Ohme Home Pro vs EO Mini Pro 3: tariff brain or smallest box?

Tariff brain versus smallest box

Fifteen pounds separates these two, and they solve different problems. The Ohme Home Pro at £535 is a tariff-optimiser that happens to be a charger. The EO Mini Pro 3 at £550 is a compact charger that happens to be smart. If you pick on price alone, you'll probably pick wrong.

The shortest version:

• Ohme Home Pro — the charger that talks to your energy supplier. Live API to Octopus, OVO and British Gas; officially recommended for Octopus Intelligent Go.
• EO Mini Pro 3 — the charger that fits where others can't. A5-sized, Ethernet port, Hive Power+ cashback if British Gas is your supplier.

Is the EO's size worth losing tariff intelligence?

At 215 × 140 × 100mm, the EO is the smallest proper charger on the UK market. That matters if you have a narrow porch, a recessed mount, or a wall beside a doorway where a full-size unit would look ridiculous. No rival in this price bracket gets close on footprint — the Wallbox Pulsar Max at £536 is the only mainstream alternative that comes near it, and even that's bigger.

What the EO gives up for that size is depth of tariff integration. Its smart features are preset-based: you tell it you're on Octopus Go or EDF GoElectric, and it schedules into the off-peak window. Fine, as far as it goes. The Ohme does something different — it holds a live API connection to your supplier and reacts to what the tariff is doing now. On Octopus Agile, where rates change every half-hour, that's the difference between chasing cheap power and guessing at it. On Intelligent Go, Ohme is the charger Octopus itself recommends; the EO isn't.

For a fixed-window tariff like British Gas Electric Drivers, both will get you 9p/kWh charging from midnight to 5am. The Ohme's brain is wasted. The EO's simplicity is fine.

The Hive Power+ wrinkle

There's one scenario where the EO beats the Ohme on money, and it's narrow: if you're a British Gas customer, the Hive Power+ variant of the EO credits back 25% of your charging costs on the EV Power+ tariff. That's a structural discount no other charger in the catalogue matches. Over a year of typical home charging, it's the kind of number that changes the maths entirely.

It only works inside the British Gas ecosystem, though. Switch supplier and the benefit evaporates. If you're the sort of household that shops energy tariffs every year — and given what EV drivers can save by doing so, you probably should be — locking yourself to one supplier for a cashback perk is a poor trade. For everyone else, the Ohme's open-API approach keeps options alive.

Solar, connectivity, build

Both chargers do solar diversion out of the box, which is unusual at this price and welcome on both. The Ohme's is integrated; the EO uses the included CT clamp. Neither touches the Zappi GLO for depth — if solar is your primary motivation, the Ohme vs Zappi GLO comparison is the more useful page.

On connectivity, the EO wins on options — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, optional 4G. The Ohme wins on what's actually included: a 4G SIM for three years, in the box, no extra to buy. If your router is nowhere near the driveway, Ohme solves the problem for free where EO charges extra. If you have Ethernet cabling already run, the EO's port is useful.

Build: Ohme IP65, EO IP54. Both are fine for a typical UK installation under an eave or on a sheltered wall. Fully exposed to Atlantic weather, the Ohme is the safer spec. Warranties match at three years — average for both, and behind the Rolec EVO at five or the Simpson & Partners Home 7 at ten if long cover matters to you.

Which to buy

Buy the Ohme Home Pro if:

• You're on Octopus Intelligent Go, Agile, or any variable tariff
• You want tariff optimisation handled without your involvement
• Your Wi-Fi is weak near the driveway and you'd value the included 4G SIM

Buy the EO Mini Pro 3 if:

• Wall space is physically tight and the footprint has to be small
• British Gas is your supplier and Hive Power+ cashback applies
• You want a wired Ethernet connection rather than wireless

For most buyers, the Ohme is the charger to put on the wall. It's £15 cheaper, it does more with a smart tariff, and it will keep paying you back every month the grid rate moves. The EO earns its place only when its size or its Hive integration is the deciding factor. If neither applies to you, stop here — it's the Ohme.