Satechi ChargeView 240W charger
pros and cons
- Six ports, two of which are 140W capable.
- The display is nice, clear, and easy to read.
- It’s very compact and can go vertical or horizontal.
- There’s no USB-A port (if that’s your thing).
- There’s no option to leave the display on.
- There’s no internal temperature reading.
on Google.
Chargers are the lifeblood of modern tech, and things have moved along a lot since the days of the small USB-A wall wart that could push out half an amp of power. Nowadays, we want a charger that has multiple ports and can handle hundreds of watts of output.
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Handling all that power means that there’s a lot of effort put into safety and cooling, so modern chargers have a lot of technology built into them to handle this. Then there’s the issue of keeping the user in the loop. When you’re charging multiple devices, it’s good to keep an eye on whether everything is charging as it should.
After all, you might have used a damaged cable or one that’s not as fast as it should be.
You need less of a charger and more of a charging station or, if you want to be fancy, a charging computer. And this is exactly what the Satechi ChargeView 240W charger
The younger, bigger sibling
The ChargeView 240W is a follow-on from the smaller 4-port ChargeView 140W, and it carries forward everything that was good about the 140W version and brings even more to the table.
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A problem I have with many high-power desktop chargers is that they are big, brick-like lumps that loom over your desk. Take the Ugreen Nexode 500W
I love the Ugreen Nexode 500W charger, but it’s a big, gray brick.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Also, while the Nexode 500W is a very capable charger, able to squeeze out more than twice the power of the ChargeView 240W, it has nothing in the way of an interface. There’s a light on it to show that it’s on, and there are a bunch of ports.
I’ve plenty of stories of plugging things into this charger only to find that they didn’t charge because I’d done something dumb, like not plugging the cable in right, or I’d charged something at super-slow speeds because I’d used some scabby old cable off my desk.
A cool screen
Where the ChargeView 240W excels is that it has a display that shows real-time data for each port. The display can be configured to show the power output for each port separately or the combined power output for all the ports.
But, and this is something some other makers would learn from, the display powers down after a minute of inactivity, only powering up again when you plug something in or press the button. So, you don’t have a screen facing you all the time (I know how my eye is drawn to any screen in the room, no matter how small).
If you’re 100% USB-C or you have an adapter, this charger has you covered.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
I’ve tested all the outputs, and the charger has no problem at all delivering full power.
And since I know that people will ask, yes, 70W is only half of the 140W that a modern laptop can draw, but it’s enough for charging and keeping a laptop topped up during a working day.
Advanced charging
Satechi has also packed this charger with the latest charging tech, with the two high-power ports supporting Power Delivery 3.2, a protocol that supports AVS (Adjustable Voltage Supply) alongside PPS (Programmable Power Supply).
Without boring you with the technical details, what this means is that no matter what device you plug into the charger, you get the best, fastest, and safest charge possible. It also means that it supports the fastest charging possible for the latest iPhone.
The remaining four ports all support Power Delivery 3.0 PPS, making them ideal for all your other power-hungry devices.
As with all modern chargers that have to negotiate power transfer speeds, when you plug in a new device to charge, it’s normal for charging to be temporarily interrupted for a few seconds. I know this worries a lot of people, but rest assured that everything is working the way it should.
Does it get hot?
The other thing that I get asked about a lot when it comes to chargers is heat. And given that I know just how hot some chargers can get, I understand why people worry about this.
Don’t need six ports? Pick up the baby 4-port version for $100, perhaps?).