I pried open a cheap 600W charger to test its build, and found 'goo' inside

It's easy to silkscreen 600W on the product, but can the product live up to the hype? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

I test dozens of chargers every year. Some are excellent, while others fall short. Here on ZDNET, I only feature the cream of the crop -- the best of the best. However, I occasionally receive requests from readers asking for my thoughts or opinions on specific products.

Lately, one product that's been generating a lot of buzz is this 600W GaN charger.

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So, I bought a couple for testing. At $99, they're not exactly cheap, but compared to the Ugreen Nexode 300W unit, which costs $140, they seemed like a bargain. After all, this is an 8-port, 600W charger versus a 5-port, 300W unit.

8 ports -- has to be cool, right? Wrong! Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Red flags

The first red flag for me was the no-name brand -- a generic name I'd never heard of before. Why does this company have 600W chargers on the market, while the big names -- Anker, Ugreen, Belkin, Baseus, and others -- don't? I've heard of and dealt with these companies extensively, and they've built reputations for quality and reliability.

But things went downhill the moment I plugged it in.

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