myenergi Zappi GLO vs Easee One: Solar Powerhouse or Budget Champion?

Solar Powerhouse vs Budget Champion: Two Very Different Approaches to Home Charging

These two chargers sit at opposite ends of the UK home EV charger market, and comparing them reveals a lot about what you actually need from a home charge point. The myenergi Zappi GLO is the UK's go-to charger for solar panel owners, packed with energy management features and ecosystem integration. The Easee One, meanwhile, strips things back to deliver a remarkably capable smart charger at a price that's genuinely hard to argue with.

So why would anyone cross-shop them? Simple: both are OZEV-approved, both offer smart charging features, and both come with a three-year warranty. If you're a first-time EV owner scanning the market, these two will almost certainly appear on your shortlist — one because of its reputation, the other because of its price tag. The question is whether the Zappi GLO's solar prowess justifies spending nearly twice as much, or whether the Easee One gives you everything you actually need for hundreds less.

In a nutshell:

• myenergi Zappi GLO (£779): The undisputed king of solar diversion, with three charging modes and a full home energy ecosystem — but you're paying a premium for features that only shine if you have solar panels.
• Easee One (£405): The lightest, cheapest smart charger on the UK market with built-in lifetime 4G connectivity — outstanding value for straightforward home charging.

Spec Comparison

Solar Diversion: The Zappi GLO's Killer Feature

This is where the Zappi GLO earns its reputation — and its price tag. The three charging modes (Fast, Eco, and Eco+) give solar panel owners genuinely useful control over how their EV charges. In Eco+ mode, the charger draws exclusively from surplus solar generation, meaning you can charge your car for absolutely nothing on a sunny day. Eco mode blends solar surplus with a configurable amount of grid power, so charging doesn't grind to a halt when a cloud rolls over. Fast mode simply pulls full power from the grid, just like any other charger.

As electriccarguide.co.uk notes in their review, this solar integration is "best-in-class," and the Zappi's ability to work within the broader myenergi ecosystem — including the eddi hot water diverter and libbi battery storage — means you can build a comprehensive home energy management system over time.

The Easee One, by contrast, has no solar diversion capability whatsoever. If you have solar panels or are planning to install them, this comparison is essentially over before it begins. But if you don't have solar — and the majority of UK homes still don't — you're paying £374 extra for a feature you'll never use.

Connectivity and Smart Features

Here's where the Easee One fights back with genuine conviction. It comes with a built-in eSIM providing lifetime 4G connectivity at no ongoing cost. That's a significant advantage in the real world, where plenty of garages and driveways sit at the edge of home Wi-Fi range. As viablepower.co.uk highlights, reliable connectivity is crucial for smart charging features to actually work when you need them.

The Zappi GLO relies on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth only — there's no built-in 4G fallback. If your Wi-Fi signal is weak where the charger is mounted, you may need to invest in a Wi-Fi extender, which adds both cost and complexity. The myenergi app has improved considerably over the years, but multiple sources including localev.uk suggest it still isn't quite as polished as some competitors.

Both chargers support scheduled charging, which is essential for taking advantage of off-peak tariffs like Octopus Go (7.5p/kWh between 00:30 and 04:30). The Zappi GLO goes further with direct Intelligent Octopus Go compatibility, whereas the Easee One lacks direct smart tariff integration — you'll need to set schedules manually rather than having the charger automatically respond to tariff windows.

Power, Charging Speed, and Installation

On a standard UK single-phase supply, these chargers perform almost identically in practice. The Zappi GLO delivers 7kW while the Easee One pushes 7.4kW — a negligible difference that translates to roughly 15 minutes over a full overnight charge of a 60kWh battery. Either way, you're looking at around 8-9 hours from empty to full, which fits comfortably within an overnight window.

The Zappi GLO does have a three-phase option delivering up to 22kW, which would slash a full charge to around 2.7 hours. However, fewer than 5% of UK homes have three-phase power, so this is a niche advantage. The Easee One is single-phase only.

Where the Easee One genuinely excels is installation. At just 1.5 kg, it's almost absurdly light — less than a third of the Zappi GLO's 5.4 kg. As voltsmonster.com points out, lighter chargers are easier and quicker to mount, which can occasionally shave a bit off installation labour costs. Both chargers include integrated safety features (the Easee One has built-in RCD Type-B and open PEN protection), potentially reducing the need for additional consumer unit work.

The Zappi GLO's IP65 rating does edge ahead of the Easee One's IP54 for weather resistance — IP65 means full protection against water jets from any direction, while IP54 protects against splashing water only. For an exposed driveway in the British weather, that extra protection is worth noting.

Price and Value

The price gap is stark. Even at the top end of installation costs, the Easee One comes in fully installed for less than the Zappi GLO's unit price alone. For a household without solar panels, that £374 saving is difficult to justify spending — particularly when the Easee One's built-in lifetime 4G is a feature the Zappi GLO doesn't match at any price.

However, if you do have solar panels, the maths shifts dramatically. A typical 4kW solar array generating surplus energy during the day could save you £300-£500 per year on EV charging costs using the Zappi GLO's Eco+ mode. In that scenario, the price premium pays for itself within the first year or two.

Who Should Buy Which?

Buy the myenergi Zappi GLO if:

• You have solar panels or a wind turbine and want to charge your EV from surplus generation for free
• You're building a whole-home energy system and want ecosystem integration with eddi and libbi
• You need RFID access control for up to 126 users — ideal for shared driveways or small workplaces
• You have or plan to upgrade to three-phase power and want 22kW charging capability
• You want IP65 weatherproofing for a fully exposed installation

Buy the Easee One if:

• You don't have solar panels and want the best-value smart charger available
• Reliable connectivity matters and your garage Wi-Fi is patchy — the built-in lifetime 4G is a genuine differentiator
• You prefer a clean, untethered wall mount aesthetic
• You might add a second or third charger in future and want dynamic load balancing across units
• You want the simplest, lightest installation possible

Our recommendation: For the majority of UK households — those without solar panels, with a single car, on a standard single-phase supply — the Easee One is the smarter buy. At nearly half the price with built-in 4G and integrated safety features, it delivers everything most drivers need without paying for capabilities they'll never use. But if you have solar panels, the Zappi GLO is in a league of its own. No other charger on the market matches its solar diversion intelligence, and the ability to charge your car entirely from free sunshine makes the premium worthwhile within a year or two. Buy the charger that matches your home, not the one with the longest feature list.

Read our full myenergi Zappi GLO review or Easee One review.

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