The Best Surge Protector

I’ve been a science journalist for nearly a decade, covering a wide variety of topics from particle physics to meteorology. Since joining Wirecutter in 2017, I’ve reported on EV chargers, USB-C cables, and more.

I’ve partnered on this guide with Lee Johnson, an electrical engineer with more than 15 years of experience designing and testing electronics. Lee has put our picks and new contenders to the test in seven separate rounds of testing since 2016.

A surge protector does much more than a simple power strip, which only supplies extra outlets. It is primarily a safety device—a relatively inexpensive way to protect expensive electronics.

Although surge protectors can’t do much to protect your property against (extremely rare) direct lightning strikes, they can help with the much more common surges that originate inside your home or building, as well as occasional surges from your utility company. They’re especially worth having in areas with unreliable power grids.

But while they’re great defenders of your precious gear, they don’t last forever. The protective components inside most surge protectors degrade with each surge, and there’s virtually no way to know how much protection remains. That’s why we suggest looking for a surge protector with an auto-shutoff feature, which stops the device from conveying power when the protection wears out.

Most estimates put the average lifespan of a surge protector at three to five years, and if your home has frequent brownouts or blackouts, you might want to replace your surge protectors as often as every two years.

Cheap, basic power strips or outlet extenders are unlikely to have worthwhile surge-protection capabilities. You should replace these as soon as possible and be thankful they didn’t catch fire, electrocute someone, or damage your belongings.

If your home theater costs more than a compact car, you may be tempted by a surge protector with series-mode capabilities, which let virtually no extra voltage through and last indefinitely. But our upgrade pick from Furman—a hybrid model that costs a fraction of what true series-mode options ask—produced similar results in our testing, so we think you should consider it first.

Finally, if you want to protect equipment that could be damaged by a sudden loss of power, a hard disk drive that’s susceptible to data corruption, or vital gear, such as a CPAP machine, you should be looking at an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with built-in surge protection.

We scanned the websites of popular retailers and brands to compile a list of models, which we culled based on the following criteria:

• Automatic shutoff: We preferred this feature because it ensures you’ll never leave your equipment unprotected. Otherwise, at minimum, we required each model to have an indicator light that signals when its surge-protection capabilities have worn out.
• At least eight AC outlets: We required at least eight AC outlets for the main and top-of-the-line contenders, and at least three for our light-duty pick.
• A surge-protection rating of 400 volts or better: Although we verified each model’s abilities in our own electrical testing, we required that they be rated by one of the major product-safety corporations, UL or ETL, to bring a surge down to (at most) 400 volts. Lower is better when it comes to let-through voltage, the measure of how much extra voltage reaches your electronics.
• High joule rating: A joule rating tells you about how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails, so higher is better. But since this is just an estimate, we didn’t put a lot of stock in it.
• Convenient auxiliary ports: We preferred models with coaxial connectors, which are commonly used in AV devices, as well as telephone ports for a landline phone or dial-up internet connection. USB ports are handy for charging a phone or other small device without a wall charger, but since most won’t charge a phone at top speed, we don’t think they add much value.
• At least a one-year warranty: This is a bare-minimum requirement for something that you’re trusting to protect high-priced equipment and that you’ll be replacing every few years. However, a warranty covers only defects and won’t help you when the surge-absorbing components wear out as designed.
• Long power cord: If a surge protector has a power cord, longer is better because it’ll be safer and more convenient to use.
• Sensible port layout and overall design: To keep oversize plugs from blocking nearby outlets, we looked for adequately spaced ports. Attractive, slim design was a plus, and we considered well-designed clamps, hooks, or holes for mounting the surge protector on a table or baseboard to be a bonus.

In the US, wall outlets nominally provide electricity at 120 volts, but most electronic devices can handle more, allowing them to operate on the 240-volt standard used internationally. In our testing, we zapped each model with a ridiculously powerful 5,000-volt surge and measured how much power slipped through. This told us how many volts would be able to reach and potentially damage your devices at home.

Most household power surges don’t come close to 5,000 volts, but some are tens of thousands of volts. The major exception would be direct lightning strikes, but considering that a single lightning bolt carries upwards of 1 billion volts, no surge protector will save your TV from one of those.

