Ugreen Nexode 140W charger evaluate: good for 16-inch MacBook Professional house owners

Recently, I’ve had this concept to construct separate ready-to-go tech backpacks that make me really feel ready for any gadgety scenario. A type of baggage could be my light-weight pack containing a laptop computer and small Nintendo Change package, minimal cables, a battery financial institution, a mini toolkit, and crucially, one charging brick that may energy any gadget I throw at it.

Ugreen’s 140-watt Nexode charger is a powerful candidate to be that one charging brick. It’s a three-port GaN charger with flip-out prongs and as much as 140W charging for a single USB-C machine. Its means to cost one machine at that velocity is because of assist for the comparatively new Energy Supply 3.1 protocol (or PD 3.1).

The Nexode has two USB-C ports able to as much as 140W and 100W max individually or 65W every concurrently. It additionally has one USB-A port for as much as 22.5W. All collectively, the ports output 65W / 45W / 22.5W.

The Nexode doesn’t assist the tremendous cutting-edge PD 3.2, however Ugreen is variety sufficient to incorporate a 1.5-meter braided USB-C cable that helps future 240W gadgets. However the Nexode does assist virtually each different USB-C protocol you may swing at it, together with the largely Samsung fast-charging-friendly PPS, Qualcomm’s Fast Cost 4.0 Plus (and three.0 / 2.0), and even Huawei’s SuperCharge (SCP and FCP).

That makes it a great match for my light-weight backpack as a result of it ought to assist virtually any machine I’d run into on the workplace or elsewhere and be capable to cost a number of gadgets concurrently. I additionally want it to assist Apple’s latest 16-inch MacBook Professional, which is one among only a few gadgets available on the market that helps 140W charging — although you would wish to make use of Apple’s MagSafe 3 to USB-C cable to get that velocity.

The Good140W PD 3.1 charging is fastEasier to hold and extra versatile than Apple’sComes with a braided USB-C cableNintendo Change official dock worksThe BadRuns scorching at full powerPricey at MSRPMore versatile 140W-capable choices coming to marketHow we price and evaluate merchandise

When it comes to portability, Ugreen says the Nexode is “20 % smaller” than Apple’s 140W charger, and it definitely appears that manner, because the Nexode is nearer to the scale of Apple’s 60 / 61 / 67W bricks. The Nexode is about 3 by 3 by 1.4 inches and weighs about 14 ounces, whereas the 140W Apple charger is greater however lighter, at about 3.8 by 3 by 1.1 inches and about 9.8 ounces.

I examined out the Nexode at full velocity with the 16-inch MacBook Professional. Beginning a cost at 33 %, it estimated a full cost in 1 hour and 20 minutes. After 31 minutes, the MacBook Professional elevated to 91 % and up to date its estimate to 29 minutes till a full cost. The Nexode is quick.

With the MacBook Professional charging at 140W, the Nexode reached 118 levels Fahrenheit at 73 % battery. My highest studying got here as much as 124 levels.

However the velocity of the Nexode unlocked one other type of vitality: warmth. This brick received virtually uncomfortably scorching. Even our resident laptop computer reviewer Monica Chin was shocked at how heat it felt — and she or he has dealt with a complete lot of charging bricks. I might odor the Nexode — that’s how heat it received.

On a second 140W charging check, I discovered the Nexode to get as heat as 124 levels Fahrenheit utilizing an infrared thermometer — and didn’t odor a lot that point. I took the temperature of Apple’s 140W charger, too, which can be GaN primarily based, and it solely received as heat as 99 levels.

Throughout basic multi-port use, although, the Nexode didn’t really feel almost as heat. The total 140W single-device charging is just doable when plugging in simply the MacBook Professional (or any PD 3.1 machine). Roger Wan, Ugreen’s PR supervisor, instructed me that the Nexode is designed to scale back energy to keep away from overheating when the temperature reaches 95 levels Celsius (203 levels Fahrenheit) — and can resume charging as soon as it returns to beneath 75 levels Celsius (167 levels Fahrenheit).

With a MacBook Professional plugged into port C1 (the one one which helps 140W), I plugged in a pair of AirPods Max into the USB-A port. The MacBook Professional then reported it was charging at 100W, down from 140W. I then plugged in a USB-C Apple Watch charger (the newer technology) and positioned a Sequence 7 Apple Watch on it — which is when the MacBook Professional reported it was all the way down to 65W charging. I’ve additionally seen when plugging / unplugging gadgets into the charger, that there’s a delay of about 5 to seven seconds earlier than the Nexode redistributes energy.

Nexode is shorter however thicker than Apple’s 140W charger.

Apple’s 60W MacBook Professional brick and the Nexode facet by facet.

The extremely energy person / video editor would in all probability have to have a devoted energy brick that doesn’t get interrupted by further gadgets like their smartphone. For my wants, the Nexode serves me nicely. It could possibly even energy a Nintendo Change dock for TV mode whereas concurrently charging two professional controllers — although it will make the TV display screen go black for as much as 10 seconds when plugging / unplugging.

At Ugreen’s checklist value of $149, the Nexode is on the dear facet. That sum might get you Satechi’s 200W charger that has twice the quantity of ports in comparison with the Nexode and might assist 140W charging with none energy drop-off, together with a second 20W machine hooked up. (Although we’ve got not examined this but.) Or you would purchase an additional 140W charger from Apple for $99, which leaves you some cash to purchase a pair extra bricks in your different gadgets.

However as is usually the case with these sorts of merchandise, the checklist value is never what you need to pay to get one. On the time of writing, Amazon is promoting the Nexode for about $90, a way more interesting value that’s additionally cheaper than Anker’s single-port 140W charger. And if the aim is to hold gentle with the massive 16-inch MacBook Professional, Ugreen’s received a fairly good possibility right here with the Nexode.

Images by Umar Shakir / The Verge