Belkin BoostCharge Pro 140W 4-Port GaN Wall Charger review

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 140w GaN wall charger is a powerful and versatile charger that can charge multiple devices at once allowing you to save both space, power and time with a compact and fast charger. Let’s take a look at the charger today with a detailed in-depth review. Taking a look at the design, charging performance, efficiency and real-world use.

Exterior impressions

Belkin BoostCharge 140w GaN charger has four ports- three USB-C and one USB Type-A, and can charge up to four devices simultaneously. There are no introductions needed here, and is intuitive enough to literally plug-and-go as a charger. Also, it supports the latest PD 3.1 standards, providing up to 140W of total power in a single port. It also comes with interchangeable international plugs for travel convenience, more on that later.

Also, the charger is clad in matte white, giving it a modern and professional look. Its flat profile allows you to stow it without much obtrusions in a travel bag or laptop bag too. The packaging is simple and eco-friendly too, made out of 100% biodegradable materials. It comes in a larger than average box decked with Belkin’s iconic green and white print livery.

Practicality and new plug design

Furthermore, out of the box, this 140w charger is an improvement and is a souped-up version of the Belkin 110W charger we looked at previously with some smart redesigns. A new feature is interchangeable international plugs-heads built into the charger brick itself. You can use it in different countries without needing a separate adapter or cable.

The unit out of the box comes with a UK 3-pin plug head localised to your region. My unit comes with Type-G UK plug. This means it is a universal charger, able to accept different plug heads as well as allows for 110-240v input. Hence, you do not need a carry around separate extension cord plug cable now, being replaced with an integrated removable plug head. There charger does not come with any included USB cables in the box.

Integrated plug might not be for everyone

You can tell the BoostCharge 140w takes a design inspiration from Apple’s Macbook chargers, with the plug head attached to the charger body. This change is a mixed bag. Though this won’t be an issue if your charger permanently lives on your home desk as your primary charger unit. This where everything is exactly where you need it. But this is not so much when are travelling where you don’t always get a plug near a desk or table top in hotel rooms.

A convenience I saw with Belkin’s previous 110W GaN charger model is using a long “figure-8” C7-cable to bridge your charger from the wall plug to a desk/side table. This keeps the USB ports close to my end-use, allowing for shorter USB cables and allowing you to see and plug devices in-and-out into the right USB port based on your charging needs.

Now, having the charger unit stuck at the wall now means having to use long USB-C cables spanning to your intended point of use. This is problematic for short and fixed-length proprietary charging cables like those on Smart wearables and headphones. Unless you have an extension cord, often I left them charging on the floor by the wall plug instead.

Compact travel-friendly design

Anyway, back to the 140W plug heads. You can simply clip and release the plug head with a release button at the top. Do note that the fit can be rather tight and do take care on the sharp inside edge of the plug slot.

Initially, Belkin only includes one plug type out of the box localised to your region (e.g. UK 3-pin in Singapore). Belkin sells a separate pin head adapter plug which includes US and EU type ports and soon will have these included in the box with every 140W charger down the road.

The BoostCharge Pro is large by itself, having twice the footprint of a 65W laptop USB-C charger. But this is extremely small and compact for a 140W unit. It is slightly larger than the size of a deck of cards and weighs 360g. That’s about 100g more than the weight of an iPhone Pro Max. It is easy to carry around in a travel bag and use it anywhere you have a power outlet. This neat package beats lugging around 2-3 power adapters on your travels. One 140W charger is all you need to juice up your entire family devices overnight on a holiday trip.

One minor gripe I have is that the BoostCharge does has very few ports for such a high wattage charger. Though USB-C is the way forward for high powered charging, it can make do with more Type-A ports for legacy USB devices. I had problems having to charge on my travels my family of Garmin and HPB AXTRO Fit 4 Smartwatches, and Powerbank which only uses Type-A charging cables. This without having to resort to USB-C to Type-A adapter or USB splitters. It can sure make do with an additional Type-A output port.

GaN chargers revisited

Furthermore, the Belkin Boost Charge 140W GaN USB charger is a wall charger that uses gallium nitride (GaN) technology to deliver high power output in a compact design. It is an all-in-one charger for all your devices. In a nutshell GaN technology as a replacement for traditional silicon- based electronics. It allows for more densely packed electrical component due to their improved heat efficiency. This enables the use of smaller transformers and passive components.

Also, it allows for more powerful electronically components to be packed together in a smaller package. This results in more compact, travel-friendly designs allowing for faster multi-device charging at higher wattage output. This is as opposed to traditional Silicon-based chargers at a similar output wattage.

This relatively new technology which first saw its introduction into the manufacturing of LEDs. GaN is now making its way into mainstream consumer electronics for its efficiency properties. With electrical properties to handle higher voltages and temperatures than the traditional silicon used in most chargers. This means that GaN chargers can deliver more power and efficiency, while generating less heat and taking up less space. The benefit is smaller sized chargers with greater efficiency and power output to traditional silicon-based chargers.