We’ve tested dozens of surge protectors, and we are confident that the Tripp Lite Protect It 12-Outlet Surge Protector TLP1208SAT is the best one to use with typical living room or office equipment because it has all the safety features you need, plenty of outlets, stellar surge-protection performance, and noticeably nicer build quality than we’ve seen on other units we’ve tested.

It shuts down when it can no longer protect your gear. The Tripp Lite TLP1208SAT has an auto-shutoff feature that powers down the unit permanently when it has worn out and is no longer able to block power surges. In other words, if it’s still providing power, it still has some protection left.

It has other useful indicators, too. In addition to its auto-shutoff function, the unit has two little status LEDs: one that tells you when surge protection is functioning and another that lets you know if you have a short circuit, a blown fuse, or a wiring problem that requires intervention from an electrician.

It can suppress some big, big surges. When we sent 5,000-volt surges of electricity through this model, it suppressed as much as any surge protector we tested (with the exception of the much more expensive series-mode or hybrid options like our upgrade pick).

In our tests, it averaged a let-through voltage (the remaining amount of the surge that passes through to your devices) of 182.8 volts, well below UL’s 400-volt rating.

There are lots of ports for your collection of electronics. This model’s 12 AC outlets should be more than sufficient for most people’s needs. Surge protectors with more than 12 outlets exist, but they tend to be bulky and/or lack peripheral ports like USB, telephone, and coaxial connectors.

In addition to its outlets, the Tripp Lite TLP1208SAT has two coaxial connectors and three telephone ports. Like with AC outlets, power runs through these ports, so they can be affected by lightning and other types of surges; for example, a spike in power through incorrectly grounded cable lines (which are not uncommon) can destroy an unprotected cable box.

It’s not beautiful but it’s not ugly, and it has a long cord. The unit’s exterior matches its solid performance with a sturdy, utilitarian shell. Unlike run-of-the-mill power strips, its veneer seems built to stand up to most minor scratches and scuffs.

It’s compact enough to slide under a bed or an entertainment center, and a set of holes on the back gives you the option to mount it on a baseboard.

Its thick, rubberized cord is 8 feet long, making it convenient to run underneath bookshelves and couches. And unlike our other picks, it has a 90-degree plug that’s ideal for tight spaces.

The warranty is better than average. Tripp Lite offers a limited lifetime warranty that protects against any defects or failures for the life of the product—but be warned that it’s not considered a defect for the surge protection to eventually wear out as designed. (And bear in mind that “lifetime warranties” usually aren’t.)

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• Our primary concern with this model is that the outlets could use a bit more room to breathe. It has four well-spaced outlets for large power bricks, but the single row of eight outlets quickly gets overcrowded, especially with bulky plugs.
• It also lacks USB ports, so you’ll need to use a separate wall charger to charge a phone and other USB-powered devices.

If you want something that offers solid protection in a small package—say, to power a few appliances and a couple of smartphones on your kitchen counter—get the Tripp Lite Protect It 3-Outlet Surge Protector SK30USB.

It’s as compact as many travel-sized power strips, but offers way more protection. In our guide to small power strips for travel, we recommend a variety of models that are well suited to stowing in a backpack or suitcase to bring on a trip. But whereas most of those power strips offer only low-level protection against power surges, in our testing the SK30USB proved almost as protective as larger contenders.

It’s easy to tell if the protection is working. This surge protector is one of just a few compact models we’ve found with an auto-shutoff feature. Plus, rather than the tiny LED you get on most units, this one has a clearly visible strip of plastic on top that lights up to signal that its protection is working. (On the downside, this light might be annoying in a bedroom while you’re trying to sleep.)

It beat its own protection ratings. In our testing, the SK30USB’s let-through voltage (291.8 volts) was well under its 330-volt UL rating and our target range of less than 400 volts. Although its expected lifespan is shorter than that of the rest of our picks—it’s rated for 540 joules, versus ratings in the thousands for our other picks—it comes with a lifetime warranty, which is impressive for such an inexpensive device.

It protects USB-powered devices, too. In addition to three AC ports on its front-facing side, the SK30USB has two 2.1-amp USB ports. It lacks telephone ports and coaxial connectors, but those are rarely used outside of a media center or home office anyway.

It has a modern look and a slim design. The SK30USB is made of glossy plastic and has a sleek, streamlined design. Even though it juts out about an inch, its curved edges allow it to hug the wall fairly seamlessly.

