Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 vs CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3: £724 apart, different planets

£362 against £1,086 — and the case for each

These two chargers share a user rating (4.1) and a connector type (untethered Type 2 socket). That is roughly where the similarities end. The Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 at £362 is one of the cheapest smart chargers on the market — backed by a UK-listed parent company, packed with features that have no business being at this price. The CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 at £1,086 is built like a commercial charging post that happens to fit on a house wall: three-phase native, MID-metered, OCPP 2.0.1, 24 kg of Swedish engineering.

The £724 gap is not a premium. It is two chargers designed for different buildings.

• Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 — £362, single-phase 7.4kW, built-in PEN fault protection and solar diversion, 3-year warranty. The budget pick for a standard UK home.
• CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 — £1,086, up to 22kW on three-phase, MID-approved meter, Type B RCD built in, 5-year warranty. The pick for three-phase installs or small commercial sites.

Why the CTEK costs what it costs

Strip away the three-phase capability and the CTEK still includes hardware most home chargers omit. Its built-in MRCD Type B means no external RCD — saving £100–£200 at the consumer unit. Its MID-approved, Eichrecht-compliant energy meter satisfies billing accuracy requirements for workplace or landlord recharging. OCPP 2.0.1 and ISO 15118 plug-and-charge readiness put it a protocol generation ahead of most domestic units.

None of that matters if you live in a three-bedroom semi with a single-phase supply. On single-phase, the CTEK delivers 7.4kW — identical to the Sync Energy — and its install cost runs £900–£1,300 versus the Sync Energy's £300–£600. Total outlay, unit plus install: roughly £660–£960 for the Sync Energy, roughly £1,986–£2,386 for the CTEK. Even after the £500 OZEV grant (available to eligible renters and flat owners on both), the gap is formidable.

Smart tariff handling — neither charger excels

If tariff automation matters to you, neither of these is the right charger. The Sync Energy offers TariffSense — schedule-based off-peak charging that works fine on fixed-window tariffs like Octopus Go (8.5p/kWh, 00:30–05:30). But it has no direct supplier API, so it cannot participate in Octopus Intelligent Go or OVO Charge Anytime, both of which require the charger to talk to the supplier's platform.

The CTEK is worse here. It has no first-party app at all for tariff scheduling — you rely on a third-party OCPP backend like Monta. No Intelligent Go, no OVO integration. For a £1,086 charger, that is a notable absence.

Buyers who want half-hourly tariff optimisation on Octopus Agile or automatic slot allocation on Intelligent Go should look at the Ohme Home Pro at £535. The Ohme Home Pro vs Sync Energy comparison covers that trade-off in detail.

The three-phase question

Fewer than one in twenty UK homes have three-phase power. If yours does — or if you are having it installed — the CTEK becomes a credible option. At 22kW it will charge a compatible EV roughly three times faster than any single-phase unit. The Zaptec Go 2 at £500 is the obvious three-phase alternative: lighter, cheaper, OZEV-approved, though it lacks the CTEK's MID meter and Type B RCD. The Wallbox Pulsar Max at £536 offers a three-phase variant too.

If you do not have three-phase and do not plan to get it, the CTEK's headline feature is inert. You are paying £724 more for a longer warranty (5 years versus 3), a heavier box (24 kg versus roughly 4–5 kg), and built-in Type B RCD protection. Worthwhile for some — but the Sync Energy's built-in PEN fault protection already removes one common installation extra.

The verdict

Buy the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 if:

• You have a standard single-phase home and want the most charger for the least money
• You have solar panels — its CT-clamp solar diversion is included at £362
• You are OZEV-eligible — the £500 grant covers the unit outright and chips into the install

Buy the CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 if:

• You have or are installing three-phase supply and want 22kW charging at home
• You need MID-approved metering — for workplace recharging, landlord billing, or fleet use
• You value a 5-year warranty and built-in Type B RCD over upfront savings

For the typical UK household, the Sync Energy is the sensible answer. It charges at the same speed, costs a third as much, weighs a fifth as much, and includes solar diversion the CTEK does not offer. The CTEK is a fine piece of hardware — aimed at a building, not a buyer, that most readers of this page do not have.