Ohme Home Pro Review - Is this still the smartest ev charger?

this is the ohmy home pro the follow-up to the original ome intelligent wall charger it has a new design and some snazzy new features but is it the home ev charger for you let's find out in a market as new and crowded as the electric vehicle charger market brand loyalty is hard to come by many customers simply don't know any ev charger brands and i don't blame them so it's even more impressive then that omi was able to build an almost cult-like following when it launched its original charger known back then as the only intelligent wall charger and now simply as the only home sure it wasn't the best looking device but it was unfussy and low cost and importantly omi had the best app software on the market enabling ev drivers to take advantage of innovative energy tariffs such as octopus agile and save money on their car charging with ease that was over two years ago now there is much more competition so it's a real challenge to stand out and be competitive on price at the same time omi's solution is the home pro it has a new look with the most obvious addition being the color lcd screen it's a tethered charger which means it comes with a five meter cable attached it also still uses mobile data for these smart functions to work so you'll want to check you get a strong mobile signal where you want the charger locating and installers can also breathe a sigh of relief because the homepro includes built-in open pen conduction protection which means no earth rod is required to be installed at the property as with the original ome home [Music] the style and looks of the home pro are certainly a step up from the basic design of the omi home but it's still rather utilitarian it has a small overall profile when looking at it from the front but it appears bulky from other angles and somehow manages to not look as slim as the specs would suggest i'm unsure why this is to be honest and ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i know many army home pro owners love the way it looks i just feel this was an opportunity to really stake a claim to being the best looking ev charger on the market as well as the one with the best mobile app the standout new feature is the color lcd screen of course we'll get on to the details of how that works later in the review but looks wise it does add a lot more personality to the omi while the display itself is crystal clear the screen which allows you to control the ome from the unit itself will be a huge selling point to many a couple of other niggles i found are related to the bundled in wall mount which is a tad unfair on oh me seeing as not all manufacturers offer these as part of the package but part of the package it is and the wall mount could be better it acts as a cable tidy and holster for the charging plug which should result in a neat finish when the yomi isn't in use but the metal mount is just plain ugly it's a functional device but it just doesn't look like it belongs to the only aesthetically in addition the angle of the holster means the charging plug juts out at a 90 degree angle a little bit of consideration from the customer and installer around placement should overcome any potential access issues i'm looking at you wheelie bins but i can't help feeling this is a small oversight that tarnishes the overall finished installation [Music] the only home pro looks tough and it feels tough and i mean that as a compliment because many of our own customers have asked whether ev charges are waterproof so clearly the robustness of car chargers is high on the agenda here the home pro charger stands out against many of its competitors which aren't exactly flimsy but the army just feels that bit more sturdy the unit is completely sealed in the factory too so it's less likely to be damaged in transit no loose face plates in the box here and there's just generally fewer bits to fall off everything else is all up to standard the tethered five meter cable feels absolutely fine and is the same cable from the original only home of which we've installed thousands and have had no complaints about the cable itself [Music] the ome app arguably doesn't have the same lead over its rivals it once did but the software is still just as pioneering and results in an overall excellent smart charger package the way child scheduling works with the only is different to most other charges see you don't set a start time and stop time instead you input the desired battery percentage you want in your vehicle and the time by which you want it for example 80 by 7am every weekday morning the army home pro will then make sure your vehicle reaches that target if you have an energy tariff with off-peak rates the army will also try to squeeze as much charging on the cheaper race to save you money while ensuring your charge target is still met this automatic syncing between your car charger and energy tariff has also enabled drivers to take advantage of innovative tariffs such as octopus agile where the prices change every 30 minutes an absolute nightmare to manage if you could only set up simple start and stop schedules but the only makes eevee charging on a tariff like this easy however it does require an api connection with your vehicle to enable all this super smart stuff and not all vehicles are supported the army can still charge all evs but it's not quite as seamless as those vehicles that have the api integration it's a shame then that ome has still not included an option to set start and stop charge times as a backup option as this would make setting up charging schedules easier for owners of vehicles which don't have that api connection omi's charging features are sublime for the many vehicles it supports but there's a risk customers overlook the home pro if they think the experience will be more clunky for their vehicle [Music] using the home pro has been seamless initial setup and pairing is all completed by the main unit and app both of which guide you or your installer through the setup process and this is where the home pro screen comes into its own as instructions are clearly displayed with the only real task being to scan the qr code on the screen using the ome app and then you're done it truly was that simple and easily the quickest and easiest initial setup of any charger i've had the pleasure of testing so what about that screen then is it really that useful or just a nice to have surprisingly it's not a touch screen instead making use of three buttons beneath for various controls this is probably sensible from a cost and reliability point of view though you can do most essential things on the unit itself via the screen that you could otherwise do on the app such as setting up your charging targets monitor charging costs and vehicle charge level time to target and much more how useful the screen actually is will vary from driver to driver for me i found it useful to quickly check the army was doing what it was supposed to be doing but in reality if i had to make any changes to my car charging then i would do this via the app from the comfort of my sofa i had no intention of standing outside and doing it however i can absolutely see a use case for drivers who don't want to faff around with an app either in which case a screen and interface on the unit itself is a pretty big deal and i think many customers may find this simpler [Music] so should you buy the only home pro a couple of years ago when the army home was unrivalled in the smart charging department and was one of the cheapest smart chargers around then it was an absolute no-brainer fast forward to 2022 and the home pro is a truly excellent smart ev charge point for the home but the competition has caught up and the price point for this version of the omi makes it a little harder to recommend however it is still one of the best options for home charging today if you want the most advanced smart charging features available to you at a fair price then the ome home pro is most definitely the one to pick it looks better than the entry-level ome home has no need for an earth rod and i have no doubt the software will continue to improve equally if you're using octopus agile then there really isn't another viable option to charge your car on such a tariff not as good as the home pro anyway the easy one arguably offers a slightly simpler overall experience and is cheaper but i think the army home pros lcd screen could really simplify the experience for a lot of people especially those who want to interact with the charger itself rather than an app a shout out must also go to omi's customer support team who are incredibly helpful and would be more than willing to guide you through any app setup issues you may have in summary then while the design may be a missed opportunity the only home pro improves upon the original omi in every way the rest of the market may have caught up meaning more products to choose from but the only home pro should certainly be on your shortlist head over to smart home charge dot co dot uk where you can get an installation estimate in under two minutes or even go ahead and order your home pro right away thanks for watching and see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Smart Home Charge

Views: 63,291

Keywords: electric cars, electric vehicles, ev charging, ohme wall charger, ev charger installation, home charger, ev charger, ev charger review, ev charger installation uk, ev charging station, ohme wall charger review, charge point, ohme home pro ev charger, ohme home pro ev charger review, ohme home pro app, ohme ev charger, ohme smart charger, ohme home pro, Ohme, Ohme Home Pro Review, ev charger reviews, ohme home pro review, ohme home pro vs ePod, intelligent octopus tariff

Id: w8U-A_FzMig

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 07 2022