It fits snugly into a wall outlet. The SK30USB has a three-prong plug, as well as a plastic rod that fits into the bottom hole of the second outlet, ensuring a snug connection. If you’re using it at home, it also has a screw that you can insert directly into the wall (replacing the screw in the middle of your wall outlet plate) for an even sturdier fit.

Being compact has its downsides. The AC and USB ports are pretty tightly spaced, but that’s to be expected on such a small unit.

It’s overkill for most people, but the Furman Power Station 8 (PST-8) offers the strongest surge protection of the dozens of models we’ve tested, besting even high-end series-mode surge protectors that cost hundreds more.

It’s ideal for people who have very expensive electronics to protect. Even though our tests showed that common equipment like computer displays can survive surges when protected by our less-expensive picks, spending more for added protection may be worthwhile in some cases—say, if your home theater, recording studio, or office workstation budget is in the five figures.

It blocks virtually all excess voltage. In our testing, the PST-8 repeatedly allowed just 40 volts of a 5,000-volt surge to pass through to its eight outlets.

Instead of relying on standard metal-oxide varistors (MOVs) to absorb the entire surge, Furman adds extra protection: Once a surge goes over 137 volts, the entire unit shuts down to protect itself and any connected equipment (switching the unit on and off resets it).

Any surge that gets through before the shutdown passes through a series of capacitors as well as a large inductor meant to filter the extra power. The large MOV, similar to those found in less-expensive units, sacrifices only part of itself as a last resort after the filtering stage.

This is why you won’t find a joule rating listed for the PST-8, according to Furman—other surge protectors rely solely on MOVs to absorb energy, so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

It’s exceptionally reliable. The company also claims that the PST-8’s circuit design has led to a repair-replacement rate below 0.005% since it was introduced. In other words, for every 100,000 customers, only five have needed to repair or replace their units. Furman says that in all instances, the damage was physical breakage (dents, cracks, or parts snapping off) rather than an internal failure.

Given how effective the setup was at swallowing our test surges, we have every reason to believe that the PST-8 will provide more protection for longer than standard surge protectors in the under-$50 price range.

It’s not cheap, and its warranty could be longer. The PST-8’s improved protection comes at a cost, and not just in terms of price.

With only eight AC outlets in total—plus two telephone ports and two coaxial connectors—the PST-8 could leave you short when you’re trying to power a lot of electronics. Its layout leaves something to be desired, too, with just two AC outlets properly spaced to accommodate large plugs.

Lastly, its three-year warranty (no registration needed, but valid only if you buy from an authorized seller) is one of the shortest we’ve seen, which is disappointing, since we expect its surge-protection capabilities to last much longer than those of less-expensive models.

But it’s still cheaper than series-mode surge eliminators, making it a great value for the right person. If you have pricier-than-average gear, these trade-offs make sense. Although the PST-8 isn’t quite as convenient, it will provide more protection than our other picks. And it’s sturdily built overall, with an aluminum body and a long, 8-foot cord.

Whether your surge protectors are old or new, here are a few basic guidelines to help you ensure that they remain effective:

• Never daisy-chain multiple surge protectors to add outlets, and never plug a surge protector into an extension cord. This is an easy way to exceed the current ratings on the surge protector and even the wiring in your walls. The best-case scenario is that you trip a breaker or blow a fuse. The worst-case scenario is that something starts melting—that’s the opening act for an electrical fire.
• Never use an adapter to plug a surge protector into an ungrounded outlet. Bypassing the ground negates most of the benefits of using surge protectors, since typically two-thirds of their MOVs are tied to the ground leg.
• Use grounded (three-prong) or polarized (one blade thicker than the other) plugs whenever possible. This decreases the risk of electric shock, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
• When you first plug in a surge protector, make sure the status lights don’t report any problems. Most protectors have a single grounding light that indicates whether there’s a ground fault. If there is a fault, call an electrician as soon as possible to determine whether you have a wiring problem. A ground fault could fry your devices, electrocute someone, or start a fire.
• Always replace your surge protectors after any large event, such as a lightning strike down the block or multiple outages in rapid succession. And if you’re plugging in new gear, check each outlet for burn marks or any sign of damage.
• Every three to five years, replace surge protectors that lack an auto-shutoff feature. Otherwise, they’ll keep passing power to your devices long after their protective MOVs have worn out. If you have a power strip without any surge protection (or one that’s so old you can’t remember if it ever did), get rid of it.
• Don’t plug a space heater into a surge protector. Space heaters and other appliances with an open heating element (such as toasters or hair dryers) use a lot of power, increasing your chances of overloading the outlet. A surge protector adds even more resistance that can allow heat to build up, potentially catching fire or damaging the device. To be on the safe side, plug any open-heat electronics straight into the wall.
• Never cover up any part of a surge protector or extension cord with rugs, poufs, or other decorative items. This type of direct contact prevents heat from escaping, which could start a fire.

