Andersen A3 vs Indra Smart LUX

£354 buys you a hidden cable and 247 colours — or it doesn't

The Andersen A3 costs £900. The Indra Smart LUX costs £546. The gap is £354. Both push 7.4kW over a Type 2 tether. Both are OZEV-approved, UK-designed, and single-phase only. Electrically, they are the same proposition. In every other respect — looks, build philosophy, software ambition, warranty — they could not be further apart.

• Andersen A3 — the charger you buy because it will be seen. Anodised aluminium, hidden cable, seven-year warranty. £900.
• Indra Smart LUX — the charger you buy because it will be used. 78 mm slim, IP67 tough, broad tariff support. £546.

The Andersen tax, and who should pay it

The A3's argument is visual. 247 finish combinations — wood inlays, colour-matched aluminium, bespoke paint codes — mean it can sit on a period cottage wall without looking like a junction box. The hidden cable retracts inside the unit when not charging; no other charger on the market does this. If your driveway faces the street and your house has any architectural pretension, the Andersen earns its keep in the same way a decent front door does. Nobody needs it. But it does something the Indra does not.

The Indra's counter-argument is blunt: 78 mm deep, 3.6 kg, finished in a neat dark housing that practically vanishes against a garage wall. It will not win a design award. It will not offend anyone either. And the £354 you save is real money — roughly what a standard installation costs.

For grant-eligible buyers (renters and flat owners), the OZEV £500 covers the Indra's £546 unit price almost entirely, leaving barely anything to pay before installation. Applied to the Andersen, that same £500 still leaves £400 on the table for the unit alone.

Protection and build: the Indra's quiet advantage

The Smart LUX carries IP67 and IK10 ratings. IP67 means submersible — not that you'd try, but it will not flinch at a decade of horizontal rain. IK10 means it can take a serious knock without cracking. The Andersen A3, by contrast, is rated IP54: splash-proof, not storm-proof. Its anodised aluminium front is handsome and durable in its own right, but if the charger sits on an exposed wall beside a driveway where bikes lean and bins roll, the Indra's toughness is a material advantage.

The Indra also includes a built-in SPD and PEN fault detection — components your installer would otherwise source and wire separately. That typically trims £150 or more from the installation bill, widening the effective cost gap between the two chargers beyond the headline £354.

Tariff support and software

Neither charger leads the field on software — that title belongs to the Ohme Home Pro and its included 4G SIM. But the Indra is the more capable of the two here. It claims integration with over 1,000 UK energy tariffs, including half-hourly variable rates like Octopus Agile. The Andersen supports Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime directly, which covers most EV owners on smart tariffs — but if you want Agile-style slot-chasing, the Indra has the broader reach.

One caveat: the Indra's 4G module costs roughly £250 extra. Without it, you're reliant on Wi-Fi, same as the Andersen. If reliable connectivity matters — and for half-hourly tariff optimisation it does — factor that cost in or ensure your Wi-Fi reaches the charger reliably.

Both chargers offer solar PV diversion. The Indra includes a CT clamp in the box; the Andersen integrates via its app. Neither matches the myenergi Zappi GLO for solar-first households, but both will divert surplus generation competently enough.

Warranty: the Andersen's strongest card

Seven years. No other home charger on the UK market matches the A3's warranty length. The Indra offers three years as standard, extendable to five for £100. Even with the extension, the Andersen still covers you two years longer. If you plan to keep the house — and the charger — for a decade, that warranty gap is meaningful. The Simpson & Partners Home 7 offers ten years at £649, for buyers who want warranty length without the Andersen's price; see the Andersen A3 vs Simpson & Partners Home 7 comparison for that angle.

Which to buy

Buy the Andersen A3 if:

• The charger will be visible from the street and your home's appearance matters to you
• You value the hidden cable system — no dangling tether between charges
• A seven-year warranty gives you peace of mind worth paying for

Buy the Indra Smart LUX if:

• You want the toughest-rated home charger available — IP67, IK10, no contest
• Broader tariff integration matters, especially on variable rates
• You'd rather spend £354 less on the unit and put it toward installation

For most buyers, the Indra Smart LUX is the more rational purchase. It is slimmer, tougher, cheaper, and smarter on tariffs. The Andersen A3 is not irrational — it is a considered product for people who care what their house looks like — but it is a design purchase first and a charger second. If you cannot see the charger from the pavement, the Indra does the job better for £354 less.