Roav SmartCharge Spectrum Review

#1

I beta tested the nonda Smart Car Charger for nonda in the past Their device works perfectly as intended, but supports Quick Charge 2.0.

My issues/bugs:

The Roav Spectrum (Unreleased) app, I could not log in to my Google account. I got an error each time. It did allow me to log on to my Facebook.

When the car charger is installed, the rim light turns blue and than red and cycles thru colors if you haven’t paired yet. The light should be a blinking blue when it’s ready for pairing. After pairing, it should be a solid blue. Then in the app, it allows you to change the color of the light. I like that. I’ve changed mine to red to match the red trim in my car.

The car charger should connect to the app without pressing the Connect button. It should be automatic after initial pairing.

After turning off car, the app should stamp the parking location immediately and I should hear an audio confirmation. Your device does neither when app is minimized or closed. It should run in the background at all times.

I like the change location tab. Very effective and simple.
In the nonda app you have to locate the car symbol and drag it to the new location. I prefer your way. nonda’s way is cumbersome, especially if you’re miles away from the last location it remembered.

When the Roav Spectrum app disconnects with the Smart Car Charger after car is shut off, when you go back into your car and re-connect, the distance defaults back to meters. I have it set to U.S. feet and it should stay that way.

I’ll update this as I keep testing but Anker please look into the issues above to make this a perfect product.

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#2

Thanks for a great review on the nonda Smart Car Charger! COuld you include a picture of the product you received? Thanks

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#3

Thanks for your suggestion! If you could compare the strengths and weaknesses of the two products more clearly, that would be better.:innocent:

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#4

Pictures pictures pictures pleeeaaaassseeee :slight_smile:

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#5

I realized that Anker owns Nonda when I noticed that Nonda’s forum was the same as Anker’s :smiley: What else does Anker own?

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#6

Wait what? I have been a nonda beta tester since they came out but never ever received anything from them…support was lacking whenever I messaged them, they always said something is coming but never did. Far cry from Ankers support

#7

Did you contact the forum admin who started the specific product invitation thread?

#8

I don’t remember who I was in contact with but it’s been so long I don’t even remember my login info. Changed compuyee

#9

DSC08872.JPG2046×1366 242 KB
SRX03343.JPG2046×1366 1.03 MB

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#10

Hello Anker. I didn’t really want to compare the two products, because the other product is a “lighter” version than yours but behaves as it should. I’ll try to compare the two at your request:

The nonda Smart Car Charger is a lite version of the ZUS nonda Universal Car Charger. It supports Quick Charge 2.0 & Bluetooth.
Roav Spectrum supports Quick Charge 3.0 & Bluetooth. I wish the Spectrum had a USB-C PD port and a USB-A port for QC 3.0. A Type-C port with Power Delivery is forward thinking and would work great with my Samsung S8. The QC 3.0 port is what I’ll use with an Anker Powerline+ USB-A to USB-C cable.

  • The nonda device works with the ZUS app (also have to log in to an account) with a clean interface which enables you to find your car’s last parking location. It has a Dashboard feature that checks your car battery’s current voltage. It also has a mileage log and a Safety Center that analyzes historical engine data for potential issues. The app also works with a variety of devices in the ZUS family. Connections are automatic after initial pairing.

  • The Roav Spectrum is an unreleased app, also with a clean interface, allows me to connect to the Spectrum by pressing the Connect button. As I stated before, I could not log in to my Google account. I got an error each time. It did allow me to log on to my Facebook. Also, the Bluetooth connection is NOT automatic after initial pairing. The app should connect to the Spectrum without pressing the Connect button.

The Spectrum has a very nice app display. It looks like it may be using Google Maps, which is a plus. The nonda’s map feature looks similar. After turning off car, the app should stamp the parking location immediately and I should hear an audio confirmation from the app. Your device does neither when app is minimized or closed. It should also run in the background at all times. The nonda product confirms with two audio beeps after the engine is shut off. This confirms the parking location is stamped.

If you want to edit the location on the Spectrum app in the map mode, you click on the Change Location tab. The map automatically locates you via GPS and from there you can drag the map with your fingers to the precise location of your car. Hit Done and the new parking location is saved. Very effective and simple.

