myenergi Zappi GLO vs Andersen A3: Solar Brains vs Designer Looks

The Eco Engineer vs the Design Icon

These two chargers sit at the premium end of the UK home EV charger market, but they could hardly be more different in philosophy. The myenergi Zappi GLO is an energy nerd's dream — built from the ground up to squeeze every free kilowatt-hour from your solar panels and slot seamlessly into a whole-home energy ecosystem. The Andersen A3, meanwhile, is the charger you buy when you care deeply about how your home looks from the street. With 247 colour and finish combinations and a hidden cable system, it treats your EV charger as a piece of exterior design rather than a utilitarian box.

So why would anyone be torn between them? Because both cost significantly more than mid-range options like the Ohme Home Pro or Tesla Wall Connector, and buyers spending this kind of money want to be sure they're getting the right kind of premium. One invests in technology; the other invests in aesthetics. Let's work out which investment makes more sense for you.

In a nutshell:

• myenergi Zappi GLO (£779): The UK's best solar-diverting charger, with three charging modes and a full home energy ecosystem behind it.
• Andersen A3 (£995): The most beautifully finished charger on the market, with a hidden cable system, 247 finishes, and a class-leading 7-year warranty.

Spec Comparison

Solar Diversion: No Contest

This is where the Zappi GLO earns its keep — and where the gap between these two chargers is widest. The Zappi offers three distinct charging modes: Fast (full power from the grid), Eco (a blend of solar surplus and grid top-up), and Eco+ (charges exclusively from surplus solar energy, pausing when clouds roll in and resuming when the sun returns). That Eco+ mode is genuinely unique in the UK market and means you can charge your Tesla for literally nothing on a sunny day, as highlighted by electriccarguide.co.uk.

The Andersen A3 does offer solar integration through its app, but it's a more basic implementation — closer to a daytime scheduling feature than true dynamic solar diversion. As evergy.co.uk notes in their comparison of leading chargers, the Zappi's Eco and Eco+ surplus modes remain the benchmark for solar-first homes.

If you have solar panels (or plan to install them), the Zappi GLO is the obvious choice. It also slots into the wider myenergi ecosystem alongside the eddi hot water diverter and libbi battery, letting you build a complete home energy management system over time. The Andersen simply cannot compete on this front.

Build Quality and Design

Here, the tables turn dramatically. The Andersen A3 is, without exaggeration, the best-looking EV charger you can buy in the UK. Its anodised aluminium construction comes in 247 colour and finish combinations — including metals, woods, and custom colours — so you can match it to your front door, your window frames, or your garden fence. The hidden cable system tucks the entire 5.5-metre Type 2 cable inside the unit when not in use, eliminating the dangling-cable look that plagues most charger installations.

The Zappi GLO is perfectly presentable — available in black or white, with a clean design that represents a 35% reduction in embodied carbon over the older Zappi 2.1 — but it's still recognisably a piece of electrical equipment. At 439mm × 282mm × 130mm, it's also noticeably larger than the Andersen A3 (388mm × 183mm × 122mm). If your charger is mounted prominently on the front of your house, the Andersen makes a genuine aesthetic difference.

The Andersen also wins on warranty: 7 years versus the Zappi's 3 years. That's the longest warranty in the UK home charger market and speaks to real confidence in the hardware. However, the Zappi GLO counters with a superior IP65 weatherproofing rating compared to the Andersen's IP54, meaning it offers better protection against heavy rain and jet washing — a practical consideration for any UK driveway.

Smart Tariff Integration and App Experience

Both chargers support smart tariff scheduling, including compatibility with Octopus Intelligent Go — the tariff that gives you roughly 7p/kWh electricity overnight, compared to around 24p/kWh on a standard variable tariff. For a typical Tesla Model 3 doing 7,400 miles a year (roughly 2,114 kWh), that's the difference between about £148 and £507 annually — a saving of around £359 per year regardless of which charger you choose.

The Zappi GLO connects via both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, while the Andersen A3 is Wi-Fi only. Neither offers 4G connectivity, so both need a decent Wi-Fi signal at your charging location. The myenergi app has improved significantly but, as autochain.co.uk notes, chargers like the Ohme Home Pro still offer a more polished Octopus integration experience. The Andersen app is competent for scheduling and monitoring but isn't class-leading either — you're paying for design, not software.

One notable Zappi feature is RFID access supporting up to 126 users, which is genuinely useful if you share a driveway or run a small business. The Andersen A3 doesn't offer this functionality.

Power and Charging Speed

The Zappi GLO offers both 7kW (single-phase) and 22kW (three-phase) variants, while the Andersen A3 is single-phase only at 7.4kW. For the vast majority of UK homes on single-phase supplies, the practical difference is negligible — 7kW versus 7.4kW translates to roughly 8.5 hours versus 8.1 hours for a full 60kWh battery charge. You'd struggle to notice the difference overnight.

However, if you're one of the small percentage of UK homes with a three-phase supply, or if you're future-proofing for a potential upgrade, the Zappi GLO's 22kW option is a significant advantage — cutting that same charge to around 2.7 hours. The Andersen simply cannot match this.

The Zappi GLO also offers a longer 6.5-metre tethered cable versus the Andersen's 5.5 metres. That extra metre matters more than you'd think — as mackie-electrical.co.uk points out, many UK driveways need every centimetre of cable reach, and the Andersen offers no option for a longer lead.

Price and Value

The Andersen A3 costs £216 more than the Zappi GLO before installation, and that gap persists all the way through. The question is what you're getting for the extra money. With the Zappi, you get superior solar diversion, a three-phase option, a longer cable, better weatherproofing, and RFID access. With the Andersen, you get dramatically better looks, a hidden cable system, and a warranty that's more than twice as long.

If you have solar panels, the Zappi GLO could pay back its entire purchase price in free charging over a few years — making it genuinely cheaper in the long run despite costing more than budget alternatives. The Andersen's premium is purely aesthetic; it won't save you a penny more than any other smart-tariff-compatible charger.

Who Should Buy Which?

Buy the myenergi Zappi GLO if:

• You have solar panels or plan to install them — the Eco+ mode is unmatched
• You want to build a whole-home energy system with eddi and libbi over time
• You need a three-phase (22kW) option now or in the future
• You share a driveway and need RFID access for multiple users
• You prioritise weatherproofing (IP65) for an exposed installation

Buy the Andersen A3 if:

• Your charger is prominently visible on the front of your house and aesthetics genuinely matter to you
• You want the longest warranty available (7 years) for peace of mind
• You value the hidden cable system for a clean, tidy look
• You want to match your charger to your home's exterior with a specific finish
• You don't have solar panels and don't plan to install them

Our recommendation: For most UK EV owners, the myenergi Zappi GLO is the smarter purchase. It offers more features, better weatherproofing, a longer cable, and — crucially — solar diversion capabilities that no other charger can match. The Andersen A3 is a genuinely beautiful product with an outstanding warranty, but you're paying a significant premium for looks rather than functionality. If your charger sits on the front of a period property where a standard black or white box would look jarring, the Andersen earns its keep. For everyone else, the Zappi GLO delivers more for less.

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Read our full myenergi Zappi GLO review or Andersen A3 review.

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