Ugreen CD216 65W USB-C GaN Charger Reviewed
I’m finding myself increasingly beset with chargers and USB hubs, trying to find something new and novel about them. UGREEN solved this little conundrum by doing something simple and elegant, yet somehow conspicuously missing from the vast majority of USB Type-C chargers on the market. Point the darn ports downwards.
Now UGREEN is a brand I had previously overlooked, since their name is not far removed from the alphabet-salad of so many other middling tech brands. But while my back was turned, UGREEN have rolled out a rigorously consistent line-up of products that puts them squarely in the rear-view mirror of Anker and coming up fast. It turns out they’re anything but middling.
Pack shot of UGREEN’s 65W GaN charger. Everything’s fast now, we can ditch the GaN right? Right?
But one thing in their lineup stood out- the UGREEN CD216 65W UCB-C GaN charger. Not because it’s especially powerful, or because it has a good selection of ports, but because it’s beautifully sleek, minimal and points the darn ports downwards.
Why is the latter important? Well, here in the United Kingdom, land of rigorously consistent building regulations seldom have sockets at sensible, accessible heights and thus often find them obscured behind tables, bedside tables or furniture. This is fine for a regular UK plug, which isn’t too thick and has a cord that points downwards. But with GaN chargers straying into lengths that border on phallic absurdity, it’s a complete nuisance for fitting phone chargers into those awkward spots.
Enter UGREEN’s CD216. It sticks out a paltry 4cm from the wall, which isn’t exactly slimline until you realise it’ll charge your laptop at up to 65w and your phone (or another device) at up to 20w. Though note it’s a combined total of 65w.
Ports pointing out the bottom- or the side if it’s in a desktop socket - just make sense!
It stacks the ports on top of each other and comes in at about 1cm thicker than Apple’s compact dual USB C charger, which us Brits can’t have, darn it, and makes a mockery of Anker’s single-port, 65w “nano” charger. Sorry Anker, you’re going to have to bring the big guns!
This ports-out-the-bottom design works in desktop use, too, since the ports are now escaped from the side rather than pointing directly up and putting a sharp bend in your cable. If you’re anything like me and seem to destroy USB cables on a regular basis, this might help delay the inevitable just that little bit longer.
Cables escaping out of the bottom. As it should be. As it is decreed.
It’s a beautiful object, too, the sleek, almost featureless plug is reassuringly hefty. It looks clean and professional, with only a small, glossy UGREEN logo picked out of its matte, black surface finish. Well, aside from the ports, that is.
The ports are stacked on top of each other with liberal, no doubt necessary due to the internal construction, spacing between them. Even the biggest, most obnoxious USB Type-C connector won’t be competing for space here.
My one gripe? The one thing that mars this plug’s reach for perfection and sees greatness slipping through its grasp? It’s not, as you might expect, the lack of folding prongs. I’d really, really have liked folding prongs. But UGREEN do a folding prong 45W adapter that adds an extra centimetre or so of protrusion, ruining the tuck-behind-furniture-ability just that little bit. No, it’s the port labels. It’s always the port labels.
Could definitely stand some clearer primary labelling instead of giving me the task of looking it up!
Instead of something sensible like, I don’t know… 65W and 20W? UGREEN have labelled the ports C1 and C2. These correspond to the detailed specs written on the plug-side of the plug which elaborate that C1 will do 20W maximum at some assortment of voltages and amperages and that C2 will do 65W maximum. Or is it the other way around? You see- that’s the problem. This labelling assumes I care as much about the finer points of available power modes as I do the big, headline wattage. I don’t. This labelling assumes I’ll remember which port does what from the inscrutable C1 and C2. This labelling also assumes I can read it while the plug is in my wall and I’m scrabbling around trying to find the right port.
Pulling 59.5w out of UGREEN’s adorable little dual port, compact and sleek 65W adapter. That’s near enough to 65W.
To fix it? Well, listen up UGREEN, let’s just label them 20W and 65W to start. I’m a big boy, I understand these figures come with caveats. If you want bonus points let’s do a little form-follows-function and stick some labels on the top that correspond to their opposite port.
If you want perfection- just make all the ports equal. C’mon! It must be possible. It’s just volts and amps and stuff, we make them do maths for crying out loud.
Overall the UGREEN has effortlessly leapfrogged every other power supply I’ve tested thus far and earned the Everyday Carry award. Wait, do I even give awards? Just… imagine a badge with wrap-around round text or something. Until something comes along that topples it, this is the charger I’ll reach for when I’m travelling.
You can grab the 65W GaN charger directly from UGREEN for – at time of writing – £33.99. Or pick it up from Amazon UK if that’s more your groove.