In the nonda app you have to locate the car symbol and drag it to the new location. I prefer your way. nonda’s way is cumbersome, especially if you’re miles away from the last location it remembered.

The Spectrum also has a tab to photograph your parking spot and another tab to set a timer for a parking meter. All 3 tabs are intuitive and simple to use.

Next, the Spectrum also checks battery voltage and can track it either in 7, 30 or 90 days via a graph.

Color picker is awesome! Custom color the rim display to your liking. I matched my car’s trim interior. You can turn off the light display in the Settings option. There’s also a Parking Notification Enable/Disable, Distance in Meter or Foot (mine keeps defaulting to Meters. Anker, please fix this. Perhaps have it default to geo-location. USA = feet, EU = meters).

You can also update the charger’s firmware via the app. There’s a Chat feature that didn’t seem to work or there was nobody else on the other side reading my notes.

I like the Roav Spectrum charger better, as I find the customized display, QC 3.0 support and overall app experience more appealing. But fix the issues I described above and add USB-C Power Delivery and a QC 3.0 port and you will have the perfect car charged :wink:

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#11

I do love the way it lights up :thumbsup:

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#12

Wow it matches the carbon effect of your dashboard !! Sick :slight_smile:

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#13

I was also selected for a beta test of the Roav Spectrum. Most of what people have already said here echo the same thoughts that I had. Only issue I’ve run into as well was not being able to sign into my Google account (had to create a brand new one). The location services are about 70% accurate (probably because I have location settings on my phone set to battery saver) which is good enough for me as it never shows me TOO far from the location I parked. Love the color changing as well, good spectrum (no pun intended) of colors to choose from. Quick charge port works and the other port does provide 2.4A to other devices. Overall a very solid product, but I’ll update if things change.

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#14

Yes it does. That was a nice touch :slight_smile:

#15

I just got my Roav Spectrum this weekend. And works as promised. One idea for a feature I would like to see considered would be to allow color shift settings. While it is nice to be able to match the interior lighting in my car, it would also be cool to be able to have a setting which would allow the colors to rotate, perhaps with the ability to set speed and pattern.

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#16

Thanks for sharing your review.

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#17

I had a similar experience with the beta testing that I did. I could not connect with either Google or Facebook, so I had to sign up with an account using my email. I loved the color changing LED that was integrated within it which allowed me to suit it to my interior color in my car. I still have a couple gripes.

  1. For about a week, my car would mark its parking spot by itself, but has recently stopped. I won’t remember to mark if it I ever did need to mark it and liked that feature. I liked that it was forget proof.
  2. I tested my battery with a multimeter and my measurement was much better than what the Roav product provided me. The Roav product told me that I should replace my battery when in fact that I didn’t need to.
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Welcoming AnkerTechnical to the Community
#18

Nice new improvements to the Roav Spectrum app and firmware. The app automatically connects to the Spectrum charger as I requested and I can now log on to Google.

I also like that it’s always running in the background and will automatically stamp my last parking location. I prefer this over me having to run the app initially.

  1. One thing I’ve noticed is that the LED ring of Red (that I chose in settings) does not stay Redwhen the app is disconnected or if my phone’s Bluetooth is off. The color reverts back to a Teal variant. I prefer that the charger “remembers” the last color chosen and stay that way until I want to change it. I guess the only logical reason is to tell you that you are not connected to the Spectrum charger.

  2. Also, thanks for keeping things in U.S. feet as I also requested. Now, can we also fix the time format? I prefer to see 12:00 AM and not 00:00 as my time. Or at least give us the option for 12 HR / 24 HR time format.

  3. I’d also like to see this with one Type C port offering Power Delivery and the 2nd port with Quick Charge 3.0 :grin:

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#19

It’s weird how your color reverts back to a different color when mine stays the same whether I’m connected or not. Mine also now pulses when it’s not connected but the color remains the initial green I set it too match the interior lighting

#20

That’s what I’m getting. Teal or initial pulsating green when not connected. I prefer for it stay Red all of the time, whether I’m connected or not.

Maybe have it pulsate when NOT connect, just to let me know I’m not connected…and solid when connected. But keep the color chosen.