Nitecore VCL10 car charger.

I'm usually very good at reviewing and highlighting products that I find useful, but sometimes things fall through the gaps.

One such product is theNitecore VCL10 car charger. I've had this for a few years, and I've overlooked it because it lives in my car, and I always forget to bring it indoors.

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"Not another car charger!" I hear you say. After all, I do like my car chargers.

But this is a car charger that I keep in my car less for charging -- although it's a decent enough charger -- but more because it's a great safety tool to have when I'm out and about.

Before I explore what's special about the Nitecore VCL10, let's look at what it offers as a USB charger. 

Nitecore VCL10 car charger

Nitecore VCL10 tech specs

• Port: 1 x USB-A
• Input:
  DC 12V 2.5A (Max)
• Output:
  DC 5V 2.4A (Max)
  Quick Charge 3.0: DC 3.6V-12V 2.4A (Max)
  Quick Charge 2.0: DC 5V/9V/12V 2.4A (Max)
• Color: Black
• Dimensions: 78.5 x 24.5 x 23 mm
• Construction: Polycarbonate
• Weight: 44.5 g
• ImpactResistance: 1 meter
• Certifications: RoHS, CE, FCC and CEC
• Safety features: Overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, and short-circuit protection, and transformer loss compensation (TLC) voltage smoothing

OK, so a pretty decent single-port USB charger.

But wait, there's more!

On one end of the VCL10 are white and red LED warning lights.

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A single button is used to switch between the white work light and strobing red safety light.

Red strobe light in action.

Built into the VCL10 is a photodiode light detector that can sense the change in ambient lighting and alter the flash of the red warning light from 1 Hz (1 flash per second) to 10 Hz (10 flashes per second) if an approaching vehicle is detected.  

The head can be tilted by a 90