Walk into any electronics shop and you will see chargers with the word GaN on the box. It stands for gallium nitride, a material that lets a charger handle more power in a smaller body than a traditional charger of the same rating. For travellers and anyone who charges several devices at once, that means less to carry.
Start with the watts
Wattage is the number that decides how quickly a charger can fill a battery. A few practical starting points:
- Phones, earbuds and small devices: a 20W charger is a good fit, such as the UNITEK Zeno 20W dual-port GaN charger or the UGREEN 20W USB-C GaN charger.
- Tablets and light laptops: a 45W charger such as the UNITEK Zeno 45W dual-port charger offers more headroom.
- Laptops and multi-device charging: 65W or more. The UNITEK Zeno 65W 3-port GaN charger covers two USB-C ports and one USB-A port.
- Power users: the UGREEN Nexode Pro 100W adds a retractable cable alongside its ports.
The safest way to choose for a laptop is to check the rating printed on the original charger and pick a new one with the same or higher wattage.
Count your ports
If you travel with a phone, a tablet and a laptop, a multi-port charger saves carrying three adapters. The UNITEK Travel Tri Pro 65W 3-in-1 GaN charger hub goes a step further by adding an HDMI output alongside its USB ports.
Don’t forget portable power
If you need power away from a socket, a power bank is the companion to your charger. The UGREEN Nexode 165W power bank (20000mAh) has a retractable USB-C cable and is listed at 165W for charging laptops on the move.
Quick tips
- A charger can usually supply more power than a device needs, the device only takes what it requires.
- Use a cable rated for the wattage you want to deliver (see our USB-C cable guide).
- When two devices share a multi-port charger, the total power is divided between them, so check the combined rating.
Need help matching a charger to your device? Contact our team with your device model.
