Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger Review: Plenty of Power to Charge Up to Six of Your Devices Simultaneously

Playing the equivalent of musical chairs with your wall chargers and cables can become the norm, especially when your everyday carry includes multiple power-hungry devices like laptops and tablets. The Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger puts four USB-C ports and two USB ports at your disposal; with its GaN technology, you can fast-charge up to three 65W laptops simultaneously or charge up to six smartphones and tablets simultaneously.

Devices using the USB-C standard can require wildly varying wattages to charge at their fastest speeds. For example, my Lenovo Yoga 9i requires 65W to fast charge, whereas my Pixel 6 Pro needs 23W and my Pixel Buds need only 2.5W.

We don’t have to worry about using the correct USB charger and cable when charging all of these different devices because of a cool USB-C feature called Power Delivery (PD).

With PD, the chip in the charger will communicate with the device being charged to ensure that the current being sent is no more than the maximum wattage the device being charged can safely handle for its fastest, most powerful, and safest possible charge.

That’s why I can use my Lenovo Yoga 9i’s 65W charger to top off my Pixel Buds, for instance, without worrying about frying the earbuds.

With PD, higher-wattage USB-C chargers can produce and deliver up to 100W of power per USB-C port.

So, in this scenario, if you had a USB-C device that required a 100W charge, all you’d need to keep it powered would be a USB-C charger capable of producing 100W and a USB-C cable capable of carrying 100W to get that full 100W delivered to your device. And, of course, you could use that same cable and charger to power any other USB-C devices that require 100W or less to charge.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a semiconductor material that has been around for decades, but it is becoming more common to see it being used instead of silicon in chargers and charging bricks. Compared to the chargers that use silicone, chargers made with GaN technology produce less heat and are more efficient; they are also generally smaller than their silicone counterparts and can cost a bit more.

That brings us to the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger; as the name implies, it produces up to 200W of power that is disbursed through four USB-C and two USB-A ports.

Here’s the packaging …

… and here are the contents, which include the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger, a 6’6″ (2m) wall charger cable with a three-pronged “Mickey Mouse” plug, and a 3′ (1m) braided 100W USB-C to USB-C cable. Right out of the box, the charger is ready to handle any USB-C laptop that requires 100W or less.

The Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger measures 4″ wide by 4″ wide by 1.3″ thick; minus the cable, it weighs 1.2 pounds. I like that the focus is on USB-C, yet there are still a couple of USB-A ports available because as much as I prefer USB-C, I still use devices that need the legacy Type-A port for their specific chargers.

Worth pointing out is that there are no LEDs on the charger itself, so the only way to verify that it is on is to look at a plugged-in device.

The Ugreen brand is on the top of the charger, the sides are plain, and the back has a three-prong port for the charging cable. Even though the charger’s body is composed of plastic, it doesn’t seem flimsy; it feels quite solid and well-made.

Unlike some USB hubs, there isn’t a stand included for vertical mounting, but there are rubber feet on the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger’s bottom that will keep it from sliding.

A bit of a learning curve is involved with using the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger’s ports if you know in advance that you’ll be charging power-hungry devices. These charts may seem like overkill, but they help explain how the 200W gets distributed depending on what you are trying to charge.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that if you have something really power-hungry, like a 100W laptop (or even two of them), is that you aren’t going to be able to draw more than 200W total from the charger.

So, for instance, if you have a 100W laptop, it would need to be plugged into one of the first two USB-C ports. Two 100W laptops can be charged by plugging each into one of the first two USB-C ports. If you have six devices to charge, you’ll get 65W / 45W / 45W / 20W (in descending order) from the four USB-C ports; the two USB-A ports will put out a max of 22.5W total.

Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger Technical Specifications:

• Input: 100-240V~ 2.5A 50-60Hz
• Total Output: 200W Max
• Detachable Power Cord: 2m/6.56ft
• USB Output:
• USB-C1/C2: 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/5A, 100W Max; PPS: 3.3-21V/3A
• USB-C3/C4: 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/3.25A, 65W Max; PPS: 3.3-21V/3A
• USB-A1/A2: 4.5V/5A, 5V/4.5A, 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A, 22.5W Max

Support Protocols:

• USB-C: PD3.0/ PPS/ QC4+(QC4.0/QC3.0)/ FCP/ AFC/ 5V2.4A/ BC1.2
• USB-A: SCP/ QC3.0/ FCP/ AFC/ 5V2.4A/ BC1.2

Looking at the charts posted above, it seems like the only real charging limitations that will come into play here will occur in one of the following scenarios:

• When you charge two laptops that draw 100W of power each, if you add a third item to any other port, the two 100W ports will drop to 65W each to accommodate the third item. That makes sense, as this is only a 200W charger, after all.
• If you have a 100W device plugged into the first USB-C port and a 65W item plugged into another USB-C port, and then you plug in a third item, the 100W port will drop to a max of 65W.
• If you have three 65W devices plugged into the first three USB-C ports and you plug in a fourth item, the PD will drop to 65W / 65W / 45W / 20W.
  • For instance, I have three USB-C Lenovo laptops that each draw 65W, and my Pixel 6 Pro draws 23W. So, if I charged all three laptops simultaneously (195W total) and added the 23W 6 Pro to the mix, the charger’s PD would understandably drop to 65W / 65W / 45W / 20W (195W). I’m not sure why I wouldn’t get the additional 3W the Pixel requires for a fast charge in this scenario (since it would still be under the 200W total), but I can live with this.

Long story short, if you are trying to charge a lot of power-hungry devices, you’ll need to be conscious of how the power is distributed. But if you’re regularly charging a laptop, a tablet, two or three phones, and one or two sets of earbuds, you won’t really need to stress about it.

Throughout my testing of the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger, the one thing that has really impressed me, beyond how many of my devices it can fast-charge at once, is that the charger seems to dissipate heat very well! It never gets hot — even when pumping power through all six ports to my devices. Don’t get me wrong, it gets warm to the touch, but it never gets hot.

I’ve used it on my office desk to power multiple laptops and other devices, in the living room where the whole family could plug in as needed, and I’ve traveled with it as my only power source; the Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger hasn’t let me down. If you’re running out of wall outlets or your desktop is out of control with your various USB charging bricks, you can declutter that mess and eliminate six chargers with this one; that’s a win!

The Ugreen Nexode 200W GaN Charger retails for $199.99; it is available directly from the manufacturer and Amazon.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: It can be used to charge up to 6 devices with four USB-C and two USB-A ports; It can power up to two 100W USB-C devices simultaneously; It can power up to three 65W USB-C devices simultaneously; It’s small enough to throw in your backpack or suitcase when traveling; It doesn’t get hot, even under a heavy charging load; Includes a 3′ 100W charging cable; Great desktop decluttering tool; Solidly built

What Needs Improvement: There is no LED power indicator on the charger; You need to be mindful of the power draw of each device when charging multiple higher-wattage devices