Hahnel UniPal Plus review: One universal charger to rule them all?
If you’ve lost your current charger, or you have lots of different battery types from various makes and models, all with their own unique type of charger, then a universal charger like the UniPal Plus from Hahnel might be for you!
Hahnel UniPal Plus: Specifications
Works with: Li-Ion, AA/AAA, USB
Car charger: Yes
LCD screen: Yes
Power adapters: UK, EU, US, AUS
Size (WxHxD): 126x30x76mm
Weight: 125g
Charge time: Approx 2 hours
The UniPal Plus is a universal battery charger which claims to be capable of charging "practically all" 3.6/3.7 or 7.2/7.4v Lithium-Ion batteries and can charge over 300 different camera batteries. This is done by using the two thumb wheels to adjust the positive and negative terminals until correctly spaced to fit your specific battery. This makes it ideal for someone with lots of different battery types from various camera bodies and even manufacturers of drones, and can keep your workflow simple with just the one charger to suit all and could be a good replacement if you’ve misplaced your original proprietary battery dock.
The UniPal Plus has more tricks up its sleeve though. It’s also capable of charging either two AA or AAA batteries and has a USB type-A socket so you can charge devices like a smartphone or tablet at the same time too. An LCD panel clearly shows the current charge level and it comes with a variety of wall port adapters for US, UK, EU and AUS, as well as a 12v cigarette lighter adapter for in-car charging.
In this review we put it through its paces to see if you should buy one…
Hahnel UniPal Plus: Design & Handling
To charge a Li-Ion battery you simply need a positive and negative connection - the UniPal Plus has two of each, with each set either pointing upwards, or from the side to help accommodate and fit into the battery terminals of shapes and sizes of Li-Ion batteries. The terminals are moved laterally using two large thumbwheels which feel smooth to use and well built.
Your lithium ion battery should clearly state on it which are the positive and negative terminals, so it’s down to the user to make sure you line these up correctly, though it doesn’t matter which pins go in the positive or negative slots as the polarity will be automatically reversed, so you can flip the battery around if it helps it fit in the UniPal Plus better. In our testing we found some camera batteries are more fiddly to line up the terminals than others.
Once you’ve lined up your battery and plugged it into the terminals the LCD screen will indicate the battery status and charge level. It will also safely test the battery charge level before connecting to the power supply.
The UniPal Plus offers some decent features that you don’t get with your regular stock charger. This includes a USB port to plug in a USB Type A cable for charging phones or tablets and it also has space for charging either two rechargeable AA or AAA batteries. Unfortunately, it can only do one of these tasks at the same time, so while this extra versatility is welcome, it’s not the fastest way to charge up your batteries as you have to switch them out in sequence.
Provided in the box is a power adapter 12v power supply which comes with interchangeable plugs for UK, EU, US and AUS. The power cord is a decent length at about 50cm. Also in the box is a 12v cigarette lighter adapter so you can charge up in the car - useful for photographers travelling and constantly on the go that need to top up their cameras between locations.
Hahnel UniPal Plus: Performance
The Hahnel UniPal Plus feels well designed and robust. As a universal charger it does pretty much everything it says on the packaging. Our only gripes were that it can’t charge different battery types simultaneously, so you have to charge up your Li-Ion cells, AA or AAA and phone separately which is a slower way of working than we’d like.
Another issue is that if you load up the UniPal Plus with a set of AA batteries as well as a Li-Ion or plug in your smartphone, it won’t automatically switch between them once one has finished, you’ll need to manually remove the charged cells before it begins charging a different battery type.
Smart devices can be charged using the older Type A USB port, which is still commonly used, though we’d expect to see this be changed to a USB-C port if Hahnel released an updated version in the future as that is what most modern smart devices use now.
While the LCD display is a great feature that definitely makes it feel like a step up from the Mini II, the viewing angle isn’t fantastic, and you need to be able to look at the screen straight on to see the LCD information clearly.
It’s worth noting that Hahnel also used to have a UniPal Extra in its range, which featured a 5200mAh power bank, however, this has now been discontinued.
Hahnel UniPal Plus: Final Verdict
If you’ve lost your original camera charger then Hahnel’s UniPal Plus would be a good value option, it currently retails for about ￡50, while proprietary chargers like Canon’s LC-E17E for example costs ￡56. Despite this, Hahnel's UniPal Plus comes with some desirable features such as in-car charging, a USB Type A port and the ability to also charge rechargeable AA or AAA batteries. It would also be the one to go for if you have lots of different batteries and chargers, and you’d like one simple solution to charge them all.
Should you buy the Hahnel UniPal Plus?
? Buy this if...
You want one charger to suit lots of different Li-Ion battery types
You want the flexibility to charge Li-Ion cells, smart devices and AA/AAA batteries
You need power plugs to cater for different countries and car charging
?? Don't buy this if...
You want a proprietary charger with fewer moving parts that could break
You don't want to deal with fiddly connections and lining up the pins with battery terminals perfectly
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