I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect travel charger to take with me on trips. When I travel, I usually take several pieces of gear with me and each needs to be charged somehow. My laptop for instance needs a fairly large charging unit, while my phone and tablet can use the same charger, but not at once, so I end up bringing two plugs. Then there are miscellaneous gadgets too and you’re probably seeing where I’m going with this. That’s why if you carry lots of gear and gadgets, you need a multi-unit charger like the Satechi 100W USB-C PD Compact GaN Charger. This unit is not only powerful enough to charge a laptop but is also able to fast-charge two devices simultaneously while also charging the third accessory.
First up, there is a version of this charger that has four ports, but I chose to go with the compact version mainly because it’s smaller and I don’t need four ports if I plan out my charging accordingly. The Satechi 100W USB-C PD Compact GaN Charger though isn’t exactly what I call small or light. It’s about the size of a bar of soap and weighs 11.2 oz. The heft however makes it feel very solid and seems to be really well made.
The outer shell is of a dark grey metallic look, but it’s made of plastic from the way it feels. There are rubber feet on one side that keeps the charger from sliding around when it’s laying on a table. And yes, I said table because this isn’t one of those chargers that plug directly into an outlet. It comes with a roughly 4-foot power cable that attaches to the rear. I like this layout because when you do plug your devices’ cables into this, the plug sits much closer to you and you get the extra length to play around with. Not only that, the power cable plays nicer with an outlet due to its smaller footprint.
While I do like and appreciate the design and looks of the Satechi 100W USB-C PD Compact GaN Charger, it’s the adaptive charging USB-C PD ports that got me interested. This charger can charge one device at 100W. If you charge two devices on both USB-C PD ports, one becomes 60W and the other becomes 30W. The USB-A port only charges at a max 12W. If you use one of the USB-C PD ports and the USB-A port, you get 100W on the USB-C and still 12W on the USB-A. You can plug three devices at once if you were wondering at 60W + 30W + 12W.
Basically, this is enough power for me to charge my laptop, my smartphone, and whatever other accessories I need. If you want to charge your Nintendo Switch, however, you’ll need to use one of the USB-C PD ports.
So is the Satechi 100W USB-C PD Compact GaN Charger right for you? That’s up to you to decide but I can tell you that this is now my go-to travel charger on trips. This replaces all my individual chargers and all I need with me now is the Satechi Compact Charger and some cables and I’m good to go. The Satechi 100W USB-C PD Compact GaN Charger is definitely something you want to keep in your travel bag.
