Twelve South is a dangerous, dangerous company. You see, what they do all day is look at Apple products on the market. Then they disappear into some sort of cave and emerge later with something that makes being an Apple user more enjoyable. And then they charge us for the awesome product they created. How dare they?
Well what do you know? Here's another such device, the PlugBug for iPad/iPhone. If you're a super-mega Apple fan, you probably own a laptop of some sort, be it an Air, a Pro or just a regular ol' MacBook from yesteryear. And then recently maybe you got caught up in the whole omgretinadisplay awesomeness and bought a new iPad as well? Heck, maybe you also have an iPhone? All those chargers are just a nuisance! Enter, Twelve South's PlugBug!
The funny thing about Twelve South is that all their products we've tested here are so intelligent that we can't help but wonder why nobody else has come up with their ideas first. We also think Apple should hire these folks to design super Apple-branded accessories. Then, perhaps, the PlugBug wouldn't be red!
Boy that is red!
So we're trying to get over the fact that it's red. OK, we're over it (mostly). We're not sure exactly why it's red, but we'll try to find out. Maybe Twelve South were nervous to get into trouble with Apple by releasing something white? Did Apple patent the color white? You really never know, these days...
Anyway, since you need to own some form of MacBook for this to work, you already know how the charger works. Slide the two parts of the PlugBug apart, and then slide the PlugBug into your MacBook charger. Simple. In this case, it's a MacBook Air charger.
So that's all there is to it. Like everything from Twelve South that we've tested in the past, the PlugBug does exactly what it says on the tin (or this case, cardboard box). There are literally no surprises. We've charged our iPads and iPhones with a MacBook Air connected, and had no trouble whatsoever with simultaneous charging. Because the PlugBug provides 10 watts of power in addition to the wattage from the MacBook plug, there's no difference between using the original 10-watt Apple iPad charger versus this one in terms of speed, and it's perfectly safe to charge any iPhone (or other USB devices) with it!
PlugBug is charging both the MacBook Air and the iPad 3! Go PlugBug!
So What's to Like?
Simple, foldable prongs (just like on a MacBook charger), will charge your iPhone or iPad, - or an Amazon Kindle! Can also be used as standalone charger for those devices. It weighs very little, and will definitely keep you more organized.
So What's Not to Like?
It obviously adds a little bulk to your existing MacBook charger, and thus a little more wobbly in your power socket. It's also really red. If you like red, then that's something to like, though, hah! What else....? It won't charge a Playstation Vita or a Blackberry PlayBook. Yeah... that's the best we could come up with, sorry. It really is that good!
Verdict:
Twelve South hits another home run with the PlugBug. What we've found with their products is that you'd have to really, really try to hate whatever they come up with, and even then - you just can't. It's a perpetual love affair.
Overall, we award the PlugBug an electrifying four and a half nerds. It's certainly the only bug we'd allow near our computers.
Big thanks to the guys and girls at Twelve South for the review sample! As always, Amazon link below.
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