At a look
Knowledgeable’s Ranking
Execs
- Large 500W complete output
- 6 ports
- 140W PD 3.1 charging
Cons
- Prime port hogs 240W
- USB-C cable not included
Our Verdict
You received’t discover a desktop charger with this excessive a most energy output, and few others boast as many ports.
Value When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Greatest Pricing In the present day
Value When Reviewed
249,99 Euro
Greatest Costs In the present day: Ugreen Nexode 500W
Chargers vary in measurement from minuscule wall-based plugs to bulkier desktop bricks, in variety of ports from one to 10, and in complete 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 similar time and nonetheless have some energy remaining on your cellphone or AirPods.
Desktop energy
There are some spectacular USB-C wall chargers that plug instantly into the ability 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 similtaneously most energy output is capped at 140W (and certainly 134W when charging 4 units).
Ugreen has a 4-port 160W wall charger with one 140W PD 3.1 port.
When you want way more energy, you ought to be on the lookout for a desktop charger that connects to the ability socket by way of an old school plug and cable. Desktop chargers has extra ports and may output extra energy than wall chargers. They’re perfect you probably have a whole lot of units 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 units require. Maxed-out power-hungry gaming laptops acquire their energy with a direct AC enter fairly than USB. We count on extra electrical bikes to cost by way of USB-C and 240W of energy is perhaps the candy spot for these units, nevertheless it’s uncommon in desk-based shopper electronics.
Probably the most you’re seemingly 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.
(Word that the Nexode 500W doesn’t ship with a USB-C cable, so test that the cables you do have are rated as you will have 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 also be high quality to cost lower-powered units, however its actual power is geared 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 count on every to obtain 100W on the similar time. Chargers are inclined to have some limitations when powering a number of units concurrently.
Ugreen lists 58 charging configurations within the person handbook. When you use simply three of the ports every will provide 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 actually doable. 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 received’t share it if it’s not utilizing all of it. Successfully this makes the 500W max energy output extra like 400W on account of 100W of the 240W realistically not getting used or launched to the opposite ports. Maintaining the C1 to 140W and sharing the additional 100W would have supplied 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 could 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 units means the Nexode 500W Desktop Charger can 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 preserve most laptops charged up and in use until they’re actually pushing it on hungry video-editing functions.
The good thing about one super-powered desktop charger is that you just 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 actually strong and you might maintain a heavy gate open utilizing it as a doorstop, nevertheless it’s handsome in a barely menacing method in darkish gun-metal aluminum. The properly rounded edges perhaps soften the brutal seems.
You would possibly count on a 500W charger to get scorching. We actually 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 units 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 received’t be taught a lot taking a look at 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 velocity we’d suggest the Anker Prime Charger that additionally boasts six ports however has a max energy output of 250W.
Thomas Bergbold
Value and competitors
The Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger is priced at $249.99 within the U.S., £219.99 within the U.Ok., and €249,99 within the E.U. There are cheaper desktop chargers however none with a lot energy on faucet on the similar time.
The closest competitors to the Nexode 500W is the five-port Nexode 300W ($199.99 / £149.99) by way of 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, the most effective 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 related units, prioritized within the order you select from left to proper. As units attain full cost, the now larger obtainable energy is reallocated down the road. Whereas much more intelligent than the Nexode 500W, it’s restricted to simply 100W of complete simultaneous output.
Do you have to purchase the Ugreen Nexode 500W Desktop Charger?
You received’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 as a result of 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 similar time in a neat and funky package deal.
