'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
This car charger doubles as an emergency device
Nitecore VCL10 car charger.
I'm usually very good at reviewing and highlighting products that I find useful, but sometimes things fall through the gaps.
One such product is the Nitecore VCL10 car charger. I've had this for a few years, and I've overlooked it because it lives in my car, and I always forget to bring it indoors.
Also: The best wireless car chargers
"Not another car charger!" I hear you say. After all, I do like my car chargers.
But this is a car charger that I keep in my car less for charging -- although it's a decent enough charger -- but more because it's a great safety tool to have when I'm out and about.
Before I explore what's special about the Nitecore VCL10, let's look at what it offers as a USB charger.
Nitecore VCL10 tech specs
- Port: 1 x USB-A
- Input:
DC 12V 2.5A (Max) - Output:
DC 5V 2.4A (Max)
Quick Charge 3.0: DC 3.6V-12V 2.4A (Max)
Quick Charge 2.0: DC 5V/9V/12V 2.4A (Max) - Color: Black
- Dimensions: 78.5 x 24.5 x 23 mm
- Construction: Polycarbonate
- Weight: 44.5 g
- Impact Resistance: 1 meter
- Certifications: RoHS, CE, FCC and CEC
- Safety features: Overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, and short-circuit protection, and transformer loss compensation (TLC) voltage smoothing
OK, so a pretty decent single-port USB charger.
But wait, there's more!
On one end of the VCL10 are white and red LED warning lights.
Also: My 3 must-have car accessories
A single button is used to switch between the white work light and strobing red safety light.
Red strobe light in action.
Built into the VCL10 is a photodiode light detector that can sense the change in ambient lighting and alter the flash of the red warning light from 1 Hz (1 flash per second) to 10 Hz (10 flashes per second) if an approaching vehicle is detected.
The head can be tilted by a 90° angle to allow you to aim the light where you want, and there's also a magnet to allow it to be attached to a car's bodywork.
Handy LED light.
The white light has an output power of 25 lumens, giving it a 7-meter beam, and has a runtime of about 3 hours, while the red strobe is rated at 350 mW (which is pretty bright), and has a 20-hour run-time.
And the great thing is that because the VCL10 lives in the car's 12V accessory port, it's always charged up ready for use.
Also: The 5 brightest flashlights
But wait, there's even more!
On the other end of the VCL10 is a tungsten steel emergency glass breaker, which could be used to fashion an escape or help rescue someone else who might be trapped in a vehicle.
The pointy end!
Granted, this isn't something you're going to need often -- or probably at all -- but better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
The Nitecore VCL10 is a great in-car safety tool.
And because it lives in your car's 12V accessory port, it's always close to hand and unlikely to get flung around the vehicle in the event of a crash.
You can buy the Nitecore VCL10 on its own, or, you can buy it with a rechargeable LED headlamp, giving you the perfect in-car safety kit to deal with breakdowns or flat tires.