power sockets and USB slots in one

With a daily need for charging, smartphones and tablets end up causing more USB and Lightning cable mess than old-fashioned rotary dial phones with their curly cords.
Wall power sockets in every room of the house are being taken over with plugs for USB charging cables, meaning you need to disconnect the kettle just to charge with your iPhone or Android. Or you go to plug your charge cable in to a plug and find someone else in the house just started charging their device – leading to a very modern-day ethical dilemma.
The answer could be this product: a wall plate that includes both 3-pin power sockets and USB slots.
There are now a few companies selling such wall plates. We recently reviewed another: the Group Gear USB charging plate.
If one of these looks like it will solve some problems in your house, you can buy one for around £20.
I prefer not to buy electrical equipment from sites such as eBay or even the Amazon Market Place (Amazon direct products should be legit) as you can never be too sure how safe these mostly imports are.


It features an integral moisture protection gasket and angled, in-line terminals, and comes supplied with backed out captive screws for easy installation.

Installation isn’t difficult depending on the placement of the plate and your own ability to wire up electrical equipment.
Turn off your house electricity, double-check power is off, and then remove the existing plate before switching to the new one.
I took pictures of the back of the old one while the wires were still attached in case I had to revert to the old one again.
If your power sockets are all used up with USB plugs this is a great solution.