RavPower PD Pioneer 65W desktop charger review: Compact power

Gallium Nitride (GaN) chargers are sneaking their way into the list of the best accessories for charging phones. The promise of cooler, more efficient loading in a more compact form factor is irresistible. The RavPower Power Delivery (PD) Pioneer is a compact GaN charger that promises a charging power of 65 W and four ports for connecting your devices.

The PD Pioneer ($ 59.99) is a little more expensive than a basic phone charger, but it promises a lot more. I have extensively tested the functions of the charger with various devices. Let’s examine what it has to offer in this review of the RavPower PD Pioneer 65W 4-Port Desktop Charger.

What you need to know about the RavPower PD Pioneer 65W 4-Port Desktop Charger

• RavPower PD Pioneer 65W desktop charger with 4 ports: $ 49.99 / £ 45.99 / € 49.99 / Rs. 11,999

At 158g, the RavPower PD Pioneer 4-port desktop charger is light and extremely portable. It’s built as a hub rather than a wall adapter, so you’ll also have to carry a regular power cord around with you. Although this is included, no USB cables are included. As for the color, black is the only option.

See also: What is GaN and what does it mean for your technology?

There are four ports available for charging your devices: two USB-C and two USB-A ports. The USB-C ports support the USB-PD protocol with up to 3 A of current at 5 V, 9 V, 12 V, 15 V and 20 V. This is enough to run some of the more sophisticated USB-C laptops on the To charge market.

The two “intelligent” USB-A ports support a variety of charging standards and each have an output of 18 W. These ports are equipped with Qualcomm’s fast charge, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge, Apple 2.4A and Huawei Fast Charge. So you’re well-secured to quickly turn on a wide variety of devices using older USB ports and charging methods.

What is good?

The RavPower PD Pioneer offers more than what you need to charge a single device. In my tests, it delivered 60W on an Honor MagicBook Pro laptop and 53W on a Microsoft Surface Pro X. That was enough to charge both devices in under two hours. but is a fraction slower than the speed of the charger.

The adapter can charge a variety of USB PD and fast chargers, including iPhones and the Nintendo Switch. Two USB-C and two USB-A ports offer the perfect balance between connections for older and newer devices. The large selection of supported standards on the USB-A ports is exceptional.

The RavPower PD Pioneer processes all of these charging options with an energy conversion efficiency of over 82%. That’s also in the stadium for other GaN chargers that I’ve tested.

RavPower PD Pioneer 65 W GaN charge test	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra	Apple iPhone 12 Pro max	Microsoft Surface Book X.	Honor MagicBook Pro
USB performance test	14.2 W / 25 W.	18.7 W / 20 W.	53.6 W / 60 W.	60.4 W / 65 W.
Voltage current	8.58 V, 1.65 A.	8.68 V, 2.15 A.	19.5 V, 2.75 A.	19.5 V, 3.1 A.
Charging standard	USB PD 3.0	USB PD 3.0	USB PD 3.0	USB PD 3.0
Electricity from the wall	17.4 W.	22.8 W.	63.5 W.	71.5 W.
Energy efficiency	81.4%, good.	82.2%, good.	84.4%, good.	84.6%, good.

The power situation becomes a little more complicated when several devices are connected. One connection is limited to 45W and the second to only 18W. Both speeds charge a laptop and smartphone in time. I installed 41 W in an Honor MagicBook Pro and 14 W in the Galaxy S21 Plus all at once, which corresponds to the functions of other multi-port adapters.

What’s not so good?

When you plug a device into each port, the USB-C ports drop to just 12 V / 1.5 A at 18 W powered by USB PD. The USB-A ports are only charged at 5 V / 2.4 A. Their support for Quick Charge and some other standards is also falling. The slower voltage compared to the 65W charging slogan is an inevitable tradeoff between so many ports.

On a test charge, I got 16 W in a laptop, 15 W in a tablet, 8.6 W in the Galaxy S21, and 9.2 W in an iPhone 12 all at once. This setup isn’t particularly useful for charging more sophisticated devices like laptops and tablets. It’s also less efficient at powering wall-to-device, dropping to around 76%.

RavPower created the following table to help understand how the setup works. In my experience, this is how the charger works in all of its various configurations. It’s pretty confusing, and it’s the charger’s biggest drawback.

Configure the RavPort PD Pioneer USB port	Power supply functions of the USB port
1 USB-C port:	USB-C – PD 65W
2 USB-C ports:	USB-C – PD 45W; USB-C – PD 18W
2 USB-A ports:	USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A; USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A.
1 USB-C port + 1 USB-A port:	USB-C – PD 45W; USB-A – QC 18W
1 USB-C port + 2 USB-A ports:	USB-C – PD 45W; USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A; USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A.
2 USB-C ports + 1 USB-A port:	USB-C – PD 18W; USB-C – PD 18W; USB-A – QC 18W
When connected to all ports:	USB-C – PD 18W; USB-C – PD 18W; USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A; USB-A – 5 V / 2.4 A.

Overall, the RavPower PD Pioneer is ideal for charging up to three devices at the same time. More devices exceed 65W power supply capacity.

While the charger is pioneering GaN technology, it lacks support for the latest USB PD PPS specification. A selection of Samsung smartphones require the emerging specification for fast charging. Definitely worth mentioning if you are a Galaxy S21 owner as it takes quite a long time to charge 15W.

RavPower PD Pioneer 65W 4-Port Desktop Charger Review: Should I Buy It?

Despite the multi-port adapters currently on the market, you will struggle to find many 4-port options that go up to 65W on a single port. Therefore, the RavPower PD Pioneer 4-Port is a suitable replacement for a 60W laptop charger and desktop hub for your smartphones and other devices.

If you don’t need four ports, you can try other 65W plugs like the Aukey Omnia 65W PD GaN charger. There’s also the Anker PowerPort Atom III Slim if you don’t need to charge a 60W laptop. Despite the small price difference after regular discounts, the RavPower option remains competitive.

The RavPower PD 65W 4-Port Charger is a compact desktop hub for your smartphones and other devices.

RavPower’s 4-Port Desktop Charger is available at a discounted price of $ 49.99 / £ 45.99 / EUR 49.99 ($ ​​15 off MSRP), which makes it very good value for money . Due to the import cost, the price is high in India so we cannot recommend this charger there.

This is also not a suitable adapter for owners of the Samsung Galaxy S21. Overall, the RavPower PD Pioneer PD 65W Desktop Charger has all the bases to charge a variety of devices through a single adapter.