Qinlianf 5 Outlet Extender with 4 USB Charging Ports
Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.
Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is Qinlianf 5 Outlet Extender with 4 USB Charging Ports. This simple low cost device will turn any standard duplex power outlet into 5 duplex outlets, 3 USB outlets and 1 USB-C outlet. It takes about 1 minute tops to install and it works great.
Here is the caveat, so far…
I recently ran the Cable Matters 6-Outlet Wall Mount Surge Protector on a deal of the day special price from Amazon and I like that one too, and it costs less.
So why add another device like this to TspAz? The form factor, I mean take a look at it. By moving 4 of the 110 outlets to the sides on 45 degree angles the usability factor really goes up a lot. It keeps it sleek and allows you to actually use the outlets, all of them.
Another advantage over the Cable Matters one is that its “surge protection indicator light” is tiny by comparison. On the Cable Matters model the only complaints are that the indicator light is “too bright” for some and indeed as I reported it is like having a small night light in a room, which can honestly be a good thing but may be you don’t want that in a specific room or area.
Okay here is the weakness, this thing is a wall expanding outlet it is NOT A SURGE PROTECTOR. The specified fail over voltage is just too high to trust as a surge protector. So here is what I am going to say, this device (and almost all like it) will expand any outlet and do so in a way that will be fine for anything you’d plug into any standard outlet in the first place.
If you feel you need surge protection, get something dedicated for that job. See the PS for a recommendation.
Another thing I really like about the Qinlianf is you don’t just plug it in, you remove the little screw on the face plate of the 110 outlet, don’t worry this is safe to do. You then remove the faceplate, plug in the device and use the included screw to attach it like a new faceplate to the outlet, this makes is stable and it does not unplug when unplugging things from it.
And for 16 bucks it works just great as what it is, an outlet expander with built in USB capability. Its advantages over the Cable Matters model are…
- Form factor making plugging in multiple 110 outlets easier to do
- 3 USB plugs vs. two on the Cable Matters
- 1 USBC plug vs. none on the Cable Matters
- Much dimmer on light if you don’t want bright lights (subjecive)
- Screws into the face plate screw hole on the outlet so it is more stable when unplugging things
Advantages for the Cable Matters model are….
- 6 power outlets (110) vs. 5 for the Qinlianf
- Brighter indicator light (again subjective)
- I have owned the Cable Matters model for 2.5 years now and no issues, can’t say that about the other one yet, though it has now been 7 months with zero issues.
Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com
P.S. – I really do not recommend any device like this be trusted for high end surge protection anyway, including the Cable Matters model. Even those with acceptable fail protection ratings tend to degrade in performance over time. As I said best to use these types of devices with the mindset would I plug this thing, whatever it is, into a standard outlet?
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Also I recommend you consider talking to your electrician about a whole house surge protector just as an aside. Those will be 100-200 bucks based on what you pick plus labor, usually 1-2 hours depending on how your electrician bills truck roll time.
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If you want something you can trust for like behind your expensive TV or your computer set up, this is one of the very few plug and play options I trust, from APC with verified testing data included inside the box of every one they ship.
Looks like a useful device.
Small word of caution: do note that the USB-C is mostly useless here. Just FYI. It will work like a USB-A (regular, slow) for power. Some USB-C devices will also refuse to charge possibly as they won’t be able to negotiate the voltage they need.
So this is not yet the unicorn product we all want, but getting there.
Unicorn product: good enough surge suppressor, 18-20W USB-C charger, 5W USB-A charger, 4-6 electrical outlets.