EO Mini Pro 3 vs Cord Zero: the £5 that buys you 4G

The £5 that separates these two

On price, there is nothing to argue about. The EO Mini Pro 3 is £550. The Cord Zero is £555. A fiver. The decision sits entirely with what you want from a charger once it's on the wall — and these two want different things from the job.

• EO Mini Pro 3 — the charger for when the wall dictates everything. A5-sized, CT clamp in the box, Hive Power+ cashback if you're with British Gas.
• Cord Zero — the charger for when the broadband doesn't reach. Dual Wi-Fi + 4G, full built-in safety suite, cheaper install.

Why the EO earns its £550 on the right wall

The EO Mini Pro 3 is 215 × 140 × 100 mm. That is small — the smallest mainstream charger sold in the UK. If your mounting spot is a narrow pier between a garage door and a downpipe, or a recessed panel next to a porch light, this is sometimes the only unit that will physically fit without looking imposed on the house.

It earns its place two other ways. The CT clamp for solar diversion is in the box, not an accessory you buy later — useful if you already have panels and want scheduled top-ups tied to export. And the British Gas Hive Power+ variant credits back 25% of charging costs on the EV Power+ tariff, a structural discount no other charger in the catalogue matches. If you're a British Gas customer planning to stay one, that alone settles it.

Against the field, though, the EO is mid-range pricing for a compact schedule-based unit. It charges at 7.2kW rather than the standard 7.4kW — a rounding error in practice, but it's a tell that this is a small charger rather than a cheap one. The solar diversion is serviceable, not surplus-only; if that's what you're buying for, the Zappi GLO comparison is the page you want.

Why the Cord Zero is the quieter install

The Cord Zero's pitch is operational. Built-in RCD, PEN fault detection, SPD, overvoltage protection — the full safety stack is inside the unit, which typically strips £150–£250 off install labour because your electrician isn't wiring in a separate enclosure. On a £400–£500 install job, that's meaningful. The Cord also ships, currently, with a free upgrade from the standard three-year warranty to five — promotional, worth checking is still running when you click buy.

Then there's connectivity. Dual Wi-Fi and 4G with automatic failover means the charger stays in touch with its scheduler regardless of what your router is doing. If your drive is at the far end of a stone-walled semi and your Wi-Fi is a rumour by the time it reaches the charger, this is the feature that stops you cursing at an app once a week. The EO has an Ethernet port, which is the other answer to that problem — but only if you're willing to run a cable.

Where the Cord Zero gives ground is app polish (the Ohme Home Pro and Tesla Wall Connector feel a generation ahead) and IP rating (IP54 + IK08, fine for most walls but a step below the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro for fully exposed mounting).

Tariff compatibility is a draw

Both cover the mainstream EV tariffs through scheduling — Octopus Go, EDF GoElectric, British Gas Electric Drivers. Neither will do much interesting on Octopus Agile, where the rate moves every half hour and an Ohme will chase prices that these two cannot. If variable-rate optimisation is your use case, this isn't your pairing — read the Ohme vs EO comparison instead.

The verdict

Buy the EO Mini Pro 3 if:

• Your wall won't take anything bigger than A5
• You're a British Gas customer planning to use Hive Power+
• You already have solar and want the CT clamp included

Buy the Cord Zero if:

• Your Wi-Fi is unreliable at the charge point
• You want the install quote to come in lower
• The promotional five-year warranty is still running when you buy

For most buyers, the Cord Zero is the one I'd put on the wall. £5 more buys 4G failover, a lower install bill, and — if the promotion holds — two extra years of warranty. The EO Mini Pro 3 is the answer to a specific question: does it fit, or are you on Hive? If either is yes, it's worth the premium. If neither is, the Cord does more for the same money.