For better or worse our lives often rely on being able to charge a device. It could be your toothbrush, shaver, hair straighteners, phone, laptop or games console. Life is difficult without power. A trip overseas can present a challenge keeping everything running as conveniently as you do at home.
A travel adaptor is the essential accessory to make charging devices away from home as simple as possible – but how to select the right one? To make it easy here are the three questions you need to answer before you make your purchase.
Is it an adaptor I need? An adaptor simply allows you to physically plug your device into a different shaped power socket. It does not change the voltage of the electrical current. Check out our guide on adaptors vs. converters to ensure that an electrical socket delivering a different voltage does not damage your devices.
Which countries am I visiting? There are 14 (!) different electrical sockets used across the globe. The plug shapes are assigned a letter to make it easy to find a suitable match. Click here for a list of required plug type by country and see below for a diagram of the most common types. If you are going to be visiting more than one country or region, then a universal or regional adaptor allows you to use both earthed and non-earthed plugs in multiple countries’ sockets. All quality travel adaptors use these letters to describe available destination countries.
How many devices do you have that need charging? Most adaptors are a 1:1 design so you can only charge one device at a time. If you need to charge multiple devices at the same time, make sure you have an adaptor that handles this or remember to purchase some additional adaptors. Just beware: bigger is not always better. Some larger adaptor’s size and weight can cause them to fall out of the wall socket or cover up adjacent sockets. Aim for the smallest adaptor that meets your requirements.
Following this easy guide ensures you have your camera ready to capture that fantastic sunset and your phone ready to post it to Instagram, and with your travel beauty essentials also charged you will look as good as the view!
Happy travels.
