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Super fast charging, but strange behavior with iPhone

    • Written by from Charlottesville

    I purchased this charger for two reasons. First - so I could keep a single charger in my car for both my iPhone 3GS and iPad. Second - a charger small enough I could leave it plugged in and still close the little hinged door over the outlet compartment when not in use. The diminutive PowerBolt handles both requirements with ease. But I also noticed a strange behavior. If I leave my 3GS plugged into the charger, when I turn the car off, it shuts down the phone. When I turn the car back on, the phone boots up again. This did not happen with my previous charger, which would just stop charging when the car was turned off, not completely shut down the phone. It does not do this with the iPad, just the iPhone (3GS running 4.0.1). Other than that, small and fast charging are the name of the game!

    75 of 78 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    doesnt work for me

    • Written by from ROMSEY

    I bought one of these chargers recentley and plugged it in to my new toyota hilux ,,,?????? Result ,,,Nothing it wont charge my 3gs or my sons 3g ,But on the plus side , no more annoying phone calls when i'm out and about .

    8 of 41 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Excellent charger

    • Written by from Arlesey

    I can heartily recommend this charger, not the most exciting of devices but it does it job very well indeed. It's so tiny I leave mine plugged into the car all the time to charge any USB device from. I also don't find I get the annoying alternator whine when it's connected to my iPhone for music on the go which most other car chargers seem to suffer from.

    The supplied cable is also the perfect length for when using your iPhone as a sat-nav on the windscreen without having loose cable flapping around all over the place in the car.

    39 of 40 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Burned out first day!!!!!!!

    • Written by from chugiak

    This charger quit working in less than ONE day!!

    Can't believe it....

    Now I need to see how much of a hassle it will be to get it replaced so I can charge my Ipad when I am out and about.....

    It worked good for a few times that first night.....but died next morning... Battery wasn't even that low when using it...like 90%

    66 of 77 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Super little charge

    • Written by

    This is a super small little charger.

    The adapter that plugs into the car cigarette sits very flush which easily allows for the covering door for my lighter area to close as normal

    A power indicating light illuminates while charging my iPad and the cable length is the perfect length for reaching my car mount also for my iPhone charging.

    Great solution to charge my iPad and iPhone with a single charging cable while travelling in my car.

    18 of 20 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great charger but be careful...

    • Written by from Tualatin

    Charger works great and as expected. The quality of the product is good and does not feel cheapy. My only issue is on my behalf. I did not think twice before plugging the very small adapter into one of my car's cig lighters. The slot it recessed about 2 inches into the center/radio unit by a plastic molding. I took ten minutes using my car key at an angle to pry the charger out of the socket. My bad. Now it's in a more appropriate cig lighter.

    So... The size if very compact -- if not too compact for some people. But overall it does what it's made for and I have no complaints.

    234 of 245 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Holy Fast Charging Batman

    • Written by from Huntingdon Valley

    Charges the iPad and iPhone very quickly, almost surprisingly quickly. The included cord is a tad thick, but the charger unit works with any usb / dock cable as I have tried using both the included dock cable from apple, as well as a coiled usb / dock cable from griffin. The LED on the front of the charger lights up as a warm red, but isnt so bright it lights up your car at night. there isnt much else to say as this charger is incredibly simple, but suffice to say it works, and it works well.

    241 of 251 people found this useful

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