MEGEAR Skysword II Level 1 Charger Review

The MEGEAR Skysword II was a cheap 120-volt Level 1 charger to keep in the trunk as insurance. It plugged into any ordinary household outlet, needed no special circuit, and added roughly 3 to 5 miles of range per hour. It was genuinely useful as a backup and as a primary charger for a plug-in hybrid or a very low-mileage driver — and it was the wrong choice as the only charger for anyone with a real daily commute.

It was the least expensive charger we covered, and buying a cord like it well means understanding exactly what Level 1 is for. That reasoning has not changed, so it is worth reading before you buy the replacement. We compile published specs and owner reports and do the math — we have not bench-tested it.

Who it was for

Three buyers got real value from it, and the same three are the buyers for its replacement: anyone who wants a cheap emergency cord in the trunk; a plug-in hybridowner whose small battery refills overnight on 120 volts; and a very low-mileage driver who plugs in every night and drives well under 40 miles a day. If you drive more than that and this would be your only charger, it will fall behind — you want a Level 2 portable instead.

The specs that mattered

MEGEAR rated it as a Level 1 · 120-volt unit, 16 amps, with a NEMA 5-15 (standard household) plug and a 25-foot cable. Two things defined it:

• It plugged into any outlet.No 240-volt circuit, no electrician, no install — it worked from the same outlet as a lamp. That universality is the whole point of a Level 1 backup, and it is the single spec to check on any replacement: the household plug should be on the cord itself, not on an adapter you can lose.
• Level 1 speed, and its limits.It added roughly 3 to 5 miles of range per hour — about 40 to 50 miles over a long overnight stretch. Plenty for a small battery or a short commute; too slow to keep a big battery topped up under daily driving. That arithmetic is fixed by the outlet, not the brand, so it applies to every Level 1 cord you might buy instead.

What was good

For a few dollars, it removed a category of worry. It was cheap insurance that lived in the trunk and worked anywhere there was a wall outlet, the 25-foot cable reached, and for the small-battery or low-mileage buyer it was a perfectly adequate primary charger. As a backup, it was the kind of thing you are very glad to have the one time you need it.

Where it fell short

The honest limit was speed, and it is a hard one. At Level 1 it added only ~3–5 miles of range per hour, so for anyone with a real daily commute it could not keep up — the battery slowly falls behind. This is not a defect; it is what Level 1 is. Do not buy any Level 1 cord expecting it to replace a Level 2 charger if you actually need Level 2.

What to buy instead

The closest thing on sale now is the SEGUMA Wi-Fi Level 1/2. It does the same job — a NEMA 5-15 plug straight into a household outlet, a 25-foot cable, a cord that lives in the trunk — and adds three things the Skysword II never had: an ETL certification, app scheduling with a display on the unit, and a NEMA 6-20 adapter that steps it up to 16 amps on 240 volts if you ever have that outlet. It costs a little more than the MEGEAR did. Level-1-only cords have largely left this price band, so a dual-level unit is now the honest recommendation rather than a like-for-like swap.

If this would be your only charger and you drive a full EV daily, the answer has not changed: spend up for a Level 2 portable like the MUSTART and keep a Level 1 cord as the backup. See where the current picks rank in the portable roundup.