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Aug 21, 2023

Baseus GaN5 Pro, PowerMega & 160W Car Charger Review

Most smartphone brands have stopped bundling chargers inside the box. So whether you picked up the latest iPhone or Galaxy Fold, you will have to purchase a separate charger. Given how most modern-day

Most smartphone brands have stopped bundling chargers inside the box. So whether you picked up the latest iPhone or Galaxy Fold, you will have to purchase a separate charger. Given how most modern-day laptops also have USB-C charging, it makes sense to get an adapter that can handle all your charging needs. This way, you will only need to carry a single charger to juice up your phone, laptop, and even accessories.

While there are several options in the market for multi-port travel adapters, I used the latest offerings from Baseus that promise high power in a small form factor. The Baseus PowerMega is a 140W charger with three ports that’s a great fit for your desk. On the other hand, the GaN5 Pro is a slim 65W adapter that’s a perfect travel companion. Speaking of traveling, the 160W car charger ensures you never run out of power on road trips.

I’ve been using all three accessories mentioned above for the past couple of weeks. Here’s how they’ve fit into my everyday life along with my opinion about whether or not you should buy them.

The Baseus PowerMega adapter can be used as a travel charger thanks to its compact form factor and foldable prongs. However, I’ve been using it as an all-in-one charging solution on my desk.

I use a MacBook that uses a USB-C charger. Hence, the first port on the adapter is occupied by my Mac’s MagSafe cable. In the second port, I have a standard USB-C to C cable that Baseus includes in the box. This is used to charge my phone when I’m working at my desk. As for the third port — which is USB-A — I’ve hooked up a wireless charger that rests on the desk. This one charges my AirPods or my secondary phone — an iPhone 13 mini at the moment.

With the abovementioned setup, the 140W output from the Baseus PowerMega gets split among all three ports in the following proportion –

I’m glad Baseus has allocated a fixed 100W to the primary USB-C port. My MacBook Pro 14 can go from 20% to 100% in about 1 hour and 30 minutes — even with other devices connected. While the secondary port isn’t fast enough to charge my Galaxy S23 Ultra at full speed, it’s still quick enough at 20W. In fact, if you have an iPhone, you can fast-charge it even when charging other devices using the accompanying ports.

If you happen to have a third phone or an accessory, the USB-A port’s 18W output supports QuickCharge 3.0. Now of course, if you only connect a single device to the primary USB-A port, you can enjoy the full 140W output. That unlocks the complete potential of the Baseus PowerMega in terms of fast charging.

For example, my MacBook Pro charged from 10% to 100% in 1 hour and 10 minutes when charging at 140W. That’s 20 minutes faster while charging 10% more of the battery. So if you’re in a hurry, a quick 30-minute charge should last you a while. Moreover, phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra that support 45W PD charging can charge at full speed when using a single port.

It’s worth noting that the Baseus PowerMega charger gets a little toasty when outputting at its full potential. However, that’s standard behavior for most GaN chargers of this size and output power.

Apart from charging speeds and numbers, there are a few other aspects of the Baseus PowerMega adapter that may influence your buying decision. For starters, the adapter is slim so it doesn’t block neighboring outlets on a power strip. The power brick feels solid and gives off a reassuring feel.

There is an LED on the top-left corner of the charger to indicate the charging status. While this is handy, I found it to be particularly annoying if you plan on keeping the adapter on your bedside table. Baseus could have repositioned the LED or simply done away with it. This is a minor inconvenience but one that’s worth mentioning.

With tons of charging adapters from multiple competing brands like Anker, Nomad (see Nomad 30W and 65W GaN power adapter review), and UGREEN, it’s difficult for a particular charger to stand out. While brands like Shargeek are doing so with a unique design, Baseus has opted to play the price game. The PowerMega adapter is more affordable compared to most 3-port GaN chargers available in the market.

Buy

So if you’re looking for a high-quality, affordable adapter that can charge all your devices at once, the Baseus PowerMega is an excellent travel companion. It’s the only charger you need to carry in your backpack. And given how small and light it is, your shoulders will thank you.

The PowerMega multi-port brick is a charging powerhouse. While it’s plenty useful, everyone may not have such high requirements. Another thing to note is that despite being lightweight, it’s not the thinnest adapter out there to carry around. That’s where the GaN5 Pro flat USB-C charger comes in handy.

As the name suggests, it has a slim and flat form factor which means you can fit the charger into tight spaces where generic adapters cannot. It’s only slightly thicker than a modern-day smartphone so if you have an outlet behind a table or beside a shelf/cupboard, the GaN5 Pro is the perfect fit (quite literally).

While the form factor is impressive, the charger also needs to be good at what it’s primarily intended to do — charging. The max output of the GaN5 Pro Flat Charger is 65W. However, you can only achieve that when using the solitary USB-C port onboard. If you also decide to keep the USB-A port busy, here’s what the split looks like –

This is where I was slightly disappointed with the GaN5 charger. The combined output when using both ports is just 45W. However, given that the charger is capable of outputting 65W of power, I would have ideally liked the split to be 45W+20W.

If that was the case, you could charge both a laptop as well as a smartphone simultaneously. But with the existing split, you can only charge two smartphones or a smartphone and an accessory. And that’s not very ideal for a travel charger.

