Monoprice’s latest officially licensed inexpensive Lightning accessory, following its cable and car charger, is the Wall Charger with Lightning Connector ($13). Like most of the products the company puts out, this one’s not necessarily the prettiest accessory around, but it does the job well at an impressively low price. In this case, that job is putting out 1 Amp of power to charge Lightning-equipped iPads, iPhones, and iPods.
Rather than a wall block and detachable Lightning cable, Wall Charger uses a captured cable. From everything we’ve been told by accessory makers, Apple charges a lower licensing rate for chargers with non-removable cables.
The wall block is 2.25” by 1.6” by 0.9”, and fits horizontally against an outlet with its two prongs plugged in. Coming from that is a particularly long cable, running a full five feet from the base of the charger to the end of the Lightning plug. There, the hard plastic sheath is slightly wider than we’ve seen on the company’s other cables, but still compatible with many cases. Because it only puts out 1A, iPhones and iPods will charge at full-speed, but iPads won’t.
This one’s a pretty simple equation. For about half the price of comparable solutions, and a good amount less than Apple’s own standalone Lightning cables, you get the ability to charge your device in your home. While it won’t win any design awards, Wall Charger with Lightning Connector works just as expected. The only real downside will be for those looking to charge iPads, particularly the full-sized, fourth-generation iPad.
