Ugreen Nexode 300W desktop charger review

Most of us have so many different ways of charging our devices, numerous cables with different ratings, and wall chargers from various devices that all have different outputs and a limited number of ports. Most device manufacturers are now moving away from even including chargers with their products due to new charging regulations and the fact that our homes are already inundated with unnecessary chargers.

Thankfully there are ways to save yourself from this charging nightmare and combine all your charging needs into one device. Ugreen's 300W charger offers all the power you need to charge your devices as well as enough power to run the latest laptops and other energy-hungry devices in one compact little box. This sounds almost too ideal so what's the catch?

Ugreen Nexode 300W: Specifications

Max total output: 300W
Max Single port: 140W (USB-C 1), 100W (USB-C 2), 100W (USB-C 3), 45W (USB-C 4), 22.5W (USB-A)
Multiple port output: See chart below
Weight: 1054 g (including power lead)

Ugreen Nexode 300W: Key features

The headline feature of this Ugreen Nexode charger is its 300W total output, which makes it one of the most powerful chargers of its kind. This output is spread over its five separate ports made up of four USB-C ports with varying speeds, and a USB-A port suitable for older devices.

The top speed for any of the ports is at the top with a max output of 140W, which is fast enough to power even power-hungry laptops. This can also be used at the same time as a second 100W port, or the two 100W ports can both be used together for a 200W maximum output. The combinations can become a little confusing as you plug in more devices, so check out the diagrams in the above section to get a better idea of how much you can power at once.

The Ugreen Nexode 300W is powered by a mains cable that plugs into the rear of the device, which gives some freedom to position the charger a distance away from a socket on a desk or shelf. The Nexode 300W also comes with a USB-C cable capable of carrying up to 240W, which is too much even for this charger, but makes it a safe bet going into the future.

Ugreen Nexode 300W: Build & handling

There is no getting around the fact that the Ugreen 300W is quite a heavy little brick at over a kilogram in weight, I was actually a little surprised when I received the delivery and it turned out to be this charger, as I wasn’t expecting it to have such heft. While you could throw it in a bag alongside its long charging lead and move it from place to place, you probably wouldn't want to do that on a regular basis. The charger is best left to sit comfortably on a desk or next to a bed and stay put.

On a flat surface, the charger has little rubber feet on the bottom which combined with its weight, stops it from sliding around when you are trying to insert or remove the USB cables from the ports which is very useful as I like to tidy my cables away at the end of the day.

The overall design is very nice and fits in alongside Ugreen's house style of sci-fi-esque gunmetal peripherals. Despite the charger being heavy, it is actually quite compact and won't take up much room on your desk or make too much of a statement. The Nexode charger has a metallic-looking finish that has a smooth texture and pretty minimal branding. On the front, there are five ports, four USB-C and one USB-A which stands out the most with its little purple detail. The three fastest ports on the charger have the max speed marked underneath, which is very useful when it is near impossible to keep track of all the potential charging speeds of the various ports in different combinations.

Compared to the most powerful MacBook chargers from Apple itself, this whole charger is not much larger while also offering four more ports. The charger is powered by a two-meter-long cable, which gives plenty of room to stretch the main charging body away from a distant plug socket. The charger comes with one 1.5m USB-C to USB-C cable in the box, which is one of Ugreen's nylon braided cables that feels really nice and more hard-wearing than the plastic ones and is rated for charging speeds of up to a whopping 240W.

Ugreen Nexode 300W: Performance

This charger packs some serious power from it's small size, the top port is capable of a huge 140W on its own, or using all three of the top USB-C ports you can get 100W out of each of them. This is incredible when the majority of chargers out there can't reach anywhere near 100W out of a single port.

And the power is real. I was using this charger to charge and power two MacBook Pros while in use photo editing, as well as powering my video call light, and charging my iPad, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel watch all at the same time. I actually struggled to push the charger all the way to 300W for long periods as my devices kept reaching full charge so quickly!

When it comes to whether this charger will improve your charging speeds, it's hard to say, as you need to be aware of your device's maximum charging speeds. An iPhone 14 Pro Max tops out at 15W, you can plug it into a 300W charger, but it won't charge faster than using a 30W charger. The Ugreen 300W charger is more about powering energy-intensive devices like laptops while charging the maximum number of devices at once as fast as possible, and for that feat, it does a truly excellent job.

Using the charger at maximum wattage over a long period did cause it to get reasonably warm, although I was actually very impressed by how well it managed temperature or dispersed heat, as I expected it to get much hotter when pushed. The heat never reached a level that concerned me, and I noticed no drops in power or cutoffs.

Ugreen Nexode 300W: Verdict

As more and more products switch to being powered solely by USB-C connection, as well as battery technology allowing devices to charge faster than ever before, products like the Ugreen Nexode 300W charger are becoming more of a necessary purchase.

This charger leads the pack and is capable of an astonishing combined 300W of charging power over its five USB ports. The Nexode 300W comfortably powered and charged every device on my desk including two MacBooks, phones, tablets, and of course, cameras. The charger gets a little warm, but not to concerning levels, and didn't cut out power once in testing. While you might find a lot of your devices can't currently make use of the full charging speeds that this Ugreen charger is capable of out of each port, you'll be future-proofed for when these devices come along, and the combined power means you can charge a lot at once.

The Nexode charger looks great, the downside is the charger is a little heavy and with its long power cable isn't the most convenient to move from place to place with, being much more at home as a permanent addition to your desk as a power hub.

Read more: check out our top picks for the best GaN charger in our guides. If you want to charge while on the move then you can also find out our choices of the best laptop power bank.