If you want our top pick but it’s unavailable: Get the Tripp Lite TLP1208TELTV. It used to be our top pick, and it’s identical to the TLP1208SAT model in nearly every way—except that it had very slightly worse performance in our surge tests.

If you want our top pick but don’t need coaxial connectors, and you’d like to save a few bucks: Get the Tripp Lite TLP1208TEL. Like the TLP1208SAT model, this model performed well in our surge tests, it’s UL listed, and it has auto-shutoff capabilities, a surge-protection indicator light, a ground/fault indicator light, 12 well-spaced outlets, an 8-foot cord, three telephone ports, a lifetime warranty, and a great joule rating. Plus, it’s cheaper. However, it lacks coaxial connectors.

If you want a surge protector with USB ports, an energy-saving feature, and a lower up-front cost than our top pick, and you don’t need telephone ports or coaxial connectors: Get the TrickleStar TS1205. Like the Tripp Lite TLP1208SAT model, this one performed well in our surge tests, it’s UL listed, and it has auto-shutoff capabilities, a surge-protection indicator light, a ground/fault indicator light, 12 well-spaced outlets, an 8-foot cord, a lifetime (effectively, as most surge protectors won’t actually last 10 years) warranty, and a great joule rating. Plus, it adds two USB ports, it has a handy energy-saving feature—though it’s probably not much of a savings with typical household usage—and it’s less than half the price of our top pick as of this writing. However, it lacks telephone ports and coaxial connectors.

If you want lots of USB ports and don’t mind having a shorter cord, shorter warranty, and higher cost than you would with our top pick: Get the CyberPower HT1206UC2RC1. Like the TLP1208SAT model, this one performed well in our surge tests, it’s UL listed, and it has an auto-shutoff feature, ground/fault and surge-protection indicator lights, 12 well-spaced outlets, and a great joule rating. It has one fewer telephone port but one more coaxial connector than our top pick. Plus, it adds four USB ports (more than any of our picks). However, it has a shorter cord and warranty, and it costs more than any other contender in this category.

If you need an extra-long cord, you don’t need telephone ports or coaxial connectors, and you don’t mind having fewer outlets and a worse joule rating than with our top pick: Get the Tripp Lite TLP825. Like our TLP1208SAT pick, this model performed well in our surge tests, it’s UL listed, and it has auto-shutoff capabilities, ground/fault and surge-protection indicator lights, and a lifetime warranty. Plus, it has a 25-foot cord. However, it has four fewer outlets, it lacks telephone ports and coaxial connectors, and its joule rating is half as good as that of our top pick (1440 compared to 2880).

If you want a surge protector with rotating outlets and a higher joule rating than that of our top pick, and you don’t mind that it lacks an auto-shutoff feature: Get the Belkin PivotPlug Surge Protector BP112230-08. This 12-outlet surge protector performed well in our testing, and it has many of the same qualities we prize in our top pick—though it lacks an auto-shutoff feature. Its rotating outlets—four on either side—add a lot of bulk to an otherwise streamlined unit without offering much utility, but they can be helpful if you have a lot of oversize plugs.

If you need something that’s more ruggedly built, has a longer cord, and offers even more surge protection than our top pick does, and you don’t mind that it’s bulkier, pricier, designed with fewer outlets, and missing auxiliary connectors: Get the Tripp Lite ISOBAR6ULTRA or Tripp Lite ISOBAR8ULTRA. These surge protectors are built for heavy-duty use—like our upgrade pick, they’re encased in a fire-resistant metal shell—and both models performed spectacularly in our surge tests, blocking all but about 200 of the 5,000 volts. Plus, they each have an ample 12-foot cord. However, they’re much bulkier than our TLP1208SAT pick, they have fewer outlets (six and eight, respectively), they lack telephone ports and coaxial connectors, and they cost significantly more at this writing.

