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What Is a GaN (gallium nitride) Charger, and Why Should You Buy One? (www.reviewgeek.com)

submitted 1 year ago by GadgeteerZA to c/technology

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When you’re on the hunt for a new USB power adaptor, you may come across a few options with gallium nitride (GaN) technology. These charging bricks tend to be a bit expensive. But due to their reduced size and increased charging ability, a GaN charger may be your ideal purchase. It could even help you save money in the long run.

Most USB chargers use silicon semiconductors. Gallium nitride (GaN) is simply a power-efficient alternative to silicon. It allows a charger to achieve small size without a reduction in charging speed or thermal performance. A GaN charger is ideal for travelling or powering several high-wattage devices, such as laptops.

With more and more laptops charging through USB-C, and more phones making use of ultra-fast charging, you'll start to notice that the silicon based chargers can get really hot during charging these devices.

Instead of buying a large silicon-based charger that only has two ports (with a shared throughput), you can buy a GaN charger with four, five, or even six high-speed charging ports.

#technology #chargers #GaN

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[–] ClassyHatter@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Some people use laptops for doing mobile work, and in some cases that work requires computing power and possibly external peripherals which might require power from the computer. And, of course, games are power hungry.

Higher wattage chargers can also charge the battery faster. Lithium batteries, regardless of their size, can be charged to full in one hour (but it's recommended for full charge to take about 1.5 to 2 hours to not wear down the battery). The bigger the battery the more wattage you need to charge it that fast. Especially if you are using the computer at the same time.