The Ceptics Adapter After Four Years

(note: this blog was updated in 2019.)

You will need an adapter when you travel, and for us, we needed one for our Round the World (RTW) trip that would work in Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway), Athens, Moscow, Beijing, and Mexico. Having researched many different adapters that cost much more money and didn’t do what I needed, here is my product review of the Ceptics Travel Plug Adapter kit.

The Difference between an Adapter and a Converter

I’m not an electrician, and I found trying to figure out if I needed a converter or an adapter to be quite complicated. I finally figured out that for the basic items you’ll travel with, such as cameras, phones, tablets and most laptops, you don’t need converters. Adapters will do. When you get into larger electronics like desktop computers, televisions, refrigerators, etc, you’ll possibly need converters. Most travelers, including us, only need adapters.

Ceptics Travel Plug

On our RTW trip, we carried two Samsung 3 phones, 2 “snapshot style” cameras, a Chromebook, a Nexus tablet and a Windows tablet. Nightly, we generally had to charge 3-4 devices for our next day’s events. We also didn’t want to carry bags of adapter plugs and other connectors since our luggage space (aka small backpack!) was very limited. Thus we settled on the Ceptics Adapter Travel Plug. According to its own product description,

The Ceptics Travel Plug Adapter kit is a small pocket-sized power adapter set for go-anywhere convenience. This all-in-one unit provides plug adapters for use in more than 150 countries, so you never need to be at a loss for power again. The Ceptics UP-3K-1 is easy to use, with slide-out power plugs that ensure you won’t lose any vital pieces, in a compact, self-contained unit that eliminates any hassles. This all-in-one plug adapts power outlets for laptops, chargers, and similar devices, to ensure safe operation. The Ceptics UP-3K does not reduce or convert electrical voltage, is suitable for most consumer electronics ranging from 100-250 volts with max 660W/1500-watts, this kit only weighs 4 ounces, and measures 1.75 x 1.75 x 3 inches (WxDxH).(Amazon.com)

But Did It Work?

Beautifully. There were times that we weren’t exactly sure which plug to use when, but with a little bravery and a few attempts at fitting square pegs in round holes, we successfully had the ability to recharge in every country we visited. In addition, we brought along a small three-way plug. We would plug the adapter into the wall, plug in the 3-way, then plug in our devices. Thus, we could recharge three devices with one adapter. We ordered two, and used both in every AirBnB we stayed. Since we had 2 adapters, we charged 6 devices at once at two different plugs.

Update in 2019: I continue to use this beauty. It did not work in New Zealand. When I finally got to Chile, the two prong adapter had finally broken after over 75,000 miles of travel. I have since replaced it and gotten additional ones for my daughter for when she travels without us.

The Pros

The Ceptics is compact, convenient and lightweight. It’s also very cheap and can work almost anywhere you’ll travel.

The Cons

Once you pull all the parts apart, putting them back together can be quite the jigsaw. It would be nice to label them or color code the parts in order to make reassembly easier. It’d also be nice to label each plug with the country for which to use it. Finally, once it’s assembled, it can be difficult to pull it apart (this is also a plus because it does stay together, eliminating the need to fish for the parts in the bottom of your bag.)

Worth the Price

With space at a premium on our RTW trip and the need to have multiple adapters for multiple countries, the Ceptics fit the bill. Although it could be a bit more user friendly, my product review of the Ceptics Travel Plug Adapter rates it a B.