Solving my USB charging problems with the Capdase Porto

One Thursday morning after a 140km ride before work, I was starting to plug in my lights, phone, Suunto Ambit 2, iPad Mini, Bluetooth headphones and iPhone charger case. I quickly realised that I had not only run out of USB outlets on my computer to charge everything, but that everything was also charging very slowly. I clearly needed a better charging solution.

After doing some Googling, I decided to give the Capdase Porto V4 Quartet USB Power Adapter a go. This was in part because it comes with all the international power outlet adapters I’ll need when travelling Europe for a month in June/July with my wife.

So, the fifty-seven trillion dollar question is obviously: How did it fare?

I love the capability to charge everything separately from the computer without having lots of individual USB adapters, all it requires is one power socket and it charges four things — quickly too!

The carry bag is a bit big because it’s built to carry all the extra adapters with room to spare. That’s not so great if you want something compact, but for me it’s great to have all my electronics and USB cables in one place.

The four USB ports are nice and compact which is great, however if you have USB devices that plug in directly without a cable it can be a bit difficult to do (I can only fit one of my Knog bike lights on at a time).

The 1m cable is also great because if you have short USB cables then the transformer can be plugged in away from you (e.g. under the desk) while the 4 USB ports are nice and close.

The Capdase Porto USB charging station has a very clear value proposition and pretty much is what is says in the name; an easy to use 4-port USB charger that is going to keep me well-lit on the road & pack light while travelling!