By Andrew Liszewski
Unless they’re already gung-ho on saving the planet, it’s hard to make eco-friendly products seem exciting to the average consumer. But Dexim Santom’s replacement iPhone charger, which stops drawing power from an outlet once your iPod or iPhone is topped off, manages to catch your attention. It promises to reduce unnecessary standby power drain by up to 85%, but most people will only care about its eye-catching electroluminescent cord which has a glowing marching ants effect that shows the power flowing from the outlet to your device.
When your device is completely drained the animated effect runs at a fast pace, but it slows down once the charge level reaches 65% so you know when it’s more than half-charged. And once it’s completely charged, the glowing cord shuts off completely. Of course you may be wondering why an eco-friendly charging alternative wastes energy with a glowing effect, but according to the company’s reps the electroluminescent effect is a by-product of the power already flowing through the cable. Expect it to be available sometime in march for $39.99.
I doubt I'd save $40 of standby electricity in the lifetime of this product.