In the context of our electronic equipment becoming more diversified, portable, and especially intelligent, accessory manufacturers have also begun to sort out their power supply solutions. When the socket also collides with intelligence, what insights and experiences will the new product bring to us? Recently, from the perspective of a college student, the author experienced four socket products of Consumer and ORICO.

It should be noted that the narrow sense of "intelligence" of electronic products is defined as "being able to connect to the Internet"; From this point of view, among the four products involved in this article, only the smart wireless socket for guest control strictly meets this definition.

1、 Hardware and Design

▲ Product packaging: ORICO's whole series of products are mainly packaged in white paper boxes (waist seals), whose materials meet the price positioning, and the appearance is better than that of ordinary patch panels. From the details of different product packages, we can feel that ORICO is still in the rapid development period of brand image. The external package of passenger control is a plastic box; The connection design between the translucent box cover and the green base is unique.

▲ Hardware overview of passenger control wireless smart socket (hereinafter referred to as passenger control): passenger control is a single hole socket. Rotate the passenger control socket to open the middle panel, and you can get its only accessory - the instruction manual at the bottom of the packaging box; This design is relatively novel. The passenger control plug has three ends; The machine body is made of bright black plastic with exquisite workmanship and cool style; However, it is easy to cause scratches.

▲ Passenger control details: the other side of the plug is a double/triple socket; The double socket can only adapt to the flat plug. A click switch is arranged on the side of the passenger controller. From the appearance, the guest controller can realize plug conversion and open/close circuit control; Its built-in WIFI module can also realize remote control of power switch with mobile phone.

▲ ORICO smart USB patch panel (hereinafter referred to as ORICO patch panel) hardware overview: OCRICO patch panel combines common jack and USB interface to power equipment. The hardware design of the two models with different specifications is basically the same. They are consistent with the spy photos of 360 safety patch panel; After further understanding, we learned that ORICO is the manufacturer of 360.

▲ ORICO patch panel details: On the basis of a push switch and a common jack, the patch panel has four additional USB charging ports, whose functions are clear at a glance. It is worth mentioning that the jacks of this product are designed in a single row with a spacing of 5cm (larger than that of general patch panels), which is more compatible with adapters with different shapes.

▲ Hardware overview of ORICO five port desktop charger (hereinafter referred to as ORICO 5U): ORICO 5U is used to supply power to equipment and adopts a separate design of body and power line. In terms of appearance, it integrates five USB transformers; The design of USB interface on the side improves its use experience.

▲ ORICO 5U details: among the four products in this experience, ORICO 5U has the most balanced appearance, material selection and manufacturing process, and the best comprehensive performance; It is a product that can take the lead by appearance. The author believes that the design premium of 5U should be recognized as an ideal gift.

▲ ORICO USB3.0 high-speed expansion hub (hereinafter referred to as ORICO HUB) hardware overview: ORICO HUB is used to expand the USB interface to transmit data, and is equipped with a power cable to ensure adequate power supply for the interface. The design style of the aluminum panel highlights its product positioning to serve Apple devices. The hardware structure of ORICO HUB is very similar to that of ORICO 5U, but it is not suitable for charging. It is recommended to indicate it on the body.

▲ ORICO HUB details: Unfortunately, the Apple style design of HUB is not based on extreme workmanship. Edge burrs and assembly gaps affect the expression of its design intent, and the hardware quality needs to be improved.

Summary: The common point of the four products is that they have a good sense of design. They respectively realize the functions of remote control of the patch board switch, USB charging, portable USB charging and extending the laptop USB interface. Among them, ORICO 5U hardware performs best; The customer controller and ORICO HUB have high appearance, and they need to express the hardware functions more clearly in the hardware design; There is still room for improvement in the manufacturing process of OCIRCO patch panel and HUB.

2、 Parameters and functions

▲ Passenger control technical parameters: passenger control is a single socket with power of 2200W; The function of remote control can be realized by connecting the WIFI module with the Internet. It is the only truly "smart socket" among the four products.

▲ ORICO patch panel technical parameters: two patch panels with different jack numbers have the same rated power; 2500W is the standard configuration of most patch panels, which is more than enough in actual experience. The power limit of the author's dormitory is about 2300W, which is close to the power of the shower and air conditioner. Its "intelligence" performance is that the USB module built-in chip can identify the device and output the corresponding charging current. A single USB port can realize a current of more than 2A to charge iPad 3 and other products; However, it is unable to realize fast charging for devices such as MX5. The charging capacity decreases when multiple devices are connected, and the total output peak value is 20W.

