Nonda is a company based out of California that makes well-designed accessories. The company recently sent its ZUS Smart Car Locator and USB Car Charger (quite a mouthful!) for a test drive at the Review Central Labs.
The ZUS is a compact smart car charger, which features LED highlights for ease of use at night. It comes with dual USB ports that allows you to simultaneously rapid-charge two mobile devices.
However, the ZUS is not your typical car charger. It packs in a smart chip, which when paired with an iOS or Android app, gives it the ability to act as a smart car locator. If you are one of those people who frequently forget the spot where you last parked your car, the Honda ZUS could turn-out to be a God-send!
What’s more, the device also allows you avoid parking ticket fines by reminding you when your parking ticket is about to expire. In addition, the ZUS has the capability of monitoring your car’s battery status, log trips for you (you get up to 60 trips for free per month), track mileage of your car, and more.
Looks-wise, the device is a winner. The device itself feels high quality and is surprisingly compact, especially when fully inserted into a DC outlet in your vehicle. In hand it feels heavier than it looks and the titanium coating provides an appealing surface texture, with smooth seams where molded pieces come together.
I even found the LED lights to have been better implemented on the ZUS than any other charger on the market i have come across. Also, instead of placing the USB ports side by side at the front like most car chargers, Nonda has opted to have one port facing either direction on the ZUS. This is great for distinguishing which of my cords is USB Type-C, and which is Micro-USB while keeping my eyes on the road.
The smart part of the equation sees ZUS pairing with Android and iOS apps (both free) that can help you locate your car and remind you to set a parking timer at the time you exit your vehicle. The app is simple yet convenient. The ZUS charger connects to your phone via Bluetooth and when you stop the vehicle at a new location, ZUS notifies you that the location has been saved as well as asking if you’d like to set a parking time.
Since Bluetooth range is limited, the app simply saves the GPS coordinates/mapping data to memory, so there’s no additional data charges or connectivity required. When you need to find your car, just open the ZUS app and choose between directional navigation or following a map. We found this feature quite handy, especially when it becomes difficult finding your car in massive parking lots such as those in most malls in this region.
The Nonda ZUS is a must-have for those who drive in this region. It makes your life easier by not only charging up your mobile devices quickly, but also by offering these nifty features such as car locator, parking ticket alarm and so on. The device comes highly recommended as it clinches the Review Central Editors’ Choice award.
[highlight color=”yellow”]Price: $30 approx.[/highlight]
