I’m looking at my desk right now and there are nine (9) things on it that need a two or three prong power plug. That’s not to mention the rest of my office, which is filled with network switches, network storage, mesh router, printer, heater… the list goes on. The fact is that we all need power, and what could be more needed in a modern home than a modest extension cord?
While you can often get by with the simple row of six plugs that most extension cords offer, sometimes you need a lot more, and this is where 12-pin Belkin surge protector and includes an extension cord. Offering a standard six-plug strip plus an additional six on the sides, with plenty of room for larger adapters, this unit offers more versatility in its relatively small form factor. I have at least a dozen splitters, power strips, and surge protectors at home, but this one is by far my favorite.
The Belkin 12-Plug Surge Protector is a great way to inexpensively clean up your work or entertainment system.
The problem with network filters is that many of them suck. Their plugs may be too close together or oriented incorrectly, making it difficult to add one or two massive power adapters to them. Often the plug that powers the strip is at the end of a hard cable and sticks right out of the wall, making it hard to hide behind a piece of furniture. And sometimes six outlets are not enough.
I wanted to address all of these issues as neatly as possible, so I started browsing various reviews online and came across a Belkin 12-pin bar. My entertainment center has a TV, a 4K Blu-ray player, three game consoles, an Apple TV, and two HomePods, and I often need to plug in other things as well. I needed something thin and wall-mountable that would fit a lot of different types of plugs, and the Belkin bar fit the bill. It didn’t hurt that when I bought it on Amazon it was only $20 (it’s a bit more expensive now, but its price changes regularly and almost never goes up to $25, let alone its $28 list price).
This extension solved everything I needed. It offers 1875 watts of total load (anything higher will result in a shutdown), built-in cable management clips, 12 plugs, six of which are divided into short power adapters, and a rectangular plug that fits snugly against the wall. my wall-mounted TV is easy to push back without kinking the cable. What’s more, this plug is 8 feet long, so the strip itself is easy to attach to the wall while still leaving enough space to easily tie the cable to anything else plugged into it if needed.
In addition to a high power load, a Belkin surge protector can protect your products from surges up to 3940J. Tripp-Lite, a popular manufacturer of high quality surge protectors, claims protection up to 2000J ideal for entertainment centers, so here Belkin missed, and that’s good. Surge protectors tend to degrade over time, especially if they experience a real surge, so the more overhead the better.
There are some nice twists too. The Belkin 12-port surge protector offers three RJ11 ports—the plugs that were once ubiquitous in homes and for connecting landlines to service—and two coaxial ports, making it a good choice for homes or offices that have phone lines, faxes, devices or cable boxes. protection may be needed (although this is an obsolete use case in a world where faxes and cable TV are becoming obsolete). The entry and exit marks are hidden under removable cable clamps.
Finally, this product is backed by a solid warranty covering up to $300,000 in damages if the surge protection does not work properly. That’s probably more than the vast majority of homes will need, but I’m not complaining.
There are a few things missing that are far from breaking the deal, but worthy of mention. As far as I can tell, this surge protector has been on the market for at least a decade and it shows. It doesn’t have USB ports and it doesn’t have swivel sockets. I wouldn’t expect the latter from a reputable company at this price point, and while you can find USB power ports on many budget surge protectors, you have to pay a little more for a big-name brand option like this one. Anker surge protector with 12 plugs which sells for $36.
Unfortunately, with the Anker option, you forgo the extra-long cable, and Anker only guarantees a measly $200,000 if it fails to protect your devices. It also has a power of 2100 joules, but this is not specifically mentioned anywhere in the product description, only mentioned in the description. Product Image saying it has “2100J surge protection” – “J” probably means joules, but can you be sure?
Ultimately, the Belkin 12-port surge protector contains everything I need for my entertainment center. The lack of USB ports is hardly a problem for something that lives its days mostly just collecting dust behind a piece of furniture, and I love its long cable and rectangular plug. Little touches like cable management clips make it easy to handle a dozen twisty power cables, and its high power and joule ratings give me peace of mind. While technically priced above $25, it hasn’t topped that figure in over a decade, making it a fantastic sub-$25 figure for anyone who needs a rugged, reliable surge protector in their home.