Don't risk it: You need a surge protector to save your electronics from power surges. The right surge protector can take a beating and will protect your gadgets even after it fails. We'll help you pick the best ones for your situation.
What to Look For in a Surge Protector in 2022 How well a surge protector shields connected devices depends on many factors, chief among them being the design. Most options on the market use efficient and cost-effective Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) which receive and divert excess voltage from your equipment. But this causes them to take the brunt of the surge, making them degrade over time—they're essentially sacrificial components. However, some more expensive options use newer systems that ditch sacrificial parts for components that block excess voltage instead. This model shields both your devices and the surge protector, allowing the latter to last longer on average than its MOV counterparts. Another factor to consider when buying a surge protector is the joule rating. It's more important for MOV-based systems and is an indicator of the amount of energy and the number of surges a protector can take before it fails—so, the higher is better. There's also a clamping value that measures how much voltage is let through to your appliances in a single spike, with most surge protectors ranging from 333 to 500 volts—but the lower the number, the better. Meanwhile, many surge suppressors include a circuit breaker that trips if a high enough voltage manages to get through, adding an extra layer of protection. Just as important as the protection mechanism is what happens when the device becomes compromised. Most quality surge protectors have a built-in kill switch that makes them inoperable if they can no longer provide protection. Others continue to work as ordinary power strips without any protective benefits. This defeats the purpose of having a protector in the first place and puts your devices at risk. All the units on our list either have an emergency stop system or LEDs notifying you once components inside are degraded. Finally, a warranty is worth considering should a surge suppressor fail to act as it should. Many companies promise restitution in the event…