Andersen A3 vs EO Mini Pro 3: design statement or the smallest box?

The £445 is for the wall, not the car

Both chargers do the same electrical job. Single-phase, around 7kW, tethered Type 2, IP54, smart scheduling, solar-aware. One costs £995. The other costs £550. The gap — £445 — does not buy you more electrons. It buys you a finish.

That's the honest way to frame this pair. Once you accept it, the decision becomes easier, not harder.

• Andersen A3 — £995. Anodised aluminium, hidden cable, 247 finishes, seven-year warranty. Bought for how it looks on a wall people will see.
• EO Mini Pro 3 — £550. The smallest proper charger on the UK market. Bought when the wall dictates the box.

Is the Andersen's £445 premium worth it?

Stand in front of the wall. If you — or anyone arriving at your house — will see the charger, the Andersen A3 is the only unit here that treats the wall as part of the brief. The hidden cable retracts inside the body when you're not charging. The front is anodised aluminium in a finish you chose. The seven-year warranty is the longest on the UK market, and it's a reasonable proxy for how confident Andersen is in the hardware.

If the charger lives in a garage, behind a side gate, or anywhere a guest will never clock it, the argument collapses. You're paying £995 for a smart charger whose software is competent but not leading. The Ohme Home Pro does sharper tariff work for £535. The Tesla Wall Connector does the same electrical job for £478. The Andersen's smart features are fine; the finish is what you're buying.

One practical note: the hidden cable is 5.5 metres and there is no longer option. The mount has to sit close to where the car parks. If it doesn't, the Andersen is the wrong charger regardless of budget — the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro offers 10-metre cables at £690.

When the EO Mini Pro 3 is the right answer

Two scenarios, and only two.

First: the mounting space is tight. At 215 × 140 × 100 mm and roughly 2.5 kg, the EO Mini Pro 3 is A5-sized. Narrow garage wall between two obstacles, a recessed porch, tight clearance next to a door — the EO often fits where a Hypervolt Home 3 Pro or Zappi GLO would look absurd. The Wallbox Pulsar Max is the only serious rival on compactness, at £536.

Second: you're a British Gas customer. The Hive Power+ variant of the EO credits back 25% of your charging costs on the EV Power+ tariff. That's a structural discount no other charger matches, and it changes the maths quickly — inside the British Gas ecosystem, the EO effectively pays back its premium over a cheaper unit within a couple of years of ordinary home charging.

Outside those two cases, £550 is mid-range pricing for a charger whose software is schedule-based rather than dynamic. The Ethernet port and optional 4G module are genuine advantages in awkward installation locations — wired backhaul matters more than people think when the Wi-Fi router is at the other end of the house. But if your Wi-Fi is fine and you're not on British Gas, the Ohme Home Pro does sharper tariff chasing for £15 less, and the Tesla Wall Connector undercuts the EO by £72.

Tariff behaviour — neither is the sharpest tool

Both chargers handle the fixed-window tariffs — Octopus Go, EDF GoElectric, British Gas Electric Drivers — without drama. Set the schedule once and forget it.

For Octopus Intelligent Go, the Andersen's app integration is listed and works. The EO manages it through presets. Neither is the charger you'd buy specifically to chase a variable tariff — that's the Ohme Home Pro's territory, and on Octopus Agile the gap is obvious.

The verdict

Buy the Andersen A3 if:

• The charger is visible and the finish is part of the purchase
• A seven-year warranty matters more than upfront price
• The car parks within 5.5 metres of the mount

Buy the EO Mini Pro 3 if:

• The mounting space is cramped and a standard unit won't fit
• You're a British Gas customer who'll use the Hive Power+ cashback
• You want an Ethernet port rather than relying on Wi-Fi alone

If I had to put one on a wall — a wall in a normal garage, with no British Gas connection and no design brief — neither. The Tesla Wall Connector at £478 or Ohme Home Pro at £535 makes more sense than either of these. The Andersen earns its £995 only when the wall is the point. The EO earns its £550 only when the wall won't take anything bigger. Outside those cases, both are the wrong shape of answer to the question most buyers are actually asking.