Ohme Home Pro vs Indra Smart LUX: tariff brain or tank build?

The £80 question: tariff brain or tank build?

Both are 7.4kW tethered units, both OZEV-approved, both single-phase. That's where the similarity stops. The Ohme Home Pro at £535 is a tariff-integration specialist with a colour display and a 4G SIM already on board. The Indra Smart LUX at £615 is the slimmest, toughest smart charger sold in the UK, built in Worcestershire.

The shortest version:

• Ohme Home Pro — the tariff charger. Direct APIs to Octopus, OVO and British Gas; 4G included; £535.
• Indra Smart LUX — the physical charger. 78 mm against the wall, IP67 and IK10 against the weather; £615.

Is the Indra's £80 premium worth it?

It depends on which problem you're solving.

If the problem is money — charging a Tesla for pennies on a smart tariff — the Ohme Home Pro wins on fundamentals. It is the charger Octopus officially recommends for Octopus Intelligent Go, which means the API integration is first-party and maintained, not a generic "1,000+ tariffs" marketing line. Set the car to charge, forget about it, wake up on 7p/kWh. The Indra Smart LUX does claim Agile-style half-hourly scheduling across a long list of tariffs, and for most buyers it will work well. But Ohme is the default for a reason — it is what the tariff providers build around.

If the problem is the wall — a narrow side-return, a driveway that floods, a charger that lives on the seaward side of the house — the Indra's case is immediate. 78 mm of depth is less than anything else in the catalogue. IP67 means submersible; IK10 is the highest impact rating on the market. Add built-in SPD and PEN fault detection, which typically strips £150 or so off the installer's labour bill, and the £80 gap narrows to nothing once install is quoted. The Indra's own installer network is smaller than Ohme's, though, so get two quotes before you assume the saving lands.

Where the connectivity maths gets awkward

One number reshapes the comparison: 4G. The Ohme Home Pro includes a SIM for three years in the £535 price. On the Indra Smart LUX, 4G is roughly a £250 option on top of £615. If your garage Wi-Fi is marginal — thick walls, a detached block, a long drive — the Ohme is effectively £330 cheaper once you spec them to do the same job. That is no longer a close call.

If your Wi-Fi reaches the wall without drama, the gap goes back to £80 and the argument returns to tariff intelligence versus build. Warranty is level at three years on both, though Indra offers a five-year extension for £100 and Ohme does not.

Two notes on alternatives

Solar buyers should pause here. Both chargers divert, but neither is the right answer if PV is the centre of the decision — the Ohme vs Zappi GLO comparison covers that argument properly. Tesla owners hunting the cheapest path to 7p/kWh should check the Ohme vs Tesla Wall Connector piece before committing; on Octopus Go with its fixed window, the Tesla does the same job for less.

The verdict

Buy the Ohme Home Pro if:

• You're on Octopus Intelligent Go or planning to be
• Your Wi-Fi doesn't reach the wall and 4G matters
• You want per-session cost tracking on a colour display

Buy the Indra Smart LUX if:

• The charger lives somewhere exposed, impact-prone or narrow
• You value UK design and manufacture
• Your installer can claim back the SPD/PEN labour saving

If we were putting one on the wall tomorrow, on a smart tariff, it would be the Ohme. The tariff integration is tighter, the 4G is free, and £535 buys you less to think about. The Indra is the better-built object, and for the right wall that will be the correct answer — but most walls are ordinary, and most buyers want the charger that quietly makes them money while they sleep. On a flat-rate tariff, neither is the obvious pick; look at cheaper options instead.