Being a gadget reviewer means I constantly have a rotation of devices that needs charging on my desk. The situation is exasperated by directives to work from home due to COVID. So where does the Satechi 108W Pro USB-C PD Desktop Charger fit into the plans?
A stocktake
My household consists of between 3 to 6 people depending on the week, COVID restrictions and Family Court Orders. Space is at a premium and it is a given that you just have to make do and share what is available.
This also means that my “office” is a corner of the lounge room, and the teenager doing remote learning is on the other side of my “office”. The conditions are definitely sub-optimal and we all co-exist, along with the toddler who can’t go to childcare and is prone to asking everyone to play with her.
My position is certainly not unique. There are many households using whatever flat surfaces available for home schooling and work from home. Everybody understands and are tolerant of the level of background noise in meetings.
For meetings that contains confidential or sensitive information, I grab my assortment of equipment, along with power bricks, chargers and whatnot, and sit on the floor of my kids’ bedroom where I can close the door.
First Impressions
It’s actually not small, the Satechi 108W Pro USB-C PD Desktop Charger measures in 12 x 8 x 3cm and a decent amount of heft. The unit has a metallic silver finish and a black fascia, certainly did not aim to make an outlandish statement with its looks. It is “corporate acceptable”.
Despite the metallic finish, the charge is made of hard plastic.
The black fascia is adorned by a blue LED status indicator, a pair of USB-C PD ports and a pair of USB-A ports.
In Use
I don’t think in this day and age, anyone is going to have trouble hooking up a charger. The power in uses a figure-of-eight socket which is common enough.
A quick glance at the front panel will remind you of the rated power of each Power Delivery port – one will fulfil up to 90W, and the other 18W. The two USB-A ports gives a combine 12W.
What can I say? The Satechi charger works really well. As I am writing my review up, it is charging up a Lenovo X1 and my Pixel 2XL concurrently. Both are slurping up juice at their fastest possible speed. On top of that I can easily plug in my keyboard to keep it going, without having to worry about the charger’s ability to meet my needs.
Not surprisingly, the unit does get a little warm when under load. It does not get above comfortable to hold level, and I would feel comfortable throwing it straight into my work bag when I need to bolt out the door.
Other Thoughts
The Satechi isn’t the most compact of chargers available. There are GaN types which have significantly smaller footprints.
I know travel is a bit of a pipe dream at the moment, and I certainly haven’t flown anywhere for a long time. Is the Satechi 108W Pro a travel charger? It will take up some weight and luggage space, but it will do the job and most importantly, less separate single port chargers to account for.
Gripes
What can I complain about? Just two things.
The blue indicator is BRIGHT. I might have to paint some Gunze Smoke Grey over the panel just to dial it down a bit.
I would happily swap out one of the USB-A ports for another USB-C.
Not a gripe but a point to note, at 90W it is just shy of the 96W charger Apple provides for their largest notebook.
Conclusions
I love how my work life can change with the Satechi 108W Pro USB-C PD Desktop Charger. When I have to decamp and work on the floor of the kids’ room, now all I need is this, a couple of cables. I don’t have to worry how to keep everything juiced up, and all I need is my cable bag and I am good to go.
Coming in at an RRP of $139.99, it is a worthwhile investment to reduce the number of chargers you need to have lying around or carry. It is not the lightest thing around, but having 4 ports available sure beats having to take and possibly misplace a whole bunch of disparate units. If you have a look on Amazon it appears at least one place have it at closer to $120 mark, otherwise Officeworks got you covered.
DRN would like to thanks Satechi for their on-going support.
