IOGEAR 60W GaN Charger Review | MacSources
Pacify your need for premium power with the portable/packable 60W GaN charger from IOGEAR.
According to Moore’s Law ( Gordon Moore, Founder of Intel 1965), the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, while the cost of computers is halved. Silicone-based technology has led this charge for the past 55 years, but as costs to innovate have increased, researchers have turned to newer technologies like Gallium Nitride (GaN), to drive further innovation. Tim Brookes, in his 1/20/20 article titled “ What is a GaN charger and why will you want one? “ discussed that the new GaN materials should allow for smaller sizes, higher voltages, and more efficient charging blocks. If you have a moment, I would highly encourage you to read that article to learn more about the origin/benefits of GaN technologies. As an example, I was unaware that this tech originated in the production of white then colored LEDs, and Blu-Ray lasers. IOGEAR has utilized the new technology to create an unbelievably small 60W GaN charger.
The IOGEAR Gear Power Smart USB-C GaN Charger arrived in a 4 3/8 inches wide by 5 3/8 inches tall by 1 15/16 inches thick retail package. Along the top right of the black-colored cover panel, you will find the company name in bold white font. Along the center, you will find the product name with a splash of lime green color. The main focal point of the panel was the 2 inches long, oblique image, of the white-colored 60W GaN IOGEAR charger. Rotating the box, I found the top, side, and bottom panels had the same lime green color as the embellishments on the cover. The top panel housed the clear product hanging tab, while the right panel provided a trilingual bulleted description of the Requirements (Standard Wall Power Socket, USB-C charging cable for your USB device (not included), Package Contents (1 x GPAWC60W, 1X Warranty Card), and the 1 Year Limited Warranty ( www.iogear.com). The lime-colored left panel repeated the IOGEAR total and the GearPower SmartUSB-C 60W GaN Charger information, while the bottom panel provided a legalese warning to the consumer, the product model, “Made in China,” and an SKU barcode. Turning to the black-colored back panel, I found the same company name/title as the cover panel. Just beneath the title, I found a cartoon drawing of the 60W USB-C charger (5V/3A, 9V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/3A) and a trilingual description of the features: 1. Charges mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. 2. PD 3.0, BC1.2 Smart charging. 3. Compact and more efficient GaN technology. 4. Intelligently detects power needs. Lastly, along the bottom of the panel, you will find many of the standard product manufacturing labels and additional legal information.
I opened the top of the packaging and removed the large clear plastic tray with IOGEAR GaN charger. The 3.59-ounce white-colored charging brick measured 2 1/8 inches long by 1 3/8 inches wide by 1 9/16 inches tall. The front panel of the charging brick had a single USB-C output port, while the grey IOGEAR name was screen printed onto both of the white side panels. The top panel was left unadorned and the bottom panel displayed the company name, product name (60W GaN Charger), Input 100V-240Vac 50/60Hz 1.5A Max, Output USB-C 5V/9V/15V/20V-3A, and several product manufacturing labels. The rear panel had a retractable type A wall plug offset toward the bottom of the panel. When plugged into a standard wall outlet, the design of the charger will allow you to access the other port. I plugged the IOGEAR GaN charger into my wall outlet, the USB-C end of my DROK USB-C Multimeter into the USB-C port, and then a USB-C to USB-C cable into my iPad Pro 11". Starting at 10% power at 9:08 PM, the multimeter read 15V/1.41A. I was pleased with the charging rate and found my iPad Pro 11" was at 28% by 9:25 PM, 34% by 9:30 PM, and 67% by 10:03 PM. For the next test, I plugged the USB-C into my Nintendo Switch and found the multimeter read 15V/1.2A. Similar to my experience with the iPad Pro 11″, I was pleased with the rate of charge.
With wall space at a premium, I typically need access to both of my outlets. I was pleased that the charger design allowed access to my second wall outlet, but I was a little disappointed that there was only a single output port. The 60W output was good enough to charge my iPad Pro 11" and Nintendo Switch. Interestingly, an article by 9to5mac compared a 60W charger to the 87W Apple charger and found the charging rate to be fairly compatible. I compared the IOGEAR 60W Charger size to an iclever 18W USB-C PD and found the height of each to be identical but the width was only half an inch larger for 60W GaN charger. I suspect over the next five to ten years that GaN chargers will replace silicone-based devices and will continue to follow Moore’s Law. I was incredibly impressed with the size and shape of the IOGEAR GaN charger and have added this to my every-day-carry bag. Combined with a USB-C to USB-C cable and USB-C to Lightning cable, this sub $40 charger is the only other device I need for my day-to-day charging needs.
Learn more about the IOGEAR GaN Charger.
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Originally published at https://macsources.com on June 23, 2020.
