NOCO Genius 10 UK Review (10 Amp Battery Charger)

NOCO are known for excellent build quality of their chargers and maintainers. When you take it out of the packaging, it’ll feel nice. Clamps are robust, sturdy and the casing, wiring and everything else has the feel of quality, hard-wearing materials. 

It’ll certainly do the job of charging your car battery quickly, simply and efficiently, and over an extended period of time. The people we know that use it speak highly of it and it does get an abundance of 5 star reviews online.

It comes with a mounting bracket and strap (including screws), for storage. With this, you can attach it to a wall.

We were surprised, given the price, that the NOCO 10 doesn’t come with a bag to keep the device and cables in. Nor does it have a voltage readout on the device. 

It’s designed with all technology needed for Lithium batteries. But if you’re keen to have a charger specifically for Lithium batteries, the CTEK Lithium XS charger is the one for you. 

Does the NOCO 10 have advantages over other, cheaper battery chargers?

We’ve mentioned a couple, the quality and reliability you’d expect from a NOCO product. With higher quality components and hardier materials it’s just less likely to break down or create a dangerous scenario (though not impossible, of course).

You probably get more peace of mind with this charger than any other. Why? Because of 12V Force Mode.

12V Force Mode will charge your battery even if voltage gets as low as 0 volts (in reality it will be just above 0, maybe 0.01V).

It’s not that common for a battery to get to such a  low voltage. But if you see bad reviews for other, cheaper battery chargers not working, it’s often that they haven’t been able to charge the vehicle battery because the voltage has been too low. The NOCO 10 Force Mode, then, will have you covered in more potential situations than other chargers. 

A major advantage is that you’re 100% safe to charge AGM batteries, as well as Calcium batteries. Both these battery types require special charging.

How about compared to other NOCO Genius models? 

The reason you’d choose this model over other NOCO products is firstly, power. This is the 10 Amp model (the clue’s in the name!) . That’s a hefty chunk of power and it’ll charge your batteries quicker than any other charger. Output power of the Genius10 is 150 Watts, double the 75 Watts of the smaller Genius 5 model (here’s our NOCO Genius 5 UK review as well as our Genius5 vs. CTEK MXS5 analysis).

Secondly, a massive 230Ah capacity battery is almost double the Genius 5 UK. So the charger itself will last considerably longer before you have to charge it up.

Thirdly, the Genius10UK has 12V Supply Mode, which is, well, exactly what it sounds like. If you have any portable electronics devices that work by 12V supply then you can power them. Devices like air pumps, water pumps as well as gadgets like mobile phones, tablets and GPS units can all be powered in this way. 

Fourthly, and finally, this model can also charge 6V AGM batteries. The other NOCO Genius models cannot. So this model covers a full range of batteries: 12V lead-acid, including AGM, lithium and also 6V lead-acid and AGM.

By the way, there is an even bigger beast (the NOCO Genius Pro 50), but only really for professional users, with price to match,

Any other Genius10 benefits I should be aware of?

That’ll be 12V Repair Mode. This is effectively a desulfator (AKA battery conditioner) function – it removes sulfation from your battery.

What is sulfation? 

Well, if your battery is getting on a bit (say, over a couple of years old), or if you ever leave your battery unused for any extended periods of time (say, a couple of weeks), it will develop sulfation on the battery plates. If it’s bad enough, you’ll no longer even be able to charge it. You’ll connect your charger to the battery but nothing will happen. This is where 12V Repair Mode is your new best friend. It’s highly effective at removing sulfation (how to desulfate car batteries?).

We’ve heard plenty of stories first-hand from mechanics, fleet owners and suchlike of this Mode recovering and rejuvenating batteries that had seemed dead. Check out online reviews yourself and you’ll see the same.

Can it rescue every single battery, every single time? That’d be a no. If the battery plates have been mechanically damaged somehow, or the battery has been compromised chemically then pretty much no force on heaven or Earth can help it! That won’t be the case most of the time, though. For the vast majority of people 12V Repair Mode will do the job.

By the way, prevention is even better than cure – give some thought to a desulfator that stops sulfation before it starts. We know professionals that rave about this one reviving older batteries.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

It’s simple:

The only reason not to buy the NOCO Genius 10 UK is the high price. 

(Unless you’re also really put out by the lack of a storage bag or a voltage readout was exceptionally important to you for some reason). 

However, be aware of something many people wouldn’t even think of: it may save you significantly on battery costs. 

Why? Because desulfation kills batteries faster than they should die. 

84% of batteries die due to sulfation (according to Battery Council International) and a major German car manufacturer once found that around 200 batteries that had been junked, out of 400, were in perfect working order after being put through a desulfation process.

Since the NOCO Genius 10 UK has desulfation as part of its charging process, there’s no doubt it will keep your battery healthier and last longer, maybe even double its lifespan.

Now, it’s important to be aware that other battery maintainers, such as the CTEK MXS10 charger, also have desulfation modes. CTEK’s is also excellent (they too have a high-end Reconditioning Mode) but most of the other chargers on the market have relatively ineffective desulfator modes (understandably given their cheaper price). 

And they certainly don’t have technology as good as 12V Repair Mode, which can revive batteries that had seemed dead to the world.

Safety features?

All the most up-to date safety protections you’d expect. We like the thermal compensation feature, adjusting the charge according to ambient temperature. This prevents under or over charging.

Any warranty?

Yes. 3 years.

If the NOCO Genius 10 UK is for you…

You can get it on Amazon here.