I Pried Open A Cheap 600w Charger To Test Its Build, And Found 'goo' Inside

It's easy to silkscreen 600W connected nan product, but tin nan merchandise unrecorded up to nan hype?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

I trial dozens of chargers each year. Some are excellent, while others autumn short. Here connected ZDNET, I only characteristic nan pick of nan harvest -- nan champion of nan best. However, I occasionally person requests from readers asking for my thoughts aliases opinions connected circumstantial products.

Lately, 1 merchandise that's been generating a batch of buzz is this 600W GaN charger.

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So, I bought a mates for testing. At $99, they're not precisely cheap, but compared to nan Ugreen Nexode 300W unit, which costs $140, they seemed for illustration a bargain. After all, this is an 8-port, 600W charger versus a 5-port, 300W unit.

8 ports -- has to beryllium cool, right? Wrong!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Red flags

The first reddish emblem for maine was nan no-name marque -- a generic sanction I'd ne'er heard of before. Why does this institution person 600W chargers connected nan market, while nan large names -- Anker, Ugreen, Belkin, Baseus, and others -- don't? I've heard of and dealt pinch these companies extensively, and they've built reputations for value and reliability.

But things went downhill nan infinitesimal I plugged it in.

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The first rumor I noticed was that nan charger was erratic. I could get 140W retired of 1 of nan USB-C ports, but nan different 140W larboard wasn't cooperating and seemed to beryllium stuck astatine astir 65W. To make matters worse, 1 of nan 100W ports appeared to beryllium wholly dead.

Another awesome problem was that plugging aliases unplugging devices would often origin nan charger to malfunction. More often than not, it would participate a authorities wherever it stopped moving entirely, requiring maine to unplug nan powerfulness cablegram to "reboot" it and get it functioning again.

Not good.

No matter what I tried, I couldn't get this charger anyplace adjacent its claimed 600W powerfulness rating. To make matters worse, it was erratic and temperamental.

Also: The champion GaN chargers you tin buy

So, I decided to unfastened it up and return a look inside.

Ballast perhaps?

The first point that greeted maine was a lump of... something. At first glance, it looked for illustration a thermal compound, but it smelled and felt much for illustration a model glazing compound, leaving down an oily residue. It was besides amazingly heavy, almost arsenic if it had been added to springiness nan charger immoderate artificial heft. Without it, nan remains of nan charger felt incredibly light.

Not judge what this wrong nan charger is... ballast perhaps?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Smells weird...

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Definitely not what I'd expect from a 600W charger.

Serious information hazard

A speedy introspection of nan circuitry revealed that this is simply a sub-par portion of equipment. Without getting excessively technical, nan separation betwixt nan mains voltage and nan low-voltage sections of nan charger is inadequate.

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This mediocre creation intends that a malfunction could perchance consequence successful nan charger outputting mains voltage -- a superior information hazard. Additionally, nan transformers and voltage regulators utilized don't look to beryllium tin of delivering nan advertised 600W.

This is NOT what a value merchandise looks like.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Another interest was really easy nan lawsuit popped open, exposing nan soul components. If this charger fell disconnected a table while plugged in, nan broadside screen could detach, exposing nan high-voltage components. This creates a vulnerable business wherever personification could accidentally travel into interaction pinch nan mains voltage while retrieving nan charger.

The bottommost line

This charger doesn't make nan cut. It doesn't moreover travel close.

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This is precisely why I extensively trial everything -- from powerfulness banks and chargers to powerfulness stations. Manufacturers tin easy make bold claims connected spec sheets, packaging, aliases moreover nan merchandise itself, but creating a instrumentality that really delivers connected those promises is simply a acold greater challenge.

Need a powerful charger? Go for thing for illustration nan Ugreen Nexode 300W aliases Anker Prime 250W. These are value products that present nan equipment from companies pinch a way grounds of delivering nan goods.

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