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This is the ultimate desk charging station

This is the ultimate desk charging station

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ZeroLemon’s Extreme Charge Station earns its name

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Image: ZeroLemon

There’s a new champion in town — if the town you’re in is full of ways to charge laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other devices. The new ZeroLemon Extreme Charge Station is the most powerful multidevice USB charger I’ve ever used. It outputs up to 135W of power across its two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, Qi charging pad, and Apple Watch dock. It has two fans to keep things cool, and the whole thing is about the size of a small paperback book. (It looks like a mini Xbox gaming console.) ZeroLemon is currently running a Kickstarter campaign through the end of August, and it expects to ship the Extreme Charge Station in October for $99.

All of that power and all of those ports means you can basically charge any USB device with this dock. One of the USB-C ports can output up to 87W on its own, which is enough to charge a 15-inch MacBook Pro, while the other one handles up to 20W and will be plenty for smartphones and tablets. You can even use both ports at the same time and take advantage of their full charge speeds simultaneously. On the left of the Charge Station is a small LED that indicates what voltage is being drawn from the most powerful USB-C port. Plug in a laptop, and it will illuminate the 20V light. Step down to a phone, and it will light up one of the lesser voltage settings.

The two USB-A ports handle up to 15W each, which is enough to fast-charge most smartphones, but it can also easily charge other USB devices, like wireless mice or headphones. The Qi charging pad on top of the Charge Station outputs up to 10W, which is enough power to wirelessly fast-charge iPhones, Samsung devices, and other Android phones. To top things off, there is a 3W pad to the right of the Qi charging pad that can charge an Apple Watch.

Image: ZeroLemon

Many multidevice USB chargers are designed to live on a bedside table or nightstand, so you can charge all of your devices while you sleep. But the Extreme Charge Station is better suited for a desk where you’re more likely to use a laptop that needs higher power draws and also want to keep other devices charged throughout the day.

The Charge Station’s aggressive cooling design is another reason you’re not going to want this next to your head while you’re sleeping. As mentioned, there are two fans inside the box to keep things cool while it’s charging devices, and they are not shy about kicking on and making noise. In my testing, the fans would almost always come on when I plugged a laptop into the Charge Station, and they are frequently louder than the laptop’s fans. Even when I am just using the wireless charging pad and nothing else, the fans will spin frequently, making a kind of wheezing sound as they turn on and off to maintain temperature. This is something you’ll notice if the Charge Station is right next to you, but since the fans are in the back of the device, it’s much harder to hear them if you were to put the Charge Station on the back of your desk with the fans facing away from you.

The Extreme Charge Station is also not very portable, as it requires an extender cord to plug into the wall and is significantly bigger than most USB power adapters. But ZeroLemon does include a mesh pouch with the device so you could tote it around and be the hero of the coffee shop if you want to.

Overall, the Extreme Charge Station checks off almost every box when it comes to charging USB devices: it’s powerful enough to charge any USB-C powered laptop, it can also fast-charge and wirelessly charge smartphones, and it has extra ports for other legacy USB-A devices. Even if you don’t have an Apple Watch and never use that function, the Extreme Charge Station still offers a lot and packs it all into a relatively compact box.

If you jump on the Kickstarter campaign, you can get the Extreme Charge Station at a discount, but even at its regular price of $99, it outguns pretty much everything else out there. If you’re looking for one charging station to rule them all, this is the one to get.

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