▲ ORICO 5U technical parameters: ORICO 5U can also automatically identify equipment and output appropriate current. The maximum charging power of a single USB interface is 12W, which is the same as the ORICO patch board; When multiple interfaces are used at the same time, the total peak output power is 40W, and the multi port charging performance is stronger than the patch panel. 5U is also the only one of the four products whose body is marked with the "back" icon of Class II appliances, which indicates that its internal safety is enhanced by double insulation. This is because the 220V AC power is only a few centimeters away from the skin when holding it, which is similar to the use of a hair dryer. Therefore, the author suggests that ORICO and other big brands should be the first choice when purchasing such products.

▲ ORICO HUB technical parameters: All 7 interfaces of ORICO HUB are USB 3.0, powered by an adapter with an output power of 12V 2.5A. It should be noted that, unlike general small hubs, ORICO HUB cannot be used when it is not connected to the power supply, and its mobility is limited; It is mainly used for data transmission, and it is not recommended to use it to charge the equipment. In addition, some network cards and wireless receivers need to use a native USB port, which is not applicable to HUB.

Summary: Strictly speaking, the three ORICO products are not intelligent hardware (although USB charging has an "intelligent" recognition chip). However, ORICO 5U significantly reduces the burden of daily socket occupation and travel, which can be described as a direct hit to users' pain points; It is an ideal product for intelligent hardware.

3、 Experience and scene

▲ Use scenario of customer control: The author's daily routine is to arrive at the laboratory at 8:00 in the morning and not return to the dormitory before 22:00 in the evening. In winter, it takes two hours to boil water once; In the past, sleep quality had to be sacrificed in order to take a bath in the morning or at night. The rain shower controlled by the passenger controller can realize the function of regular or remote water burning, and realize the intellectualization of traditional equipment. It can be said that customer control is the product that the author has been looking forward to for a long time, which can solve the needs of many friends.

▲ Use scenario of ORICO patch board: The main function of ORICO patch board is to reduce space consumption and save the cost of purchasing adapters. The extremely high space utilization rate and elegant shape help it become a desktop product, which is more convenient to use. For graduate students (office workers) at school, arranging a set of charging equipment in the laboratory (office) can not only save the trouble of taking the charger to work, but also extend the service life of the charging line.

▲ Use scenario of ORICO 5U: Compared with ORICO patch board, the author prefers 5U that integrates functionality and portability. The utility model can reduce the management burden brought by carrying the charger during the travel; At the same time, it can also quickly charge multiple devices in an environment where the number of socket outlets is limited. In addition, in the environment of excessive chargers, some products (mobile power supply, smart cup, bracelet, etc.) that obviously need to be used with mobile phones do not have their own adapters. In some cases, ORICO 5U is also an ideal supplement.

▲ Use scenario of ORICO HUB: the old Macbook Air only has two USB ports; There is even only one new model left (the C-shaped USB port needs to purchase another data cable). For the latter, sorting more than 100 GB of data between two mobile hard disks does require a HUB to improve efficiency. However, the current design of this product, which can only be used after being connected to the power supply, makes its experience more complicated. In terms of scenarios, it is more suitable for the extension of the desktop rear USB 3.0.

Summary: In campus life, customer control and ORICO 5U solved the author's pain point needs. On the premise of full publicity and reasonable price, the author believes that these two products will be widely favored by the student party and office workers. The two ORICO patch boards obtained by the author are slightly less competitive under the pressure of their own 5U product line. HUB is a powerful but not outstanding product.

Summary:

The "intelligence" of a product, in a narrow sense, means that it can connect to the Internet, and in a broad sense, it can also be seen as a well integrated automation function to make the product better used. Putting aside the entanglement of the concept of "intelligence", the author believes that Podcasting and ORICO 5U are already two products with excellent use experience; The former also provides a path for ORICO, a manufacturer with complete product lines, R&D and manufacturing strength, to develop intelligent hardware.

The author noticed that ORICO's recent patch panel products have further combed portability; Its appearance design also integrates the characteristics of 5U, an excellent product, forming a distinctive brand style.

However, ORICO HUB's characteristics of "requiring power supply for use" and "being able to supply power but unable to charge" make its use scenarios quite limited. This is a very good product, but not good enough.

To sum up, smart socket products have made some breakthroughs that directly address the pain points of user needs. The rational use of these new products and functions will help to improve the use experience of electronic products, and thus improve the quality of life of students and office workers. In the field of "power supply", which places great emphasis on safety, it is the demand of users and the only way for manufacturers to stabilize the market to have a solid internal skill and a solid brand.