There is never much to write about USB chargers, however, looking on Amazon for a new charger is an absolute minefield depending on what you want.
In the past, you bought a USB plug by the number of ports it provides.
Now, with the different number of ports, you have USB A and C, then USB-C can provide power delivery, which comes in a wide range of ratings. Power Delivery plugs always display the total power, but this is not always the max wattage per port. You then have gallium nitride (GaN) or silicon chargers.
With many laptops adopting power delivery for charging, you can’t just buy any old charger. If you look at the Macbook Pro, it technically only needs 60W charge; if you then have thunderbolt devices plugged in, it will go up to 87W.
So with that, you really want a 90W+ power delivery charger to make the most of it, and you need to make sure that it is 90W on a single port. These used to be few and far between, but the options have expanded recently.
Choetech PD 100W dual-port power delivery charger (PD6008-UK)
Sale
CHOETECH PD100W Charger GaN, 2-45W Port USB C Charger with…
- 【Power Delivery 100W】The maximum outputs from…
- 【GaN Tech】 This is one of the first 2-port…
- 【Wide Compatibility】Our pd USB C wall charger…
- 【2 USB C Ports】 This dual usb c pd charger is…
The Choetech PD 100W dual port is one such option, it has an RRP of £41.99 on Amazon but is currently available for £34.99.
There are two ports on there, which are both USB-C, so you will need dual-sided USB-C cables, and ideally, you should buy one that is specifically rated for 100W.
This is a GaN charger, while it is not tiny, it is very small for a 100W charger, Cheotech claims it is 30% smaller than the official Macbook charger.
With the two UBS-C ports it can offer 45W maximum across each port when they are both in use, then when you use a single port, you can access the full 100W. It looks like both ports are capable of this, so you don’t need to remember which port to plug your laptop in.
I have always found Choetech to be one of the better brands on Amazon, and the charger has worked well for me so far.
I have tried this with the Huawei Matebook 13, HP Envy X2 and Dell Latitude, all of them happily taking charge at full speed.
With phones, like all chargers, you will be limited to the charge speeds of Quick Charge. So phones like the Realme 7 Pro with its 65W SuperDart charging will only charge at the lower Quick Charge speed.
Sadly, this does not work with the Nintendo Switch,
Price and Alternative Options
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
CHOETECH PD100W Charger GaN, 2-45W Port USB C Charger with… | £34.99 | Buy on Amazon | |
 |
LinkOn Ganius 136W Laptop Wall Charger GaN Tech 100W USB-C… | £56.43 | Buy on Amazon | |
 |
MINIX 100W Turbo 4-Port GaN Charger Universal Fast Charging…. | £54.90 | Buy on Amazon |
Looking on Amazon, I can’t find any other 100W that are similarly priced and specced. At around £35 this looks to be a bargain.
The best alternative I can find is the LinkOn Ganius 136W Laptop Wall Charger is £56 offering 100W on one port as well as PPS support fo the Nintendo Switch. It is not a brand I am aware of but Amazon reviews are positive (for what they are worth).
The MINIX 100W Turbo 4-Port GaN Charger is the closest, it costs more at £54.90, but you get two UBS-A ports and two USB-C ports. Even though it is a GaN charger, it looks quite bulky.
Then the Nekteck 111W is £45 but it actually only goes up to 87W on the USB-C port.
I previously reviewed the Chargeasap Omega 200W GaN USB-C charger which offers 100W per port, or the cheaper !00W model. This is not on Amazon yet and only available via Indigogo.
The official single-port 96W Apple USB-C power adapter is more than double the price at £79.
Overall
Overall, this is excellent, it works as advertised, and I am struggling to find any options that are better or even closely comparable.
With the official Apple charger costing £79 this represents a fantastic buy, there is absolutely no point ever to buy an official Apple charger. This is why I love power delivery so much; proprietory chargers are a massive rip off.
Posted by Mighty Gadget Blog: UK Technology News and Reviews
