We’ve tested the Zeus, a compact GaN power adapter from Chargeasap equipped with four fast-charging USB ports providing 270 watts of total power output.
- The new USB-C power adapter from premium Australian brand Chargeasap claims to be the world’s smallest 270-watt GaN charger. Dubbed the Zeus, it’s got three USB-C ports and one USB-A port for compatibility with older devices.
- With up to 270 watts of total power output, the Zeus can quickly juice up four high-powered devices simultaneously, including a 16-inch MacBook Pro (140W), an M2 MacBook Air (67W), a 12.9-inch iPad Pro (20W) and your iPhone. The charger is compatible with the USB Power Delivery protocol, letting it negotiate power requirements with host devices to protect their battery health.
- It’s got an OLED screen that displays stats. We liked its minimalist design and a white enclosure that’s smooth to the touch and rocks discreet orange accents.
Chargeasap unveils a 270W Zeus power adapter
The upcoming Zeus was fully funded on Kickstarter in just ten minutes following its November 8 campaign launch, which doesn’t surprise us having tested Chargeasap’s other crowd-funded accessories in the past.
We’ve tested a fully working handmade sample that sports the same technical specifications as the shipping version, minus minor cosmetic differences.
Aside from great design, you’ll immediately notice an OLED screen measuring 0.96 inches diagonally that displays the current power output in terms of watts, volts and amps. These stats are refreshed five times per second.
The charger uses the gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor material instead of silicon commonly found in your father’s bulky power adapters.
It’s equipped with the latest GaN chips that are one-tenth the size, allowing the Zeus to dissipate less heat, be more efficient and handle higher currents. It’s got not one, not two, not three but four of the latest GaN chips (Navitas GaNFast NV6127).
For those wondering, Ireland-based Navitas Semiconductor also supplies chips for Apple’s GaN charger and Ugreen’s Nexode series of GaN power adapters. The charger’s tiny circuit board is protected by thin high-density heat sinks and a graphene ribbon sheet that aids in heat dissipation and cooling.
GaN technology coupled with support for the USB Power Delivery protocol enables safety features like over-current, over-voltage, over-temperature and short-circuit protections. The charger’s polycarbonate shell is fire-resistant.
A pocketable power adapter
At just 90 x 42 x 50mm (3.54 x 2.17 x 1.96 inches), this thing is comparable to a box of mints—we’re talking very compact!. It’s portable enough to take on a work trip, pop into a cabin bag or slip into a briefcase on the commute.
The whole thing weighs in at 320 grams, which works out to about 0.7 pounds. This makes the 270W Zeus 45 percent lighter than its closest competitors like the less-powerful Hyperjuice 245W GaN charger (528g or 1.28lb) and Ego-Exinno’s 240W power adapter (410g or 0.9lb). Apple’s own GaN power adapter is a bit bulkier and lighter (227g or 0.5lb) but only has one USB port and maxes out at 140W.
Three USB-C ports and one USB-A port
With three USB-C ports and one USB-A port (compatible with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. protocol), the Zeus charges your laptops, smartphones and USB devices such as AirPods, the Apple Watch, drones, DSLR cameras and so on.
The first USB-C port is capable of outputting up to 140 watts of power, which is enough to fast-charge Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro (140W) or Dell’s 17-inch XPS (130W) laptop from dead to fifty percent in under thirty minutes. Or, you could charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro and two 13-inch MacBook Pros simultaneously.
The remaining two USB-C ports are rated at 100W each—enough to charge two M2 MacBook Air notebooks (35W each). The remaining USB-A port can be used to fast-charge your iPhone or iPad (20W). This is the first power adapter we’ve tested that can fast-charge a total of four devices simultaneously!
270W of total power shared across ports
Here are the technical specifications of the ports:
- USB-C #1: 140W, 5~15V⎓3A / 20~28V⎓5A (PPS: 5~21V⎓5A)
- USB-C #2: 100W, 5~15V⎓3A / 20V⎓5A (PPS: 3.3~21V⎓5A)
- USB-C #3: 100W, 5~15V⎓3A / 20V⎓5A (PPS: 3.3~21V⎓5A)
- USB-A : 36W, 4.5⎓5A / 5V⎓~4.5A / 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 12V⎓3A
Like with other multi-port chargers, total power output (270W) is shared intelligently across the available ports on the fly. As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to plug the most power-hungry device into the first USB-C port (140W).
Nice touch: Worldwide compatibility
The Zeus ships with a 2-way foldable US prong in the box, which allows you to adjust the prong between 90° or 180° angle. This is a nice touch as it gives you the flexibility to use the Zeus with both vertical wall plugs and horizontal floor plugs.
But what if you don’t live in the United States? Thankfully, Chargeasap has included international adapters so you can use the Zeus in any country. Simply pull out the US plug and slide the correct adapter into place and you’re good to go!
Our take: A charger for work-from-anywhere culture
Apple devices like iPhones and iPads increasingly ship without power adapters, As a matter of fact, this is an industry trend that other companies have been embracing because it A) saves cost, and B) is better for the planet.
Having an all-around, pocket-sized power adapter that’s versatile enough to fit all your charging scenarios is essential in this day and age of work-from-home and work-on-the-go cultures. As the number of devices we use rapidly increases, charging them quickly is paramount because you don’t want no downtime.
Like Apple’s original power adapters, the Zeus also supports fast-charging features of compatible iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. It’s the most compact 270W USB-C GaN charger and it certainly doesn’t hurt that it looks awesome. Coming from a brand you can trust, iDownloadBlog couldn’t recommend the 270W Zeus enough.
What we liked about the Zeus
We especially appreciated the following things about the 270W Zeus:
- High wattages across all USB-C ports
- Pocketable, light footprint
- Latest-generation GaN chips
- White and black matter versions
Pricing and availability
The new 270W Zeus from Chargeasap is available on Kickstarter, with the 60-day campaign concluding on January 7, 2023. The rewards start at $109 (£96), but the price will increase to $219 (£193) after the campaign concludes. Shipments are expected to commence in May 2023.
The Kickstarter page says the Zeus is only available in white but a company representative tells me they’re planning on offering a black version as well recent an internal survey showed it was the most popular color. Another thing that the survey showed is that a matte option was the preferred finishing so theyčll be making a black matte version of the Zeus.
This will be formally shared in the next campaign update.
Wait, did you say Kickstarter?
We’ve had some issues with Kickstarter projects before—that’s why we rarely feature interesting Kickstarter campaigns on the site. But when it comes to Chargeasap, this rule absolutely does not apply. The Zeus reached its funding goal in just ten minutes and is now well past $500,000 in pledges.
Over the years, this Sydney, Australia-based brand has successfully crowd-funded several products, including its powerful 25,000 mAh Flash Pro Plus graphene powerbank, the versatile Infinity Magnetic cables that can fast-charge and sync any device, as well as its Omega-branded portable GaN chargers.
Having tested those accessories in the past (and encountered no issues whatsoever), we can recommend Chargeasap products to anyone.