Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 review

The Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 is a 7.4kW smart charger from the Luceco group, sold in tethered and socketed versions. Since November 2025 British Gas and Hive have installed it as their home charger, so many buyers meet it under the Hive name. It packs in more than its price suggests: built-in open-PEN detection, a 7.5m tethered cable, a CT clamp in the box and generally available Intelligent Octopus Go (IOG) support. The question mark is connectivity.

Price and what’s included

Hive and British Gas sell the charger from £999 fully installed, which is the untethered version with a standard installation. Hive’s basket data shows the charger itself at £549, so the installation component is about £450. A standard installation covers an accessible external wall, 10m of supply cable (no more than 5m of it inside), one wall breakthrough, a Matt:e O:Pen device and a load-management device where appropriate, and a three-year warranty.

The price climbs with the job. Hive’s installation component rises to roughly £704 to £733 for runs of 20m or more, bonding adds £160 and a surge protection device is £149. Hive offers 0% APR over 10 months. Our installation cost guide explains what else pushes a quote up. The warranty is three years when Hive fits the charger and two years without installation, which matters if you buy elsewhere. TeslaCharger.co.uk and trade retailers quote the unit alone for around £350 to £400, but stock is patchy and those figures are secondary.

Where to buy (prices seen on 10 October 2026, and they can change):

• Hive (British Gas): From £999 fully installed by British Gas-approved engineers; 0% APR over 10 months
• British Gas: From £999 installed

Smart features and tariffs

You control the charger in the Sync Energy app, or in the Hive app if you bought it from Hive. Monta is an alternative. The Wall Charger 2 supports OCPP 1.6J, the open standard that lets a charger work with other providers’ apps, plus a feature called Tariff Sense that tracks cost on any UK tariff. On IOG, Octopus’s public list shows the Wall Charger 2 as generally available, with charging managed in the Octopus app. Our Intelligent Octopus Go explainer covers the tariff.

British Gas customers get Hive Power+, which credits 25% of the cost of Power+ charging back to the bill on any British Gas electricity tariff. See our British Gas EV tariff guide for the rates. OVO’s October 2026 list for Charge Anytime does not include Sync, so OVO customers need a different charger or a compatible car.

A CT clamp is in the box. It is used for dynamic load balancing and for Auto Solar Charging, which Sync describes as using excess solar power. The datasheet does not say whether that mode is surplus-only or tops up from the grid, so ask if that matters to you. Our CT clamp guide and solar charging guide explain the difference. Connectivity is Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) and Ethernet, with 4G on some variants. The 4G models include three years of data and then need a top-up. Hive says its charger uses Wi-Fi and a mobile network, so the fitted version is likely a 4G one, but Hive does not say.

Installation and safety

Sync lists an integrated open PEN detection device with earth disconnection, so an earth rod is not normally needed (our PEN fault and earthing guide explains why), plus integrated 6mA DC detection and 30mA Type A residual current protection. The consumer unit still needs a 40A MCB or a 30mA Type A RCBO, depending on the cable type and route. The case is rated IP65 and IK10, measures 305 x 201 x 124mm and has a built-in cable wrap and holster. The tethered cable is 7.5m, longer than most rivals offer.

The weight is not published. Sync Energy gives a three-year guarantee from delivery. The charger complies with the Smart Charge Points Regulations 2021, including the security requirements. That is worth saying because older BG SyncEV models were the subject of a 2022 to 2024 enforcement undertaking over smart-charge security, which the Office for Product Safety and Standards published. The undertaking names the older Compact and Standard 7kW models, not the Wall Charger 2.

What owners report

There is no survey of Sync Energy itself. What Car?’s owner survey rates Hive, British Gas’s installation brand, at 3 out of 5, with 2 out of 5 each for reliability and fault repairs. Hive has also sold other chargers, and that survey sits on a page marked as sponsored by Pod, so treat it as a rough proxy.

Trustpilot gives Sync Energy 4.2 out of 5 from 335 reviews in a February 2026 snapshot. Reviewers praise the support team and quick replacements, but the product complaints repeat: the charger going offline despite a stable network, a slow app, schedules being ignored and failures within a few years. One reviewer who left British Gas for Octopus says the installer PIN did not work and that Hive disputed his warranty because he no longer used the Hive app. That is a single report. On Speak EV, an installer said in March 2025 that the charger works reliably with the Monta app, and an owner said in September 2025 that it went offline twice in a year and a reset fixed it. Another owner wrote that Wi-Fi drops let it charge at peak times.

How it compares

The Easee One is another OCPP charger with 4G, but IOG is only in testing. The Ohme Home Pro has the deeper IOG integration and a screen, at a similar price. It took over from the EO Mini Pro 3, whose maker has gone into administration, as the charger Hive fits. Our guide to energy supplier chargers compares what each supplier sells.

Our verdict

We score the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 6.7 out of 10. It earns 9.8 for safety, 9.0 for flexibility and 8.5 for smart features. Reliability is only 3.7, because owners report connectivity and scheduling problems, and warranty is 5.2. It suits a British Gas or IOG customer who wants a long tethered cable and strong protection at a fair fitted price, with good Wi-Fi at the wall or a 4G variant. Choose an Ohme for the deepest IOG integration, or a Hypervolt for OVO. The best home EV chargers roundup shows how they rank, and the full scoring is on how we research.