Charging performance

The Belkin Boostcharge 140w GAN charger allows for rapid fast charging via four ports: three USB-C and one USB-A. You can use it to charge up to four devices simultaneously, such as laptops, phones, tablets, cameras, and more. The Boostcharge 140W would distribute the power among the ports according to the devices’ needs. Also, Belkin touts the charger has built-in protection against overcurrent, overvoltage, overheating, and short circuit. This coupled with an industry-leading 2 years walk in warranty to Belkin Authorized Service Centre by Ban Leong Technologies Limited.

Having said that, charging through the top most ports allows you to draw up to 140W from a single port. It is recommended to prioritise power-hungry devices to the first port. The charger supports the latest USB-C PD 3.1 standard. This means it can charge a MacBook Pro 16” from flat to 50% in 30 minutes and to full is just over an hour. It also supports fast charging of most PD3.1 (EPR) and PD3.0 enabled devices.

Also, if a second device is plugged into either the 2nd or 3rd USB-C port, the first port will be limited to 65W. If three devices are plugged into all USB-C ports, the 3rd port will output 20W, with the second port producing 45W and 65W on the first, totaling about 130W. The Type-A port outputs 12W constant which means is a 2.4Amp fast-charge port on 5-volts.

An efficient high wattage GaN charger

In my load and efficiency tests, an Ultrabook with a 50Wh battery is plugged into the first primary USB-C port. The first port output wattage is measured to be of 43.1W (at 16.8V), and able to charge the USB-C powered laptop from 58% to full in 35 minutes. Adding a second laptop with a 55Wh battery to the 2nd USB-C port charges from 25% to a 100% full in about 70 minutes, while drawing a slightly lower 37W from the port.

Maxing out the charger in our stress test and plugging in a third laptop onto the 3rd drew a much lower 11.2W at 11.53v from the 3rd port. For good measure, the last Type-A port is used to charge a 10k mAh powerbank, which drew about 5W constant. This gives a total power output of 96.3W across all 4 ports, with maximum of 115.2W drawn from the wall, and a corresponding efficiency score of about 83.6% port to wall.

Also, with all ports four loaded, it can get warm while charging. The Boostcharge never gets too warm to the touch maximum out at 55.9 deg C when charging through all ports. This is normal for GaN chargers, though prolonged high load charging is not recommend and may affect the longevity and efficiency of the charger. The charger’s large flat body surface area also helps for passive heat dissipation.

140W might not be for all

Larger numbers are always better right? But not when you can’t use all the power. It is also worth mentioning that I was not able to max out the 140W on the first port in my load test, where it could realistically deliver about close to 130W through a single port. This high output can only be achieved charging a single device through port one. Plugging in a second device on either USB port 2 or 3 will reduce the port 1 output to 65W maximum.

Also, it is noteworthy that with the exception of the MacBook Pro 16” which draws up to 140W via USB-C (which this charger is built for), there are very few devices or even large laptops which would charge via USB-C at the 140 wattage. 65-85W typical is usually the maximum used by most mid-range laptops and ultrabooks out there like the 13-inch MacBook Pro or the Lenovo T-series.

For instance my largest laptop available for testing is rated to consume a maximum only of about 65W when USB-C charging. This a wattage the Boostcharge would happily provide for within limits. Also, almost all Windows gaming laptops like those by Aftershock, Lenovo and HP which consumes over 100W typically uses their own barrel-pin style powerbrick, which you cannot charge via the Boostcharge USB-C ports.

Wrapping up

If you are looking to charge multiple devices in the quickest time possible, the Boostcharge 140W is a no-brainer. Having said that, if you have a Macbook Pro 15″ or 16″, this charger is your best bet as an all-in-one certified charger on top of the Apple standard box-included charger.

Though 140W might probably quite an overkill for most, especially if you have several low powered devices like Ultrabooks and iPad not consuming over 45W each. As such, maybe a 65-110W charger might be more appropriate for most users. Still, it might be a better futureproof choice if you are deciding a portable charger in the ~100W range.

Moreover, you do pay a premium for GaN chargers, and the Boostcharge is no exception. The Belkin BoostCharge Pro GaN 140W is priced at $189. It is more expensive than most silicon and GaN chargers watt per dollar. Still, you can snag sales where it can go as low as $155 when on sale on Belkin LazMall, Shopee Mall and Challenger online platforms.

Also, it does not come with any cables included in the box. Not a biggie, but you will need to buy your own certified USB-C or USB-A cables to use with the charger to get best performance. Belkin do sell such charging cables to go your your charger too which I recommend for maximum compatibility.

In conclusion

All in all, the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 140W 4-Port GaN Wall Charger is a powerful and versatile charger that can handle most of your charging needs. It comes with the bells and whistles expected of a quality product. It is fast, efficient, reliable and one of the fastest quality chargers you can buy. This especially to charge multiple USB powered devices like laptops, including the power-hungry 16-inch MacBook Pro, iPads, and Android phones at their maximum speeds.

The use of GaN technology and bundling in international plugs makes it one for the road warrior, and travel. Besides the high price, there is not much you can fault the Boostcharge. Overall, the Belkin boost charge 140w GaN charger is a great option for anyone who needs a lot of power and versatility in a single all-in-one charger.

Many thanks to Belkin for the opportunity to review the BoostCharge Pro 140W charger. As with all my reviews, manufacturers have neither editorial inputs to reviews, nor seen this review before it is released to you, my readers. Thanks for reading!