Griffin PowerJolt SE Lightning Charger Keeps You Juiced Up In The Car [Review]

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After months of silence, big accessory makers are finally starting to rollout products for Apple’s Lightning dock connector just in time for the holidays. One such example is Griffin’s new PowerJolt SE car charger. The cord plugs into your car’s 12 volt power outlet and channels 10 watts of juice to your Lightning-equipped iOS device.

My iPhone would die if I couldn’t charge it in the car. I’ve been using a 30-pin Belkin charger with Apple’s Lightning adapter since I got my iPhone 5, but Griffin sent me the new PowerJolt SE last week.

The Good:

As far as car chargers go, Griffin’s latest offering is everything you’d expect. The black cable tightly coils to conserve length, but it can stretch out to reach several feet. The length was fine for my needs. Griffin says the cable will technically stretch to 48 inches.

I’ve always been picky about cable strength, mainly because I can tend to be rough on my cables and I don’t want them to fray. The PowerJot SE feels solid.

A LED power indicator glows bright white when connected to the car’s charger port, which is helpful. Griffin’s “SmartFuse” technology guards against power surges.

The Bad:

This isn’t so much a critique of Griffin, but I wish the actual Lightning connector was long enough to be inserted without taking my iPhone 5 case off. I’m using a relatively thick case right now, so I guess it won’t be too much of an issue for most people. Realize that you may have to slip your case off each time you plug in your iPhone to charge.

The Verdict:

There aren’t many Lightning car chargers on the market right now, and Griffin is a trusted, established company. I’ve been using Griffin stuff for years. If you need a charger to keep you juiced up on the go, the PowerJolt SE is a great choice.

Griffin’s charger costs $25 online, but you can get 20% off this week only by applying the coupon code “givethanks” at checkout.

[xrr rating =95%]

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