REVIEW – The Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger is currently a Kickstarter project with only a few days left for what they tout as the world’s first and smallest to provide 270W of power with USB-C. I got to review a pre-production model and was hoping this could replace all the extra charging blocks and power supplies I need when I travel. The short answer is it fits the bill for my needs perfectly. Keep reading to see if it will work for you.
What is it?
The Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger is a one-and-done USB-C charger for up to four devices at one time.
What’s in the box?
- The Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger
- 4 – plug converters (US/AU/EU/UK)
- Travel pouch
Hardware specs
- Size: 90 x 42 x 50mm / 3.5 x 1.7 x 2.0in
- Weight: 320g / 0.7lb
- Total Output: 270W
- Ports:
- 2 x USB-C 100W
- 1 x USB-C 140W
- 1 x USB-A 36W
- GaN chips: 4 x GaNFast NV6127 Navitas
- OLED display
Design and features
Disclaimer: Per the folks at Chargeasap, this is not a final production unit. The final version will have a matte finish due to a poll they took from backers. Next, this unit’s color is not a 100% match to the adapters. That will be fixed in the production run. Finally, the plug converters on the review unit are tighter and thus harder to remove than what Chargeasap wants to put out.
First thing I noticed when I took the Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger out of the box was its size. It’s slightly thicker than my few years old laptop’s power brick but shorter. I wouldn’t say it’s tiny but it’s not a behemoth either. It’s about the size of a juice box. It feels solid with a good weight to it.
The review unit is a glossy white color with minimal branding so it should match all the Apple products some of you have. They still use white chargers and cables, right?
The plug converters slide in and socket into good ol’ Zeus with no wiggle room whatsoever. We’ll have to wait and see how the final production version compares after the Kickstarter campaign.
On the business end of the Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger, you’ll see the OLED display and the 4 available ports, 3 USB-C and 1 USB-A. When you plug it in, the display lights up and briefly shows the company logo, then goes to the readout for the ports. The display starts with USB-A at the top and then works down from USB-C 3 to USB-C 1. I found the display a little confusing until I realized Chargeasap’s labeling scheme. Here you can see A1 P4 stands for USB-A 1, port 4, C3 P3 is USB-C 3 port 3, and so on. Each port displays the voltage, amperage, and wattage used by the device.
Chargeasap says the Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger can power 3 MacBooks at the same time and at full speed. I can validate that. I don’t have one MacBook, let alone 3. But it’s got 4 ports and can supply up to 270 watts of power, plenty of juice for me.
Performance
The Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger is perfect for my use case. I’ve recently started a new job and must travel at times. That means I need my laptop’s power supply, phone charger, reMarkable 2 charging source, and lithium battery charger. Now I only need Zeus with me to bring on the power. And with only one item to bring to charge my devices, it frees up some space in my backpack and reduces the likelihood of forgetting to pack one of them.
The charger worked well for me in the hotel room. It charged all my devices just fine and offers fast charging for devices, like my Pixel 7 Pro. It worked just as well on the job site when my laptop battery ran low. I was able to keep working using the Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger as my power supply.
What I like
- USB C charging
- Compact size
- Plenty of power
What I’d change
- Nothing
Final thoughts
The Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN USB-C Charger is just wanted I wanted in a travel charger. It has a small footprint and plenty of power. I can charge all my devices at once or allow others to charge theirs along with me. It’s my first GaN charger and is currently $119 on Kickstarter with 6 days to go at the time of writing my review. The final retail price will be $219. They have well-exceeded funding so rest assured this will be produced, with pledge fulfillment to begin in May. I can’t say how Zeus compares to other chargers of this nature or whether the price is justifiable. I know it will be a constant travel companion of mine for the foreseeable future.
Price: $119 for Kickstarter pledge, $219 retail
Where to buy: Kickstarter
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Chargeasap.
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They way they’ve implemented the interchangeable travel adapters is extremely dangerous, and likely illegal in a lot of countries. The adapter has prongs on it, and the charging brick has receptacles for those prongs – but it should be the other way round.
If you plug an adapter on its own into a power outlet, then you will electrocute yourself if you touch the prongs on it! You can clearly see the prongs on the adapters at the 4:08 mark in this review video:
https://youtu.be/V6JldPxfMTU?t=248
Also, looking at the comments on their Kickstarter campaign, there are a lot of complaints regarding their previous campaign, along with a lot of cancelled pledges.
This charger is a hard pass for me.
THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT! That hadn’t even occurred to me. I will certainly be on the lookout for those types of things in the future. I appreciate the education.
Thanks Kenneth – these things are very easy to miss. Of course, most people wouldn’t be silly enough to plug just the adapter into a power outlet, but you can be sure that there will be some who will… 🙄
As an electronics engineer I have to agree with Robert, when it comes to consumer goods you should not even have the chance of touching any live metal. I would also be a little concerned about the size and mass of the unit being a bit too much for plugging directly into a wall socket, it might droop out of the socket, or get knocked loose by someone passing by. For a $219 device, I would rather keep it out of harms way.
One way to solve both issues could be to use an IEC C8 port on the unit instead, which could then be used with any local flavour “Figure 8” cable you like. I still use an old 30W 4x USB supply that I originally bought for just this reason, so I can use a longer cable when travelling, in case the nearest wall socket wherever I am staying is not in a completely suitable place.
Just this. I originally bought the previous model from Chargeasap via Kickstarter, it arrived DOA.
After *six months* of complaining, including having to upload video of it not working, they reluctantly admitted it was broken – and then said it had been superseded by the Zeus, and would I like to pay £££ to upgrade.
I said yes (even though a free upgrade would have been a nice gesture in the circumstances).
So I got the new item, and it’s been fine – until the other day, when the earth pin on the UK adaptor sheared off (making both the unit and the socket useless).
I’ve contacted them to see if they can just provide me with a replacement adaptor. I expect it will take six months again.
In the meantime, I would advise anyone against purchase.
Go for one with an easily replaced lead.
I will pass their previous campaigns have produced vaporware
As a proud owner of the omega 200w charger that performs great and is a good charger to have, I can only assume the Zeus 270w charger is all that and plenty more since it’s got 35% more overall power wattage as well as having a 140w port which is 40% more power wattage than Omega’s 100w port. Additionally the Zeus has a 36w usb-a port vs Omega’s 22.5w which is a significant 55% more. And the Zeus has a OLED display which is good to have. And lastly, the Zeus is chargeasap’s flagship charger and a higher line charger than Omega, thus guarantees the Zeus is superior to the already great Omega and the Zeus is hardly any bigger or heavier than the Omega, so much so that they look practically identical.
Even without having owned chargeasap’s flagship Zeus 270w charger, I think I can say it’s a great charger to have if you have multiple power hungry devices and want them charged asap. You see, I’m the proud owner of chargessap’s former flagship charger, the omega 200w with 4 ports which is small, lightweight, easily portable and allows 2 plug in positions. I’ve owned it now for 3 months and it’s performed great and only barely gets warm when charging multiple devices simultaneously. So with that being said, you could say the Zeus is everything the omega is and quite a bit more since in addition to having all of omega’s wonderful features I listed, the Zeus also has 270w total, a 140w port capability and LED charging display all this while being virtual identical in size and weight vs the lesser powered omega 200w charger that’s already a great charger itself.