Review: Kensington's Absolute Power charger eschews absolute responsibility

Modern life is about power. You have people who need power, people who want power, and people who have power. This might sound like some kind of Hollywood analogy for the realities of Wall Street, but that's what Kensington evokes with its Absolute Power charging adapter — a hardcore, rough-and-tumble name for something that is essentially a power cord. Don't get us wrong — it's a great power cord. But using Absolute Power as a name is a little over the top. 

The Absolute Power adapter can charge up to three of your devices at one time. Kensington claims the three charging ports are intended for a laptop, a phone, and a tablet; however, you can probably use them for any combination of devices that fit the available ports and plugs.

We at Tecca got to take an Absolute Power review unit for a test spin. Read on to see what we found.

Unboxing Absolute Power
The Absolute Power is shipped in an incredibly sturdy box. We wouldn't normally talk about the packaging much, but this is a very, very sturdy box. No shipping accident or wayward tumble from a truck is going to dent or accidentally open this cardboard safe. You really get the impression that Kensington wants a tough, unbreakable feel to the product. 

When you finally pop open the box, you're greeted with the charger itself and three bags of accessories. The first bag is the actual outlet plug that you use to connect the Absolute Power to your wall. The other two bags contain the huge collection of adapters that allow the Absolute Power to work without whatever unique charging port your device might use. There are 10 different plugs included for notebooks, as well as a USB-to-micro-USB converter. 

Choosing the right power adapter for your power cord is fairly easy, though it's not immediately obvious on sight. Each of the 10 power adapter tips is marked with a letter. Look at the accompanying chart, find your manufacturer, and choose the corresponding tip. Adjust the voltage level on the Absolute Power switch according to your laptop's voltage (usually found on the bottom of the case).

The Absolute Power brick itself is only a little bigger than a smartphone. It has a proprietary male power cord that uses one of 10 adapters, a USB port, and a micro-USB port. If you needed to do so, you could use the USB-to-micro-USB adapter to power two micro-USB devices at one time.

Wielding your Absolute Power
The Absolute Power adapter can feel intimidating at first. After all, it comes with 10 tips, a USB adapter, a brick, and cords. You have to look up your laptop's manufacturer, then determine your laptop's ideal voltage. Once you get that background work out of the way, though, the Absolute Power charger is simple to use. The charger is essentially an extension cord with three differing outlets.

Absolute Power is designed to deliver exactly the right amount of power to your laptop, which makes it a safe choice for protecting your computer. It's convenient to be able to juice up all your mobile gadgets from one outlet, although most wall outlets do have space for two plugs. Absolute Power is more a convenience than a necessity, but it could be handy for reducing travel clutter.

Living up to the name
From a technical standpoint, the Absolute Power adapter works just fine. In our tests with two laptops, an iPhone, and other miscellaneous gadgets, electronics charge through Absolute Power about as quickly as they charge through their own native cords. If it takes two hours for your smartphone to charge using its normal cord, then Absolute Power will take about two hours as well. We didn't notice any huge changes in recharge time when we had multiple devices charging at the same time.

It is worth pointing out again that the Absolute Power brick is only slightly larger than most smartphones. Some laptop power bricks can be absolutely huge and unwieldy to shove into a bag. In this regard, the Absolute Power might be a notable upgrade for folks looking to conserve bag space.

Is it worth it?
Whether you'll see value out of your money really depends on if you need a new laptop power cord and how much the manufacturer charges for a replacement. If you need a new cord and want to plug your USB and micro-USB devices into the same outlet as your laptop, shelling out the $120 for Kensington's Absolute Power could be worth it. If your current cord is just fine, then you probably won't get huge bonuses out of Absolute Power.

Tecca gives Absolute Power 3 stars out of 5. It's a good product, but it has limited application. 

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