European Electrical Safety standards are in general much better and more exacting than the in the USA and Canada. For instance USA Data Centres often use Water based fire extinguisher systems on electrical equipment! while those in Europe will use much safer Inert Gas systems.

In terms of mains connectors, european cables and connectors are of higher quality primarily because they are in general rated to a higher voltage and current. Also because European safety and enviromental standards tend to be more exhaustive than US and Canadian ones.

UK mains connectors are of particular quality because they are rated to 240 Volts at 13 Amps, and are internally fused. Also all UK plug sockets have automatic shutters over the live and neutral pins, so that your kids cant poke a screw driver in, unlike most US sockets.

120 Volts also means if anything a greater need for fuses, as you need twice the current to supply the same power output, and therefore have a much greater risk of electrical fires due to generated heat with poor connections, etc.

220 / 240V is more efficient than 120V with lower power losses in cables, distribution, etc.

I just stumbled across this article. I fixed one of these when I was in Afghanistan, UL (Underwriter's Laboratories - USA) would have fainted if this came across their desk. We had several, all purchased in the local bazaar.

First off, in North America (and specifically Canada), you will NEVER see a device like this sold in stores, well... you'll never see it sold anywhere here period..

why? 

For starters, all electrical devices require at minimum a UL approval (Underwriter's Laboratories), which far exceeds typical CE requirements. Did you find any electrical approval on this product? ISO is NOT an approval of any type, so.. I'd never plug this into my wall.. period. That thing SCREAMS fire..

Also, in Canada, we also have the benefit of CSA, which uses UL's test criteria, but much tighter test criteria on average - but basically similar to UL (when it says ULc, it's good for Canada).

Nothing wrong with our 120V connections, oh, did I mention it's 120V?? That's why we can use the small connector. Ground pin makes and breaks first/last, and TRY to get your fingers onto the blades of a plug.. it's not easy, and if you do, you deserve a shock. 

North America sets the standard for correct electrical safety on many fronts, umm, white for neutral, not blue (which is phase here), green for ground (not yellow/green), and black for hot (not brown).. The cables are CSA/UL certified, the connectors are, the terminals are, EVERYTHING is rated including fuses.. fuse in a connector is a good idea, but not required for safety as the device requires a fuse as well.. remember 120V, not 220V. 

60Hz is our standard (in reference to 60 seconds), not 50Hz (cuz having so many standards is good?!?) so how exactly was the UK's devices better than North America?

Please don't just call it American, hey, we in Canada pioneered a lot of electrical devices we use worldwide...

Cheers

Yes! customers often want cheapest with best quality. Question is what price you willing to pay? China can deliver too. Good quality comes with a price and be realistic. Pay peanuts and get monkeys is never wrong. Budget airline doesn't come with full service of a regualr airline you know.