EO Mini Pro 3 vs Indra Smart LUX

Small charger, different definitions of small

Both the EO Mini Pro 3 and the Indra Smart LUX market themselves on compactness. Fair enough — they are the two slimmest tethered smart chargers you can buy in the UK. But they define "slim" differently, and the £23 gap between them (£523 for the EO, £546 for the Indra) hides a wider difference in what you get for your money.

• EO Mini Pro 3 — the smallest charger full stop. A5-sized, 2.5 kg, fits where nothing else will. Schedule-based smart charging via ev.energy. 5-metre cable.
• Indra Smart LUX — the thinnest against the wall at 78 mm. IP67 + IK10, built-in PEN fault detection, claimed integration with 1,000+ tariffs including half-hourly rates. 6-metre cable.

The install cost gap matters more than the sticker price

The EO costs £523. The Indra costs £546. On paper, the EO is cheaper. In practice, the Indra often works out less.

The reason is PEN fault detection. The Smart LUX has it built in, along with a surge protection device. Most installers need to add an external earth rod or PEN fault relay when fitting a charger without these — a job that typically adds £100–£150 to the install bill. With the Indra, that labour disappears. Indra quotes install costs from £300–£500; the EO's typical range is £400–£600. That difference alone can wipe out the £23 premium and then some.

Both chargers are OZEV-approved, so renters and flat owners can claim the £500 grant — which, in either case, covers the unit outright and chips into the install costs too.

Smart tariff depth: scheduling versus slot-chasing

The EO Mini Pro 3 handles scheduled charging — set a window, the charger runs inside it. That is enough for fixed-rate off-peak tariffs like Octopus Go (8.5p/kWh, 00:30–05:30) or EDF GoElectric (6.99p/kWh, 23:00–06:00). Plenty of EV owners never need more than this.

The Indra claims integration with over 1,000 UK tariffs, including half-hourly scheduling for variable rates like Octopus Agile. If you are on Agile — or plan to be — the Indra can chase the cheapest 30-minute slots each night. The EO cannot. On a fixed off-peak window, the difference is academic. On a variable tariff, the Indra earns its keep nightly.

One caveat on the EO side: its own app is being retired, with owners migrated to the ev.energy platform. The charger still works, but you are buying into a third-party app ecosystem that EO does not control. The Indra runs its own app. Whether that matters depends on how much you care about who owns the software you rely on.

Build quality and exposure

The Indra Smart LUX is rated IP67 + IK10. IP67 means submersible — overkill for a wall-mounted charger, but it tells you something about how seriously the seals are engineered. IK10 means it withstands 20-joule impacts, the highest rating on the scale. If the charger lives on an exposed wall, beside a driveway where a wing mirror could clip it, or anywhere coastal salt air reaches, the Indra's protection is not decorative.

The EO Mini Pro 3 is rated IP54 — splash-proof, not weather-sealed. Adequate for a sheltered garage wall. Less reassuring on an exposed gable end in February.

Both offer solar diversion via included CT clamps. Neither matches the myenergi Zappi GLO's Eco+ surplus-only mode for dedicated solar households — if solar is the primary concern, the Zappi GLO vs EO Mini Pro 3 comparison covers that ground more thoroughly.

When the EO Mini Pro 3 is the right answer

The EO's case is narrow but real. At 215 × 140 × 100 mm, it is genuinely A5-sized — the only mainstream charger that fits in a recessed cupboard, a narrow pillar between garage doors, or a tight spot beside a consumer unit. If physical space is the constraint, the EO is often the only option. The Wallbox Pulsar Max is compact too, but the EO is still smaller.

The other specific case: British Gas customers on the Hive Power+ tariff, where the EO credits back 25 per cent of charging costs. That cashback is structural and ongoing — no other charger offers it. Outside that ecosystem, it means nothing.

The verdict

Buy the EO Mini Pro 3 if:

• Wall space is critically tight and nothing else physically fits
• You are a British Gas customer using Hive Power+ for the 25% cashback
• You only need fixed-window scheduling and want the lightest possible unit at 2.5 kg

Buy the Indra Smart LUX if:

• You want the toughest weather and impact protection available on a home charger
• You are on — or considering — a variable tariff like Octopus Agile
• You want built-in PEN fault detection to reduce your install bill

For most buyers, the Indra is the better £546 spent. It charges fractionally faster at 7.4kW versus 7.2kW, carries a longer 6-metre cable, protects itself against weather and impacts the EO cannot match, and its built-in safety hardware often makes it cheaper once the installer's invoice arrives. The EO earns its place on the smallest walls and inside the British Gas ecosystem. Everywhere else, the Smart LUX.