The Ceptics Travel Adapter After Four Years
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. I have since used the same Ceptics adapter kit for over 6 years as I’ve traveled the world, one adapter at a time. It’s still working great and I still recommend the Ceptics world travel adapter for anyone who wants to travel the world.
The Difference between an Adapter and a Converter for Travel
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. And often, those larger devices already have their converters built in. See that rectangle in your power cord of your computer? That’s your converter.
Ceptics Travel Plug Adapter for Most Countries
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 the Adapter 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.
The Pros of the Ceptic Travel Adapter
The Ceptics is compact, convenient and lightweight. It’s also very cheap and can work almost anywhere you’ll travel. It’s not a giant box that you’ll have trouble fitting behind a couch or snug against a bed. Each plug has a small footprint and is lightweight so you don’t have to fight the heavy weight of an adapter and plugs falling out of the wall. I’ve used those big rectangle adapter that “do everything” and have USBs in them. They’re practically inefficient. The clunky box doesn’t fit where the outlets are; behind beds, under couches, or beneath TVs. The Ceptics plug perfectly fits in small spaces.
The Cons of the Ceptics Travel Adapter
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.)
Wondering if you need an adapter in the UK, Croatia, Southeast Asia or Europe? You might. And the Ceptics Adapter helps you immensely.
Is Ceptics Travel Adapter Worth the Price?
With space at a premium in our nomad life 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 A. And after perfectly functioning for over four years without any issues, I add a +.
