The three-age system categorizes the prehistory of humankind into distinct periods such as the stone age and the iron age. By the same measurement, some argue that what we are really in now is a plastic age. From a historical development standpoint, we are living in the digital age currently and this basically means that our generation heavily relies on electricity, is surrounded by IT stuff daily, and more often than not by various types of chargers.
Yet the days of carrying multiple chargers are just about to end, now that the GaN charger, which is capable of replacing multiple chargers, is getting popular at a much lower cost. Here, let’s ride on this development wave to find out ways to select well-received wholesale GaN chargers.
Table of Contents
Meet the future of chargers
Tips to select GaN chargers
Types of popular GaN chargers
Charge ahead
Meet the future of chargers
As the semiconductor world gradually bids farewell to the long-standing silicon, one of the most widely used materials for transistors over the past few decades has been gallium nitride, better known as GaN. This material is arguably much better than others for electronic components. And if we were to be entirely honest, the gallium nitride charger or GaN charger is hardly anything new. Apple’s first GaN charger, for example, was already released about a year ago, and even the earliest release of a 100W output GaN charger can be traced back to 2019.
However, it was not until recently that this product began to thrive. A plethora of new and existing companies gradually flooded the market with the release of a range of new models around the beginning of 2020, and their costs plummeted as they got more competitive. Since then, the global market for GaN-based power supply devices was anticipated to generate more than US$ 3 billion in revenue by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% over the course of a 10-years forecast period.
Another report, published in October 2021, went even further to forecast a whopping 52% market penetration rate for GaN solutions by 2025. Together with the market’s burgeoning supply of GaN chargers, the optimistic penetration rate and robust growth predictions effectively solidified the status of this product as the charger of the future.
Tips to select GaN chargers
Similar to selections for any other electronic devices, there are quite a few specification concerns to take note of when making a purchase decision for GaN chargers. The first fundamental issue that should be placed on top of such a checklist is the fast charging protocol or standard supported by a GaN charger.
There are currently more than 7 types of fast charging protocols available on the market, with some being strictly proprietary for certain brands/models only. To prevent compatibility issues, one may look at the Quick Charge (QC) and USB Power Delivery (USB-PD), the two most commonly found protocols. These are widely used by both Samsung and iPhone. And the good news is that there are also some GaN chargers capable of supporting multiple protocols now.
The fact that GaN components can withstand substantially higher voltages brings a tremendous advantage to GaN-based chargers. As a result, electrical current can pass through quickly compared to silicon-based devices, supporting much higher power output at a faster charging rate. Hence, with a wide range of power output supported by GaN chargers, it is important to determine the required matching power output for the targeted devices. Generally, the required power for most smartphones, tablets, and power banks ranges from 18W to 65W, whereas laptops normally start from 29W up to 100W.
At the same time, quicker processing of the GaN charger signifies that heat dissipation is virtually not an issue for it since it is so fast that it produces less heat. And now that the components may be placed closer together due to the reduced heat, a compact charger size that is generally well sought-after is possible. However, since most smaller chargers come with only 1 or 2 ports, a rather small charger also implies that the number of ports may be compromised. This is another consideration to take into account when choosing a GaN charger.
In addition, safety protection features that prevent overheating, overcharging, and short-circuiting as well as warranty support should be considered too for safe simultaneous charging of multiple ports.
Types of popular GaN chargers
GaN charger with high output
The delivery of high power output is probably one of the most impressive and alluring qualities a GaN charger offers. It optimizes the fast charging capability, enabling one to effortlessly fully charge a smartphone in just 17 minutes with a 100W GaN charger.
And the fact that the 100W charger has been around since quite a few years ago means that not only are we having many more choices for such high output GaN chargers now, but a much higher output such as a 130W GaN charger can be somewhat common nowadays. For example, a 150W GaN charger with four USB-C ports supports both PPS and QC protocols as shown in the picture below.
Meanwhile, as depicted in the picture above, it is important to note that the USB-C, similar to the old good standard USB-A port, is just a newer type of connector interface. Hence, it is completely common to find a GaN charger with both USB-A and USB-C connector ports together, even in an extremely high output charger such as this 200W GaN charger with four ports, which is specialized for PD and QC protocols.
In fact, apart from the standard USB-C and USB-PD confusion, another common concern about whether one can use a charger that has a higher output wattage than the device requires is technically not an issue either. This is because, in essence, almost every modern battery is equipped with a chip that regulates and accepts only the input that the battery is capable of handling. As a result, overcharging is uncommon. All the more so since most of the chargers are integrated with similar control features as well.
Mini GaN charger
While its power is being incredibly pumped up, its size, however, is being significantly reduced. As displayed above, a mini GaN charger may come with a single port and is available in a small pocket size. In fact, certain GaN chargers with similar finger-sized designs are also able to squeeze in two ports. One example is this dual-port 33W mini GaN charger.
Although it is also true that most of the mini GaN chargers possess lower power output compared to their bigger-sized counterparts, in case the need for a mini GaN charger with a higher power output arises, one can also check out a three ports mini GaN charger with up to 65W output, such as the one featured below.
Travel-ready GaN chargers
Another benefit of a GaN charger’s considerably smaller size is no doubt a far lighter weight, which is especially beneficial when it is used for travel purposes. Traditionally, a travel charger can be quite bulky and heavier than the usual charger, since it has to incorporate multiple international standard sockets to be compatible with outlets across different continents, such as those in Europe, China, Hong Kong, and the U.S.
However, with the availability of ultra-compact and lightweight GaN chargers now, multi-socket travel chargers can finally be less bulky, if not lighter, than other conventional chargers. Their compact size also means that they can now hold more ports even if it has a greater number of sockets and slide-out buttons than the typical standard chargers. For instance, most travel-ready GaN chargers have 3 ports, and some GaN chargers for travel may even support four ports or more, such as the one displayed below.
Charge ahead
Given the availability of more and more diverse GaN chargers with higher power output and at lower costs, the “future of all chargers” title seems set to be on its way to mark the evolution of GaN chargers. The three most popular GaN chargers that wholesalers should look at in 2022 are GaN chargers with high power output, mini GaN chargers, and travel-ready GaN chargers. Intrigued wholesalers may take advantage of the rising demand for GaN chargers, particularly at this crucial early development stage, by exploring the vast range of models that are available on Alibaba.com.
