The topic Hands-on: Satechi’s ChargeView brings real-time power monitoring to your tech is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Last year’s charger trend was the built-in retractable cable. It seemed like overnight, every charger had one. But now, there seems to be a new growing trend in the charging market: diagnostic displays. I have seen more and more chargers add small LED or LCD displays to show simple stats like charging speeds. The nerd in me absolutely loves this. The fact that I no longer need a separate tool to test out charging speed claims has been great. The latest charger to join this trend is Satechi’s new ChargeView 140W charger. It does what you expect from a high-end desk charger, like charge up to four devices via USB-C, and it, of course, adds a display, but it does much more than just give you the charging speed. Here is what you should know!
Satechi’s new ChargeView charger aims to be the last desk charger that you will need. It is built to power an entire setup and help keep your desk clutter-free and organized. Here are the specs.
There are a few standouts on this list, like the AVS (Adjustable Voltage Supply) support, which enables optimal fast charging for newer Apple devices. Another standout is, of course, the display. It gives you so much information in real time, including heat management, which is key when you are outputting 140W. It will also allow you to rotate the display information based on how the charger is physically set up on your desk. But how has it held up day to day?
I have been using Satechi’s new charger as my main desk charger for about a week, and it has become a permanent fixture in my desk setup. As I said in the beginning, the biggest upgrade here is the display. I am a huge fan of this new trend. The more visibility and insight you get from your charger, the better. I am someone who is constantly testing chargers, charging speeds, and charging protocols, so having this display to read real-time data has been great for testing various products. I can see simple things like charging speeds per port and in total. There are also temperature safety measures in place that you can see in real time. If things get a bit hot, the display will enter cooling mode. If you are maxing out the total output, you will see a display indicating you are running at a high power level. You can also see when certain tech you are charging is taking advantage of the AVS, which is very cool. So, as a charger, it can handle everything you throw at it, including charging a 16in MacBook Pro at the full 140W.
The charger itself was much smaller than I anticipated when I opened it, so that was a welcome discovery. But the best part about the hardware is that you can set it up vertically or horizontally. If you hold the one button on the charger for 2 seconds, the display orientation will alternate between vertical and horizontal. So if you are tight on space on your desk, you can place it standing up with the included stand, and then make sure the display is also vertically oriented.
One thing to note here is that not all four ports support 140W fast charging. The first two USB-C ports support the full 140W, and the other two support up to 40W charging. For me, this was more than enough. It is very rare that I need a full 140W of charging. My main uses for the charger have been to power my studio light, which uses about 50W-60W of continuous power, and to charge my tech like iPads, camera batteries, and AirPods Pro.
You can get the Satechi ChargeView 140W desk charger on Amazon for $99. It comes in one color: Space Black. It includes the charger, the power cable, and the stand.
I have used Satechi products for years. In my opinion, they are as close to an Apple product as you can get without it being an Apple product. Their high-quality materials and aesthetic match well with Apple’s hardware ecosystem. I am still using the Satechi X1 Slim as my main keyboard, and I have now added this ChargeView charger as my main desk charger. If you are in the market for a high-powered desk charger or need something to declutter your space, I recommend checking this one out. And honestly, for $99, that’s a great deal. There are other competitors that have less wattage, functionality, and worse build quality that charge more (no pun intended)
Let me know what you think. Is this something you would use? Are you into the new trend of having displays on our chargers? Let’s discuss below!