harish.jonnalagadda@futurenet.com (Harish Jonnalagadda)
2024-09-14 00:33:35
www.androidcentral.com
UGREEN makes the best GaN chargers, and the brand is slowly building out a good portfolio of power banks. I used the 145W power bank over the course of the last year, recently switching to the terrific 300W power bank with a massive 48000mAh battery. UGREEN’s latest products in this category are branded in the Nexode series, and they may just be its best products yet.
There are three products in the Nexode Power Bank series: the base model has a 12000mAh battery and goes up to 100W, and is a decent value at just $39 on Amazon. The mid-tier offering is a 20000mAh power bank with dual USB-C ports alongside a USB-A port, and it goes up to 130W and retails for $69.
The version that I’m looking at is the 25000mAh option; it has two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, and it can hit 200W when both USB-C ports are in use. The 25000mAh power bank costs $99, and UGREEN is effectively trying to undercut its rivals.
UGREEN’s initial power banks had a traditional design, but the Nexode Power Bank switches to a sleeker design that’s much more portable. The rectangular chassis makes it highly convenient to carry the power bank, and at 609g, it isn’t that heavy either. The power bank consists of five 5000mAh cells housed within the chassis, and there are the usual safeguards against overcharging and overheating.
The chassis itself is made out of plastic, and the build quality is fantastic — I didn’t see any issues in the month I used the power bank. The only issue I have in this area is that the back and side — where the charging ports are located — have a plain black design instead of the grey color scheme, and this deters from the overall effect. Outside of that, the design is similar to what Anker offers on its Prime series, and it’s great to see other brands switching to this aesthetic.
I also like that the power bank has rubber feet on one side, ensuring it doesn’t slide on a desk. This makes a noticeable difference when plugging in a cable, and it’s a decent addition. There is a power button on the side that activates the TFT panel, and you can see the battery level of the power bank, real-time charging status of each port, and remaining charge time.
I’m a big fan of chargers and power banks with built-in power meters, and it’s great to see UGREEN going this route. The charging details highlighted on the TFT panel are accurate — I corelated the values with the Power-Z KM003C charging tester — and it’s always interesting to see just how much power is going to a device in real-time.
If you need additional details, pressing on the power button once again shows a volt/amp indicator, and this is particularly useful with phones to see how charging speeds change over time. The 25000mAh battery is more than adequate to charge just about any device — including notebooks — and the best part is that the main USB-C port goes up to 140W.
The Nexode Power Bank is decent if you need to charge two devices at once; you get a 200W power budget — 100W out of each USB-C port — and that makes it highly convenient to charge a phone and a notebook simultaneously. I used the Nexode Power Bank with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Vivo X100 Ultra, Honor Magic V3, Steam Deck, iPad Pro, and dozens of accessories over the last three months, and it has been reliable.
My usage of power banks in general has increased this year, and after a few dozen charge cycles, the Nexode Power Bank delivered the same efficiency numbers, so there are no issues in this area. In fact, the only problem I have with the power bank is that the USB-A port is limited to 22.5W; that limits its usability significantly, and with other power banks now going up to 65W over USB-A, UGREEN needs to do the same.
Another limitation is that the power bank charges at 65W; it takes well over three hours to charge the internal battery, and UGREEN should have included the ability to charge the battery at 140W. The USB-C ports rely on the USB 3.1 PD standard, and I’m sharing a rundown of the power profiles:
- USB-C1 out (140W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/5A (100W), 28V/5A (140W)
- USB-C2 out (100W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/5A (100W)
- USB-A out (22.5W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2A (18W), 12V/1.25A (18W), 10V/2.25A (22.5W)
- USB-C1/C2 in (65W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/3.25A (65W)
- USB-C1 + USB-C2 out (200W Max): 100W + 100W
The huge 25000mAh battery combined with 200W power budget makes it one of the best power banks around, and I like the changes to the design — the power bank has much better portability now. The USB-A port is limited in its usability and the power bank takes a long time to charge its internal battery, but if you don’t mind those quibbles, the Nexode Power Bank is a terrific choice.
UGREEN Nexode 25000mAh Power Bank
The Nexode 25000mAh Power Bank has a much better design than its predecessor, and you get a TFT panel with real-time charging info, and a massive 200W power budget.
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