If you want a surge protector with USB ports and a clamp mount, you don’t need auxiliary connectors, and you don’t mind that it has a shorter cord and fewer outlets than our top pick does: Get the Tripp-Lite Protect It TLP606DMUSB. This six-outlet surge protector performed well in our surge tests, but it’s really useful only for a desk or workbench—the built-in clamp lets you easily attach it to a table, but it doesn’t have a wall mount, and it’s impractical to set on the ground. Compared with the TLP1208SAT, it helpfully adds two USB-A ports, but it has half as many outlets and a shorter (6-foot) cord, and it lacks telephone ports and coaxial connectors.

This is not a comprehensive list of every surge protector we’ve tested. We’ve removed models that no longer meet our requirements or are discontinued.

The 12-outlet Anker 351 Power Strip performed dreadfully in our testing, offering no surge protection whatsoever.

The 12-outlet APC Performance SurgeArrest P12U2 has an auto-shutoff feature that kicks in only when the main (L-N) leg wears out. This means that if either of its other two legs (L-G or N-G) breaks down first, it will continue to send power to your devices, which could be unsafe.

Like our top pick, the 12-outlet Belkin BE112234-10 performed well in our surge tests and is UL listed. It also has surge-protection and ground/fault indicator lights, three telephone ports, two coaxial connectors, a long cord, a lifetime warranty, and a great joule rating. However, it lacks auto-shutoff capabilities, so you have to check the indicator lights regularly to know when the surge-protection components are worn out.

The 12-outlet Belkin SRA007p12tt6 has as many outlets as our top pick, and it also adds USB ports (two USB-A and one USB-C), has a higher joule rating (3,480 joules), and costs a bit less ($40 at this writing). However, it performed worse in our surge tests, it isn’t UL listed, it forgoes an auto-shutoff mechanism, and it lacks telephone and coaxial connectors.

Although the 12-outlet CyberPower P1004UC has as many outlets as our top pick and adds a USB-A port and USB-C port, we dismissed it because it shut down permanently after being zapped with 1,800 volts in our surge tests.

The 12-outlet Tripp Lite Protect It TLP128TTUSBB failed to measure up to our top pick during testing, letting more than twice as many volts slip through.

While the 11-outlet APC Performance SurgeArrest P11VT3 has many of the same key features as our top pick, it has one fewer outlet, and it blocked fewer volts in our testing.

The 10-outlet Tripp Lite Protect It TLP1008TEL has many of the same key features as our top pick, but it has two fewer outlets and let through more volts in our surge tests.

We tested the eight-outlet Elac Protek PB-82S, eight-outlet Furman PST-2+6, and 10-outlet Tripp Lite Isobar HT10DBS against our upgrade pick, but they don’t offer the same combination of surge protection, cord length, and rugged build as that model.

The seven-outlet Tripp Lite SUPER725B performed well in our surge tests. It’s also UL-listed, and it has an auto-shutoff feature, surge-protection and ground/fault indicator lights, a 25-foot cord, a lifetime warranty, and a great joule rating. However, it isn’t as compact as other contenders with fewer than eight outlets, and it has an awkward shape that doesn’t allow it to sit flat on the floor.

The six-outlet Amazon Basics SMD607, Belkin BP106000, and Belkin BSV602tt have twice as many outlets as our wall-mounted pick, and like that model they have two USB-A ports and can be safely mounted to a wall with screws. However, they all suffer from being less compact or having fewer safety certifications than that model.

We tested the cheapest surge protector we could find at a local Walmart, the six-outlet Hyper Tough PS682B_B, to see how it would fare against our top contenders, and it failed spectacularly in pretty much every way.

The six-outlet Tripp-Lite TLP66USBR has four USB ports—most other models have two at most—but we found that it offered less-than-stellar surge protection. Plus, its extendable USB-hub feature is hard to maneuver and not that useful.

The six-outlet Utilitech 78613 has a bulky, unappealing shape and a flimsier build quality than otherwise comparable models.

The nearly identical three-outlet CyberPower CSP300WUR1 and CyberPower P300WURC2 performed relatively well in our surge tests, blocking all but 282 and 226.8 volts, respectively, of the thousands we threw at them. However, they have a bit more bulk than our wall-mounted pick, and a shorter, one-year warranty.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.