Ugreen Nexode 140W GaN charger with PD 3.1 delivers
The Ugreen Nexode 140W GaN charger is one of the faster laptop-level, power hungry, device stuffing, fast charging bricks out there that will get you topped off at speeds that impress.
The Nexode 140W so far is the only charger I’ve run across that will show a full 100 Watts on my ScoutPro, and it exists as the highest draw I’ve ever achieved in a charger test at 132.3 Watts. This is not due to the Nexode 140W GaN charger failing to achieve 140 Watts, this is entirely due to what I was capable of pulling and testing.
PD 3.1 allows charging rates in excess of 100 Watts, and the second USB-C port can provide 140 Watts right out of the gate if your device can handle it.
The Nexode 140W GaN Charger in testing
There’s not a lot to say about this because charging bricks aren’t new (other than PD 3.1,) but during testing just to make sure I was getting what I thought I was, I ran it through an Emporia Smart Plug to monitor draw as well as one of the destinations going to the Intelli ScoutPro (which was discharged and pulled a full 100 watts.)
100 Watts to the ScoutPro was reporting 108 watts from the plug, or about 7% conversion loss. 122.5 watts was hitting 132.3 watts at the wall, so between 7 & 8% conversion loss, or my testing equipment is off, but that seems about right.
The gallium nitride charger should produce less heat than others, but at 132.3 watts sustained out of the wall outlet . 122.5 from the unit, I was noticing it was warm. Not hot mind you, just warm. You’re not going to have a completely cool charger if you’re charging at those speeds. At normal rates I don’t know that it was noticeable. Going from a 8% battery on the ScoutPro and a 17% battery on the S21, I pulled sustained 132 watts from the wall for at least 20 minutes to produce that.
Unless there’s been a major change in efficiencies since my last charger testing, this is pretty decent on efficiency, and good on heat.
Something interesting arises in how power is split
Should be noted you can get 140 watts on the bottom port
I had something interesting happen, and then had to RTFM. Actually it never occurred to me to RTFM on this and I contacted the PR department asking what was up and they sent me what was going on.
Port USB-C1 (bottom) can put out 140 watts when used alone. This I could not test because I can only pull 100 watts with any single device.
Plug in a device to port USB-C2 and the max power it 65 watts at each port C1 and C2. This means if C2 is pulling 2 watts and C1 wants 140, you’re getting 67 watts.
Plug in a device to the USB A and (C1 or C2) (2 devices) and you’re at 122.5 watts capable with C1 or C2 limited to 100 watts, and USB-A limited to 22.5.
Plug in 3 devices and the total is 132.5 Watts.
Just something to note if you happen to be wondering why you’re getting a particular charging speed.
Note – on the safety side evidently promotion said it checks for overheating 200 times per second. Evidently it’s 800 times per second. Probably overkill but if it reaches overheat, it will shut off. I’d think 4 times a second is probably fine personally.
Who is the Ugreen Nexode 140W GaN charger for?
Laptop users who can charge at speeds in excess of 100 watts primarily, It’s overly powerful and the second fastest laptop charging speed I see on the market currently. However, I’m not into fast charging laptops so my particular interest in this involves powering a projector, a Nintendo Switch, and a phone.
This is being written in advance of the release date, I don’t have pricing, just links to where you can purchase on release… so if you’re seeing this, you get to decide whether it’s a bargain in the 140 watt charger range.
