At a look
Skilled’s Score
Professionals
- Large 500W whole output
- 6 ports
- 140W PD 3.1 charging
Cons
- Prime port hogs 240W
- USB-C cable not included
Our Verdict
You gained’t discover a desktop charger with this excessive a most energy output, and few others boast as many ports.
Worth When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Finest Pricing Right now
Worth When Reviewed
$249.99
Finest Costs Right now: Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger
$249.99
Chargers vary in dimension from minuscule wall-based plugs to bulkier desktop bricks, in variety of ports from one to 10, and in whole output energy from 20W (not sufficient) to now 500W (now you’re speaking!).
The 6-port Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger beats our earlier examined champ, the Nexode 300W additionally from Ugreen.
The brand new 500W mannequin can energy 5 MacBooks on the identical time and nonetheless have some energy remaining in your cellphone or AirPods.
Desktop energy
There are some spectacular USB-C wall chargers that plug straight into the facility socket. The Anker 140W Charger has 4 ports, together with two 140W ports rated at PD 3.1 every of which is highly effective sufficient to quick cost a 16-inch MacBook Professional, though not concurrently most energy output is capped at 140W (and certainly 134W when charging 4 gadgets).
Ugreen has a 4-port 160W wall charger with one 140W PD 3.1 port.
For those who want far more energy, you need to be on the lookout for a desktop charger that connects to the facility socket through an old style plug and cable. Desktop chargers has extra ports and might output extra energy than wall chargers. They’re splendid in case you have loads of gadgets requiring excessive energy as they cut back the necessity for a number of particular person chargers.
Simon Jary / Foundry
Ports of energy
- 1x USB-C (240W PD 3.1)
- 4x USB-C (100W PD 3.0)
- 1x USB-A (22.5W)
The Nexode 500W boasts six front-facing charging ports: 5 USB-C and one legacy USB-A.
The primary USB-C port (C1) can output at a large 240W, which is excess of any USB-C-powered gadgets require. Maxed-out power-hungry gaming laptops acquire their energy with a direct AC enter reasonably than USB. We anticipate extra electrical bikes to cost through USB-C and 240W of energy may be the candy spot for these gadgets, nevertheless it’s uncommon in desk-based shopper electronics.
Probably the most you’re possible to make use of it for is the 140W wanted to quick cost the 16-inch MacBook Professional utilizing both Apple’s MagSafe 3 cable or a 240W USB-C cost cable for submit November 2023 fashions.
(Notice that the Nexode 500W doesn’t ship with a USB-C cable, so verify that the cables you do have are rated as you have to them. Most USB-C charging cables max out at 60W. See our roundup of the greatest USB-C cables for suggestions.)
The high-output C1 port can be fantastic to cost lower-powered gadgets, however its actual power is aimed toward laptops that require a PD 3.1 (as much as 240W) energy supply.
The opposite 4 USB-C ports (C2, C3, and C4) are rated at 100W charging potential. The USB-A port can every output 20W.
Most energy output is 500W however you’ll be able to’t simply plug in 5 laptops and anticipate every to obtain 100W on the identical time. Chargers are likely to have some limitations when powering a number of gadgets concurrently.
Ugreen lists 58 charging configurations within the person guide. For those who use simply three of the ports every provides you with its most, however when you add a fourth, fifth or sixth, the remaining ports are compromised considerably with the in any other case 100W ports dropping to 60W.
500W is definitely attainable. For instance, 240W+100W+100W+60W. However Ugreen doesn’t state that you may get 140W+100W+100W+100W+60W. The C1 port reserves that entire 240W for itself and gained’t share it if it’s not utilizing all of it. Successfully this makes the 500W max energy output extra like 400W resulting from 100W of the 240W realistically not getting used or launched to the opposite ports. Holding the C1 to 140W and sharing the additional 100W would have provided extra charging flexibility.
In our assessments, the Nexode 500W charged an iPhone 15 by 54%, an 11-inch iPad Professional by 36%, and a MacBook Air M3 by 50% in half-hour (this testing by Macwelt’s Thomas Bergbold).
4 MacBooks can draw energy at 60W every, with one other at 140W. Even three 16-inch MacBooks operating concurrently might be charged: one fast-charged at 140W and the opposite two at 100W.
Thomas Bergbold
Who’s it for
Having a lot energy to output to so many gadgets means the Nexode 500W Desktop Charger will likely be most helpful in a convention room or in a classroom with 5 laptops needing only one charger; say at 240W+60W+60W+60W+60W.
60W is sufficient to hold most laptops charged up and in use until they’re actually pushing it on hungry video-editing purposes.
The good thing about one super-powered desktop charger is that you simply now not want so many energy factors or particular person wall chargers. It’s going to cut back desk litter and finish a world of snaking cables slithering off the desk to discover a energy outlet.
Design
The Nexode 500W measures 5.75 x 4.5 x 2.4 inches (14.6 x 11.5 x 6.1cm) and weighs a mighty 4.8lbs (2.2kg).
That compares to the previous energy champ, the Ugreen Nexode 300W Desktop Charger, that has dimensions of 4.6 x 3.75 x 2.1 inches (11.6 x 9.5 x 5.3cm), and weighs about half as a lot.
It’s definitely strong and you would maintain a heavy gate open utilizing it as a doorstop, nevertheless it’s handsome in a barely menacing manner in darkish gun-metal aluminum. The properly rounded edges possibly soften the brutal appears.
You may anticipate a 500W charger to get scorching. We definitely know a lot lesser chargers can warmth up fairly rapidly. However the Nexode 500W stayed fairly cool even once we examined it with a number of gadgets charging.
Thomas Bergbold
It doesn’t have any flashy lights or informative digital show so if you wish to understand how a lot energy goes the place and when, you gained’t study a lot its entrance though every of the 5 USB-C ports has its most energy score printed beneath it.
If you need a desktop charger with a digital show displaying charging standing and pace we’d advocate the Anker Prime Charger that additionally boasts six ports however has a max energy output of 250W.
Thomas Bergbold
Worth and competitors
The Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger is priced at $249.99 within the U.S., £219.99 within the U.Okay., and €249,99 within the E.U. There are cheaper desktop chargers however none with a lot energy on faucet on the identical time.
The closest competitors to the Nexode 500W is the five-port Nexode 300W ($199.99 / £149.99) when it comes to variety of ports and big energy output. The 500W mannequin has the additional 200W oomph plus a sixth port. The 300W mannequin additionally boasts a 140W port however solely two at 100W, with the fourth USB-C port restricted to 45W, though its USB-A port is a tiny bit extra highly effective at 22.5W.
The $149.99 Satechi 200W USB-C 6-port PD GaN Charger is an alternative choice (direct / Amazon). Whereas it boasts two 140W USB-C ports that 200W most makes this benefit meaningless.
If you need actually clever energy distribution, one of the best we’ve seen is the ten-port Plugable PS-10CC desktop charger that makes use of software-based real-time present sensing expertise to ship precedence charging that distributes energy throughout all linked gadgets, prioritized within the order you select from left to proper. As gadgets attain full cost, the now larger accessible energy is reallocated down the road. Whereas much more intelligent than the Nexode 500W, it’s restricted to simply 100W of whole simultaneous output.
Must you purchase the Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger?
You gained’t discover a desktop charger with this excessive a most energy output, and few others boast as many ports. Whereas not all of the ports work at their fullest when used concurrently because of the high port hogging 240W to itself, this well-constructed tidy energy block is constructed for group use and is well able to powering 5 laptops and an iPad on the identical time in a neat and funky bundle.
