TLDR: I am satisfied, it is a reliable and safe product.
Positives:
+ Telephone line protection + TV antenna protection from surges in a separate circuit.
+ 2700+ joules total protection puts it among the best power strips on the European market for under 50 euros. Most power strips in the 20 euro range will have around 500 to 900 joules.
+ Let through voltage after a spike test of 6000 volts =~ 300 volts (on paper). 1 nanosecond clamping time, which means it has a better chance of not allowing lethal voltage to pass through to connected equipment compared to the no-name brands in the 20 euro range. Joules alone are useless if the circuit is not "fast," so let's hope it is.
+ Combination of Varistor (black circle in the photo) and gas discharge tube (green), so we have two levels of protection, fast acting and high capacity. Power strips in the 20 euro range usually only have varistors.
+ Line filter with 60 dB (red square), which may reduce noise in audio amplifiers and smooth out the power a bit, but don't confuse it with a voltage stabilizer. Welcome addition.
+ Did not decrease my speed at all on a 50 Mbps VDSL connection and the ping is exactly the same. I don't think there would be an issue with higher speeds, but I have heard comments about a 5% decrease on a 100 Mbps line, which would be around 5 Mbps, and I would still accept that comfortably.
+ Did not distort the signal in a TV antenna protection test, so I assume it has less than 3 dB loss and if your signal is affected, you had an issue from the start.
+ Smart cable management, nice quality feel to the plastics, the 3-meter cable is useful, wall-mountable.
+ In case the protection measures fail or there is a major surge, a positive aspect is that the circuit board is designed to disconnect completely. In theory, it will not provide power if it is not protecting at the same time.
Negatives:
- The product does not have a quality on-off switch. It is hard and causes sparks internally, gradually blackening the inside casing (not from personal experience). The operation is not smooth and with long-term daily use (2 years), people have complained (same version on a German site) about switch instability. In an email with the company, I learned that the product has not been revised. If you plan to use the switch daily, it is something worth mentioning. I don't use the switch frequently and the only thing that has bothered me so far is that it is not smooth in operation, but it is the reason it loses 1 star because it does not match the rest of the product. APC needs to revise the problematic switch of a product with "lifetime" warranty.
=Conclusion=
The price is a bit high, but it is justified by the quality of the plastics (I want to believe everything is fireproof) and the extra measures compared to the competition + warranty. It is a simple power strip, not a real lightning protector, and has no direct lightning protection. If you have equipment worth thousands of euros or live in an area with statistically intense lightning activity and damage, install a T2 lightning protector in the panel. The power strip is considered T3. T2 panels collect the big hits and T3 collects the crumbs. In urban areas, this power strip is still a very reasonable measure, in my opinion, because the strikes that can pass through it are not everyday occurrences.
No matter how much I search, I can't find real tests or demonstrations from consumers in their own conditions, apart from the company's which are only in PDF certifications. Everything is on paper, just like 99.9% of power strips on the market. Also, I believe that it doesn't catch small spikes (like a spike from a vacuum cleaner) which are everyday occurrences, but this is my opinion due to the technology of MOV in general. These are theoretically "solved" by the power supplies of most devices. I would appreciate if someone with real knowledge on the subject could comment so that we can have an idea. I can't list them as negatives, as it's not a voltage regulator of course.
Someone might think why not a cheap UPS with 20 euros more, which can actively protect against prolonged overvoltage due to AVR. My logic is that the currents and voltage regulation in cheap UPS are unacceptable and even dangerous. I don't have frequent blackouts in my area and my opinion on the matter is that when I need it, I will go for something serious. High voltage batteries are not a game of 60 euros.
Always remember that the best protection in cases of lightning activity or working with large motors (drills, welding) in our network is simply to unplug the sensitive devices and have a well-maintained grounding both in the outlets and in the panel.
16/05/2021: No issues with the operation.
