Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 vs Indra Smart LUX

£146 apart, and most of it is on the outside

Both chargers deliver 7.4kW on a single phase, both include solar diversion via CT clamp, and both carry three-year warranties. The Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 costs £400. The Indra Smart LUX costs £546. That £146 gap buys you a thinner enclosure, a higher IP rating, and — potentially — smarter tariff handling. Whether any of that matters depends on your wall, your tariff, and how much you care about a charger's silhouette.

• Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 — £400, 7.5-metre cable, schedule-based tariff control. The budget pick with the longest reach.
• Indra Smart LUX — £546, 78 mm depth, IP67, claimed half-hourly tariff integration. The one that disappears against the brickwork.

Cable length and profile: the physical trade-off

The Sync arrives with 7.5 metres of tethered cable — longer than anything else in the catalogue, including the Tesla Wall Connector's 7.3 m. If your driveway is deep or you park two cars in different spots, that extra reach matters more than aesthetics.

The Indra counters with dimensions. At 78 mm deep, it sits closer to the wall than any other tethered smart charger on the market. Its standard cable is 6 metres; a 10-metre version exists but costs more. The Sync, at 115 mm deep, is hardly a fridge — but the Indra is noticeably flatter, and on a narrow side passage or a wall that faces the street, that 37 mm difference is visible.

Both carry IK10 impact resistance. The Indra edges ahead on ingress protection: IP67 (briefly submersible) against the Sync's IP65 (jet-proof). For a charger mounted under an open sky, the distinction is academic in most British weather. If yours faces a pressure washer or sits below a leaking gutter, the IP67 is a genuine margin of comfort.

Tariff intelligence: where the £146 starts to justify itself

The Sync's TariffSense is schedule-based. Set a cheap window — say Octopus Go's 00:30–05:30 slot at 8.5p/kWh — and the charger holds to it. Reliable, simple, effective on any fixed off-peak tariff. It also works with Intelligent Octopus Go via the Octopus API, which handles the optimisation externally. For those two tariffs, the Sync does everything you need.

The Indra claims integration with over 1,000 UK tariffs, including half-hourly pricing from Octopus Agile. If that claim holds — and Indra's app delivers on it — the Smart LUX can chase 30-minute price slots the Sync cannot reach. On Agile, where rates can drop below 5p/kWh in the small hours and spike above 30p at teatime, that flexibility compounds over months. The Ohme Home Pro at £539 is the established name for this kind of tariff-chasing, and if Agile responsiveness is the priority, the Ohme comparison is worth a look. But the Indra's broader tariff library — covering suppliers beyond Octopus — gives it a different angle.

One caveat on connectivity: the Sync includes Wi-Fi and Ethernet as standard, though user reports flag occasional Wi-Fi dropouts. The Indra's Wi-Fi is standard too, but its 4G module costs roughly £250 extra — steep when the Ohme Home Pro includes a SIM in the box. If your Wi-Fi does not reach the driveway, factor that add-on into the Indra's real cost.

The grant and what it does to both prices

Both chargers are OZEV-approved. For eligible renters and flat owners, the £500 grant covers the Sync's £400 unit price outright and contributes to installation costs. For the Indra at £546, the grant leaves £46 on the unit — still a modest outlay before install. Either way, the grant narrows the gap between them to almost nothing for qualifying buyers. If you are eligible, the decision rests on features, not price.

Which to buy

Buy the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 if:

• You want the cheapest credible smart charger with solar diversion and PEN fault protection included
• A 7.5-metre cable solves a parking geometry problem the Indra's 6 m would not
• Your tariff has a fixed off-peak window — Go, Intelligent Go, EDF GoElectric — and you do not need half-hourly chasing

Buy the Indra Smart LUX if:

• Wall depth matters — 78 mm is as flat as a tethered smart charger gets
• You are on or moving to a half-hourly tariff and want the charger to handle it natively
• You prefer a UK-manufactured unit with IP67 protection and are comfortable with a smaller installer network

For the majority of single-car, fixed-tariff households, the Sync at £400 does the job and keeps £146 in the account. The Indra earns its premium in a narrower set of circumstances — tight wall space, variable tariffs, a preference for British manufacturing. If none of those apply, the cheaper charger is the right one.