Easee One vs Sync Energy Wall Charger 2: the £43 question

The £43 question, and what it actually buys you

Two budget-end chargers, both OZEV-approved, both 7.4kW, both aimed at the buyer who doesn't want to spend £700 on a wall box. The Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 is £362 with a 7.5-metre tethered cable. The Easee One is £405 untethered — you bring your own lead.

So the £43 isn't buying more charger. It's buying a different philosophy about what a charger should be.

• Easee One — untethered, 1.5 kg, tidy wall, lifetime 4G built in. The minimalist's pick.
• Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 — tethered, 7.5-metre cable, solar diversion, IP65 + IK10. More charger, less money.

Tethered or untethered: the only question that matters

Everything else on this page is a footnote to this decision. If you want to pull up, unlatch a permanent cable, plug in and walk away — you want the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2. Its 7.5-metre cable is the longest on our catalogue, longer than the Tesla Wall Connector's 7.3 metres, and it means you can park almost anywhere on the drive and still reach the port.

If you'd rather keep the wall clean, carry your own cable, and not look at a dangling lead when the car's away — the Easee One is the tidier object. It's also the lightest mount here at 1.5 kg, which matters more than it sounds when an installer is drilling into render or old brick. The trade: you handle the cable every time, and if you forget it, you're not charging.

On pure convenience, tethered wins the argument nine times out of ten. The untethered case is aesthetic, or it's a flat with a shared bay, or it's a household with mixed connector needs.

What the Sync Energy gets you that the Easee doesn't

At £362, the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 includes solar diversion via a CT clamp — SolarCharge, in their terminology. That's a feature normally reserved for the myenergi Zappi GLO at £750. If you have panels, or plan to, this is a meaningful inclusion. The Easee One has no equivalent at any price.

The Sync is also rated IP65 + IK10 — fully weatherproof, impact-resistant — against the Easee's IP54. On an exposed wall, facing prevailing weather, that matters. And it's backed by Luceco PLC, a UK-listed electrical manufacturer, which is a longer shadow than most budget brands throw.

The Easee's counter: a built-in eSIM with lifetime 4G, no subscription. If your router doesn't reach the driveway and you don't want to run Ethernet, that's worth real money. The Sync's Wi-Fi reliability has been mixed in user reviews — if you go Sync and the signal is borderline, specify the 4G variant from the outset.

Smart tariffs: neither is the right answer

Both chargers schedule. Neither talks directly to Octopus or any other supplier. On Octopus Go or E.ON Next Drive, where the off-peak window is fixed, that's fine — set the schedule once and forget it. On Octopus Agile, where rates move every half hour, you'll want the Ohme Home Pro at £535, which chases the cheapest slots automatically.

If you're on Octopus Intelligent Go, the whole question becomes moot — the tariff schedules the car directly via the Tesla API, and the charger just provides power. Either of these will do the job.

Install and the grant

Both qualify for the £500 OZEV grant if you're in a flat or renting. For a Sync Energy at £362, that covers the unit outright and contributes to the install. For an Easee at £405, same story — the grant wipes out the unit price with change to spare. For everyone else (owner-occupiers of houses), expect an installed total in the £700–£1,000 range depending on cable run and consumer-unit work. The Easee's integrated Type B RCD and open-PEN detection typically shaves £100–£200 off install labour; the Sync's built-in PEN protection does a similar job.

Which to buy

Buy the Easee One if:

• You want an untethered wall and don't mind handling the cable
• Your driveway has weak Wi-Fi and you don't want to run Ethernet
• Tidy aesthetics matter more than the last £43

Buy the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 if:

• You want tethered convenience — plug in, walk away
• You have solar panels, or will
• You want the cheapest competent smart charger on the market

For most UK drivers, the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 is the one we'd put on the wall. It's cheaper, it's tethered, the cable is longer, and it has solar diversion included. The Easee One is a good charger — just a more specific one. If you don't know which camp you're in, you're in the Sync camp.