With the combined output, my Galaxy S23 Ultra could only charge at 25W resulting in a charging time of over 1 hour and 40 minutes from 10-100%. If the split was 45W+20W, the charging time would be down to 1 hour and 15 minutes — something you can achieve when using only the USB-C port on the GaN5 adapter.

Speaking of charging speeds, my 14-inch MacBook Pro took about 2 hours to charge from 10-100% when using the 65W output. Whether you’re using just a single port or both of them, you can use the Baseus GaN5 Flat charger to fast-charge your iPhone at 20W. This means you can use the adapter next to your bedside table to charge your iPhone along with your Apple Watch or any other accessory.

The reason why I recommend using the GaN5 Pro adapter next to you at night is that while the same LED from the PowerMega adapter makes a return, it’s much softer in intensity. So even with the LED turned on, it’s not disturbing in the dark.

Baseus has also used rounded edges and a better design when building the GaN5 Pro as opposed to the PowerMega adapter. These are welcome changes that make the charger a great fit for traveling. It slips into pretty much any compartment of your backpack. Heck, you can even slide it into your denim pockets if you’re heading out and running low on battery.

Along with foldable prongs, another intelligent design choice made by Baseus is the placement of ports. Since both ports are positioned at the bottom of the charger, there is no protrusion in front — making it easier to use the adapter in tight spaces.

If you’re specifically looking for a slim and light travel adapter, the Baseus GaN5 Pro Flat wall charger is a good option that doesn’t cost a fortune. However, a caveat of note is that you cannot charge a laptop and a smartphone simultaneously using the device.

Buy

So if that’s not a deal-breaker for you, and you want a charger that fits into tight spaces, you should definitely consider getting the Baseus GaN5 Pro 65W Flat charger.

This is my favorite accessory of the bunch. While most car chargers I’ve used cap out at 20-30W, this one from Baseus can hit an insane max wattage of 160W.

And the best part is there’s no loss of energy even if you’re using all the USB ports onboard.

As a result of this, you can charge a full-fledged laptop in your car along with a smartphone and a tablet or accessory of your choice. Or if you’re out on a road trip with friends and family, you can fast-charge three phones at max charging speeds. Here’s what the charging split looks like on the Baseus 160W car charger:

During my usage, I primarily connected my MacBook Pro during my commute to the first USB-C port on the Baseus car charger. In a short commute of about 30 minutes, my Mac charged from 30% to 70%. While this is pretty standard for a wall adapter, it’s crazy to think that the charging was taking place inside a car.

On days when I didn’t need to juice up my Mac, I plugged in my Galaxy S23 Ultra to the primary port. When I began charging, the phone was sitting at 61%. And at the end of my 45-minute commute, the phone was fully charged. That’s certainly impressive!

Even if you’re charging your Mac at 100W, the secondary USB-C port can output at 30W. While that’s insufficient to charge the S23 Ultra at max speed, it’s certainly good enough to fast-charge an iPhone. The USB-A port is no slouch either. Its 30W output can easily power a dashcam or a wireless car charger.

Despite having a high power output, the Baseus 160W car charger has the form factor of pretty much any car charger. The stem section is matte with the top surface flaunting a glossy finish. Baseus has used quality materials in the construction of this car charger as the build feels reassuring.

The Baseus 160W charger is also one of the very few car chargers with Qualcomm QuickCharge 5.0 support. That brings me to an extremely important point — how safe is it to use a 160W charger in your car? You must be wondering if it affects the car’s battery or your gadgets in any manner. After a bit of research, here’s what I found.

Turns out, when your car’s engine is running, the Baseus car charger doesn’t use the car’s battery at all. Instead, it uses something known as the alternator which basically generates power via the engine. And that’s completely safe. But, if you use the charger with the car turned off, there’s a chance your car battery may drain out soon.

I guess this is why Baseus’ website also recommends connecting devices to the charger after you’ve turned on your car’s ignition.

Just like all of its other products, the Baseus 160W car charger is relatively affordable. It’s slightly more expensive than generic car chargers that output 20-30W of power. However, it offers close to 5X the output power of such car chargers. That makes the extra few bucks completely worth it, in my opinion.

Buy

If you’re like me and forget to charge your laptop the previous night, the Baseus 160W car charger will allow you to top up your computer on your way to work. It’s also a must-have on road trips since you can charge multiple devices simultaneously.

After using these three products from Baseus on a regular basis, I can say with some authority that the brand makes some high-quality accessories. Whether it’s the PowerMega 140W adapter or the 160W car charger, Baseus usually provides excellent value with its accessories — without compromising on quality.

So if you’re in the market for a new charger, you can definitely consider products from Baseus. I would personally recommend the PowerMega charger for your desk and the 160W car charger for your car.

Last updated on 08 August, 2023

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Sumukh has been simplifying tech for the masses and helping consumers pick the right gadgets with his in-depth insights and reviews. He decided to hide his engineering degree in the closet to pursue his passion for writing. Over the past 5 years, he has contributed with guides, reviews, and detailed opinions to notable publications like TechPP and XDA-Developers. When not jamming his fingers on thoccy mechanical keyboards, Sumukh is busy convincing people how VR Gaming is the next best thing after sliced bread.