UGREEN Nexode 30W Review: The 30W charger from UGREEN charges many popular smartphones and devices. At Amazon you can currently get it for €12.99.
- 30 watt charging power
- USB-C port
- Compatible with cell phones, laptops, tablets
With ever-improving charging standards and smartphones that can be charged faster and faster, there is also a need for appropriate power supplies/chargers that also support these standards. Laptops need more powerful chargers anyway. One of them is the Nexode Charger from UGREEN, which delivers up to 140 watts of power.
UGREEN Nexode 30W Review, Specs & Photos
- UGREEN Nexode 100W
- UGREEN Nexode 140W
- currently not listed
- UGREEN Nexode 45W
- currently not listed
- UGREEN Nexode 30W
- Why such a powerful charger at all?
A few years ago it was completely normal to charge cell phones overnight, simply because there was almost no other way. Charging with 5 or 10 watts can take two to three hours with an empty battery. “Fast charging” then referred to everything from 18 watts, because that was tantamount to doubling or tripling the charging speed.
It’s different now. Many people still charge their smartphones overnight (according to surveys, up to 50% in Germany). But this is actually no longer necessary, because with many new smartphones the battery can be charged from 0 to 100% in half an hour, which you can definitely do in between without a long waiting time.
Chargers with 18 or 20 watts are still referred to as fast charging. However, there have long been mobile phones that can be charged with 50, 65 or even 100 watts. The higher performance is not the only indicator of speed, but it is the most important and quite suitable as a guide. More wattage means faster charging.
Laptops, on the other hand, have always needed more power than cell phones. This is not primarily about speed; it needs 30 or even 60 watts to be able to charge the battery at all. Finally, you can use a powerful charger – as long as it has several connections – to charge several devices at the same time from one socket.
A strong battery needs the right power supply unit
Fast charging is great, but the best smartphone is useless if you don’t have the right charger for it. And it should happen that the device doesn’t even come with a power supply unit. If the charger you are using has multiple ports, you can also charge multiple devices at the same time.
That brings us to the UGREEN Nexode. It’s actually a whole range of chargers, ranging from 20 watts to 100 watts. The 140-watt version is the largest and the one we’re looking at here. There are a total of three outputs here, namely two USB-C ports and one USB-A port. The output power differs: The USB-A output delivers up to 22.5 watts and is primarily intended for less energy-hungry devices such as headphones and smartwatches, whose charging cables are often also equipped with a USB-A connector. The two USB-C outputs deliver up to 100 or 140 watts (28V/5A). Important: If you use both ports at the same time, the power is limited to 65 watts each.
The charger supports multiple protocols, including Power Delivery up to and including PD 3.1 and QuickCharge up to and including QC4+. A MacBook Pro should be fully charged in 30 minutes. It is important to note that the end device must also support the corresponding protocol in order to benefit from the higher loading speed. The manufacturer gives an overview of the compatibility on the product page on Amazon.
What is the device suitable for?
140 watts are not the same as 140 watts. The charger supports a maximum of 5 amps and achieves the promised maximum power with a voltage of 28 volts. This means that devices that work with higher currents can sometimes not fully benefit from it. For example, the high charging speeds of some Xiaomi phones require 6 or more amps. Even on my own realme smartphone, I don’t reach the theoretically possible 65 watts.
On the MacBook Pro, on the other hand, I get up to 100 watts with a medium battery level. My Dell notebook can also be charged with the charger without any problems. So while not all smartphones can take full advantage of their “fast charging” with the UGREEN Nexode, it is particularly well suited for laptops.
Connecting several devices at the same time is an application that I have used several times in the last few days. Since each individual output of the power supply offers a comparatively large amount of power, you don’t have to make any compromises here and can charge a laptop, smartphone and another device at the same time without any problems. | UGREEN PowerRoam 1200.
Assessment
I haven’t said much about processing yet. As far as I can tell, it’s good. The power supply feels valuable and is equipped with the necessary protection mechanisms against overvoltage and overheating. I didn’t notice any noticeable heat development either. So overall I am very satisfied with the 140 watt charger from UGREEN.
But I also believe that it already offers far too much for most use cases. Due to the limitations mentioned above, the maximum performance will rarely be used, if at all. Above all, if you don’t have a laptop that supports more than 100 watts or a smartphone that charges particularly quickly, then the 100 watt charger from UGREEN might be enough, which is a bit cheaper and, depending on the version, even offers an additional USB-C slot. And the model with 45 watts is even smaller and can be packed away. UGREEN Nexode 30W Review video below:
