Introduction

Chargeasap is a Sydney-based consumer electronics startup founded in 2016, with charging devices including wall chargers, power banks, and various cable accessories. It has gone the Kickstarter route for both funding and marketing purposes with a satisfactory enough history to where, when the company approached me about doing a similar article for its latest and greatest entry into the GaN charger world as the one done recently for the Ugreen Nexode 140W, I agreed to do so.

GaN, or Gallium Nitride, chargers are quickly gaining popularity owing to more efficient charging in terms of lower heat generation and associated lost power. This in turn allows for these chargers to be smaller in size compared to more standard silicon-based charging devices or go the route of higher capacity in the same footprint. In a world where Type-C charging is increasingly becoming common for phones and laptops alike, having the ability to use a single, compact charger is certainly an attractive option. There are two types of such chargers on the market in the form of desk chargers that connect to the AC mains via a cable and plug similar to the Kovol Sprint 120 W we previously saw, or wall chargers that directly plug into the AC mains, as is the case with this Chargeasap Zeus 270 W unit, that prides itself on being the world’s smallest such charger to pack as much concurrent charging capacity. It’s currently up on Kickstarter as of the date I write this article, and thanks again to Chargeasap for providing a sample to TechPowerUp!

Packaging and Accessories

The Chargeasap Zeus 270 W wall charger ships in a black cardboard box as seen above. On the front is the company logo and product name along with a render of the charger and salient marketing features. More such features and product specifications are shown on the back, where we also find out the charger isn’t region-specific either! There is also clear compatibility listed with various other vendors devices be it smartphones or laptops, and the sides have contact information for the company along with confirmation of the single year of warranty provided, which I would like to see increased.

Side flaps help keep the contents in place during transit, and opening the product box reveals an inner packaging that is once again composed of cardboard and has compartments to neatly house the charger and various other accessories provided. I appreciated that the charger unit comes inside a wax paper wrap to keep it clean and dust-free out of the box, the different wall adapters also do the same. Chargeasap gives you three extra adapters here, including the larger UK version that I will be using, to make it handy for travelers to take the Zeus 270 W along with the relevant adapters for an easily portable charging solution. The drawstring carry pouch comes in handy here too, although I will note that the company does not provide any USB cables with the charger. Knowing how most USB cables on the market aren’t rated for such higher power transmission over Type-C, this means you will have to procure your own from a trusted source.

Closer Examination and Testing

The Chargeasap Zeus 270 W is easily the smallest wall charger I have seen to date that packs this much power at the same time. It measures in at 90 x 42 x 50 mm to where the company is able to claim this is the world’s smallest 270 W charger, and it certainly makes my Dell 240 W laptop power supply seem outright gigantic and ancient looking by comparison. At 320 g in mass, it does feel quite solid in the hands but it’s still 40-50% lighter than equivalent silicon-based charging units. The enclosure is a smooth white with a light glossy finish applied to the polycarbonate so it will also be more resistant to daily use and not show scratches easily either. On both of the wider sides we see the Chargeasap logo for branding purposes.

The input side comes with the US-style 2-prong wall adapter plug pre-installed. The prongs are folded to be in-line with the body so as to make it more convenient for travel, and can be easily pulled out for use as seen here. This is one of four travel adapters you get and can be pushed out from the rails it is installed on to allow the use of other wall adapters. Note that the others are not as travel-friendly, and certainly not the bigger 3-prong UK plug adapter that installs sideways. The opposite side hosts the output in the form of four USB ports—one Type-A and three Type-C that come marked for easier identification, to know which is the more capable in terms of power output. The Type-A port alone provides up to 36 W to make it more powerful than the vast majority of USB chargers on the market, and then we get to the Type-C ports that range from 100 W to a whopping 140 W. This means you can power up to four devices simultaneously or even three laptops at the same time off this relatively small charger! What distinguishes the Chargeasap Zeus 270 W further is the 0.91″ color OLED display that provides real time information about the power output.

Seen above is the Chargeasap Zeus 270 W next to the Ugreen Nexode 140 W, both of them being wall chargers. The latter is region-specific and has a lower total capacity, but comes with a nice USB cable. Both also share a single 140 W Type-C port but the Zeus 270 W is more user-friendly for reasons previously discussed. It’s also easier to travel with owing to the better distributed mass and how the wall adapters do not jut past the body of the charger itself.

I’ve discussed the benefits of GaN—gallium nitride—over silicon for charging units before. But as a reminder, GaN is simply more efficient due to being a wider bandgap (~3.4 eV) semiconductor compared to silicon (~1.1 eV) meaning it can withstand higher operating voltages and temperatures, given the lower energy loss from electrons transitioning from one band to another. There are minor heat-related losses of course, so I was hitting ~90-92% output efficiency out of the unit even in the colder UK ambient. But this is a vast improvement over the ~85% equivalent efficiency from the silicon chargers tested! I’d certainly take a GaN charger for daily use, given these newer chargers are capable of faster charging in a smaller space while also being rated for even higher temperature thresholds and are somewhat overbuilt with onboard sensors. Chargeasap uses four Navitas GaNFast power ICs that help reduce any processing lag time when switching outputs or adding/removing some, in addition to graphene cooling pads for better heat dissipation.

The integrated OLED display is more useful than I originally anticipated, especially when charging devices to see the real time power metrics in watts, volts, and amps. A fast-charging status indicator (lightning bolt) also comes up when applicable. This display is updated 5 times each second and that’s enough in my books to see also how my various devices charge, as well as to see which output ports are better used with what device. I wish I had a laptop capable of 140 W charging over Type-C but I suppose the charger does the job as promised. Power distribution over the four ports is also seen above wherein you see the 270 W max output comes in only with the three Type-C ports in simultaneous use—the USB Type-A port nerfs the Type-C2/C3 ports, so be sure to charge your primary component off the USB Type-C1 port. Pushing the unit as much as possible still kept it cool enough to where thermal throttling was clearly a non-issue, although it does get warm to the touch—not uncomfortably so but just goes to show there’s only so much you can do when you pack in so much in a small size. On the other hand, this is a wall charger so it’s unlikely you will ever notice the unit getting warm in the first place. If the feature set of the Chargeasap Zeus 270 W wall charger appeals to you, then you can find it on Kickstarter for $119-129 down from the planned retail price of $219. The crowdfunding campaign lasts through Sat, January 7 2023 with an estimated shipping date of May 2023.