When the package arrived Mobility Arena, there was nothing about it that gave anyone any idea of how truly nifty and innovative a car charger can be. The ability to charge two devices at the same time caught our fancy, of course. But the ZUS Smart Car Finder and Dual USB car charger succeeded in winning us over with much more than just that.
The sales pack is a simple but solid one. The only item in it was the charger. And it is a beautifully designed one. People who hang around me know that there is no shortage of chargers in my car. I have seen chargers, and this is a good looking one.
It has two USB ports – one on either side. It also has three white LED lights on the top side. That is it. Or so we thought.
There’s An App For That!
The next thing we quickly found out is that the ZUS charger has a companion app. Interesting. It is aptly named “ZUS – Smart Car Locator”. I downloaded it from Google Play and proceeded to install and use it. It requires a user account, which I created in a jiffy.
The ZUS Smart Car Finder app immediately began to scan for my car. Well, for the charger actually. I had to be in the vicinity of the car to set it up. Or, more accurately, the ZUS charger needs to be plugged in and active in the car.
First, I turned the key enough to power on appliances and plugged in the ZUS charger. Immediately, the app connected to the car, giving me an option to check the car’s real-time battery voltage. Oh, boy! This was interesting. Who knew? I was sold immediately. I got a low battery reading and almost panicked (that is the low figure you will see below). Then, I put on the car engine and tested again. Here’s the report on my car battery:
The ZUS Smart Car Finder app also let me see the car’s present location on a map interface, pretty much like using Google Maps, HERE We Go or Uber. What it does is save your car’s location immediately you leave the car.
Moving away from the car, the app kept updating me with how far away I was. Of course, this function uses your phone’s GPS, so you need to have Location turned on. The whole idea is that if you parked your car in a large shopping mall, it is easy to locate it when you are ready to leave. Plus, it might just come in handy should your car get stolen.
If you swipe up the arrow keys at the bottom of the screen, a map displays the location of the car:
Lastly – and this is a car charger after all – you can charge two devices at the same time. Yes. Even better, it has some kind of fast charge facility built in. ZUS claims that it charges regular devices at about twice the speed of normal car chargers. That is difficult for me to verify, but it does charge faster. I am just unable to determine whether the charging is twice as fast. Sitting in the car to charge a phone long enough to measure the times isn’t exactly an exciting proposition. Actually, one would have to run two different charging operations – one with a regular charger and the other with ZUS – to be able to measure.
The USB ports are reversible, and the charger has a very nice lighting that’s useful in the dark. It also provides a number of features and options in its Settings menu. These include Global Settings, Mileage, Family Share, the Battery Health Monitor, and your Vehicle details.
I didn’t think that a car charger could impress me this much. The ZUS dual car charger just did. Highly recommended.
Where to buy ZUS Smart Car Finder & Charger, and Price
ZUS Smart Car Finder & Charger can be found on online stores, including Amazon. It currently sells for USD $19.99.