Cord Zero vs Andersen Quartz: £140 for a prettier wall

Connectivity versus kerb appeal

The Cord Zero costs £555 and connects to your home two ways — Wi-Fi and a built-in 4G SIM that fails over silently when the broadband drops. The Andersen Quartz costs £695, comes in eleven finishes with optional Accoya wood inserts, and relies on Wi-Fi alone. The gap is £140. What that buys you is almost entirely cosmetic — and whether that matters depends on how much time you spend looking at the outside of your house.

• Cord Zero — the pragmatist's pick. Dual connectivity, built-in safety hardware that trims install costs, OZEV-approved, £555.
• Andersen Quartz — the one people photograph. IP65, seven-year warranty, compact, handsome — and £140 more for a narrower feature set.

Where the £140 goes

Strip away the finish options and the Quartz is a competent but fairly ordinary 7.2 kW charger. It schedules. It locks. It tracks sessions. Since September 2025 it integrates with Intelligent Octopus Go and OVO Charge Anytime. That covers the two most popular managed-charging tariffs, and for many buyers it is enough.

The Cord Zero covers more ground. Its tariff list includes Octopus Go, Intelligent Go, OVO, British Gas Electric Drivers, and EDF GoElectric. If you switch suppliers — and plenty of people do — the Cord is less likely to strand you on manual scheduling. It also supports OCPP 1.6J, which means third-party energy platforms can talk to it. The Quartz does not advertise OCPP support.

Then there is the 4G. A charger that loses its internet connection is a charger that cannot chase cheap rates. The Cord's multi-network SIM means a garage at the far end of the garden, behind two brick walls, still gets a signal. The Quartz, with Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz only, needs the router to reach. For homes where a mesh node or a powerline adapter is already on the shopping list, the Cord removes that cost entirely.

Install cost and the OZEV question

The Cord Zero bundles an internal RCD, PEN fault detection, surge protection, and overvoltage protection. Most installs will not need an additional earth rod or a separate consumer-unit RCD, which typically saves £150–£250 on labour and parts. Cord quotes an install range of £400–£500.

The Andersen Quartz includes PEN fault detection and an internal 6 mA DC RCD — a solid baseline — but its install range runs £435–£800, reflecting more variability depending on the board and cable run. Andersen's own installers tend to charge above generic fitter rates.

Factor in the OZEV grant and the picture tilts further. The Cord Zero is OZEV-approved: eligible renters and flat owners can claim £500 off, which would drop the unit cost to £55 before installation. The Andersen Quartz is *not confirmed* on the current eligible-chargepoint list. If you qualify for the grant, the Quartz may not be an option at all — and the Cord becomes dramatically cheaper than its sticker price.

Warranty and weatherproofing

The Quartz's clearest structural advantage is its warranty: seven years, no asterisks. The Cord Zero ships with three years, currently extended to five under a promotional offer that may not last. If the promotion ends before you buy, the gap is seven years versus three — a material difference on a device bolted to the outside of your house.

Weatherproofing favours the Quartz too. IP65 means it handles direct water jets; the Cord's IP54 is rated for splashing only. On a sheltered wall this distinction is academic. On an exposed, south-west-facing gable, IP65 is worth having. For the most exposed installs, the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro at IP66 and IK10 goes further still, at £690 — £5 less than the Quartz.

Which to buy

Buy the Cord Zero if:

• Your Wi-Fi does not reliably reach the charger location — the 4G failover is unique at this price
• You want the broadest tariff compatibility without committing to one supplier
• You qualify for the OZEV grant, which the Quartz cannot currently claim

Buy the Andersen Quartz if:

• The charger is visible from the street or the front door and you want it to look intentional
• You value a guaranteed seven-year warranty over a promotional five-year one
• You are on Intelligent Octopus Go or OVO Charge Anytime and do not plan to switch — the Quartz covers both

For most buyers, the Cord Zero is the better charger. It connects more reliably, installs more cheaply, supports more tariffs, and costs £140 less. The Andersen Quartz is the better *object* — the one you would choose if the wall mattered as much as the wiring. That is a legitimate reason to spend more. It is just not an electrical one.