Bad Investment for Digital Nomads: Innergie PowerGear 60C Charger
Salespeople are always traveling about. But nowadays, this mobile lifestyle is not just limited to them.
More and more people are working online such as freelancers, bloggers, and online business owners.
That means, there are more people working remotely and are not location dependant.
If you have to carry all of your work-related devices in your backpack all day long, you’d realize that every gram counts.
Think about it, at the very least, you’re carrying 1 laptop and 1 cellphone which needs separate chargers.
The bulkiest items in my backpack are my chargers. So I was looking for an all in one charger that is small and can charge all of my devices.
From my online research, I found 2 decent brands for an all in one charger that claims to be able to charge both my laptop and smartphone: Innergie and Dart. None of them are cheap, at around RM300 each.
Out of the 2 brands, Dart and Innergie, Innergie is the one that is currently available in the Malaysian market so I decided to purchase it on Shopee for RM297 and here is my honest review:
To give you a comparison:
- My Acer laptop charger costs me RM 45 at Low Yat.
- A replacement Huawei Supercharger will cost me RM 39.
The new RM 300 all in one charger is replacing my standard chargers that cost RM 84 in total value. Pretty steep price difference.
This article will share with you my personal findings of this product as a real owner:
- Pros
- Cons
- Is it worth your money?
Let’s begin:
My Charging Problems that Needs to be Solved
I currently have an Acer Swift 5 laptop (with an Acer tip) with a Huawei P30 smartphone, and a Bose Soundlink portable speaker. What I specifically need is:
- 1 charger that can charge all of my devices.
- A charger that has the capability to supercharge my Huawei P30 (full charge in about 1 hour).
Most chargers are rated in wattage (W). The higher, the faster it can charge my devices. But obviously it can’t be too high that I risk damaging my devices that can’t handle high charging power.
So the first order of business is to get the wattage ratings for both of my laptop and Huawei supercharger. Logically, the highest wattage would be my laptop as the device has a larger battery capacity than my phone.
Unfortunately, the label on the supercharger and the official Huawei website does not mention the power rating of their supercharger:
But a quick Google on Lazada for this specific charger states that the max power rating is 40W. Although this is not official, this figure would do for now.
So let’s recap:
- Laptop charger: 45W
- Phone Supercharger: 40W
In conclusion, I need an all in one charger with a min power rating of 45W in order to be able to charge my devices.
What is Innergie PowerGear 60C?
It is an all in one charger rated at 60W claiming to be able to charge all of your devices. What comes in the box is a USB C to USB C cable. Clearly this is to charge an android phone or a laptop that is USB-C chargeable.
I bought an additional universal laptop adapter along with the PowerGear 60C.
My total investment was RM 297 and I bought them all on Shopee.
I have been using the charger every day for a month now and here is my honest owner’s review:
Pros of Innergie PowerGear 60C
Size: The PowerGear 60C is smaller than the standard laptop adapter:
Theoretically, I only need to carry 1 charger now with 2 cables. (USB-C to USB-C for my phone, and USB-C to laptop tip for my laptop).
Below on the left is my previous laptop and phone charger, on the right is the PowerGear 60C to replace them.
Cons of Innergie PowerGear 60C
The price is too high at RM297 including the additional universal laptop adapter:
Can’t charge multiple devices at the same time: There’s only 1 power point out from the charger. I can only charge 1 device at the time.
This might not sound like a big deal for some, but look at it from this familiar scenario:
You wake up in the morning, you didn’t charge your phone overnight.
You brave through rush hour traffic and packed trains to go to work on low battery, then when you finally reach the office with barely any battery left, You can’t charge both of your laptop and phone at the same time.
So it takes 1 hour to fully charge my laptop. So in other words, I need to make sure my phone can survive that extra 1 hour to wait for its turn to charge.
It does not supercharge my Huawei P30. It only shows that it is Fast Charging (which is a step in between normal charging and Supercharging):
- Normal charge, slowest. Symbol 1 lightning bolt
- Quick Charge, symbol: 2 lightning bolts
- Supercharge (fastest): supercharger lightning bolt
Not a deal-breaker, but considering that I can only charge 1 thing at a time, the extra time needed to charge my phone is the time occupied not charging my laptop.
For people with laptops that are not charged over USB-C, you will have to purchase an additional universal laptop adapter:
The original design of the PowerGear 60C prong is for the US plug type which is minimalist in design. Unfortunately for people in Malaysia that uses the UK socket, the plug is quite bulky:
The laptop adapter is not compatible with my Bose Soundlink portable speakers. Although one of the included laptop tips seem large enough to fit the bose charge port, but the internal metal prongs are not compatible.
Typical Apple and Bose setup. They always have weird connectors because they want to overcharge you with the cables that only they manufacture.
Final Verdict as an End User
Does it solve my problem? Yes but not entirely. I do now carry around a much smaller charger, yes, but I am quite disappointed that with the high price that I paid for it and a power rating of 60W, it is not able to supercharge my Huawei P30.
The PowerGear 60C also can’t charge my Bose Soundlink so it’s not a comprehensive charging solution. But considering I don’t carry the Bose in my daypack every day, I could give it a pass.
Not being able to supercharge didn’t bother me too much in the end either because I ended up carrying my Huawei supercharger anyway because I am in the position where I have limited time at my desk and I need to quickly charge both of my devices at the same time before I have to head out.
So here is all my charging gear stuffed into a small bag:
If you don’t have RM 297 budget for this, I think carrying your existing laptop charger is perfectly fine.
This product, however, would be perfect if you need the absolute minimalist solution and your laptop is charged over USB-C, and own a USB-C android.
If you happen to have that combination, you do not need to purchase the universal laptop adapter and save yourself RM70.
Conclusion
In conclusion, would I recommend this product? Yes if you are not bothered with the high price and need an absolute minimalist setup for weight reasons.
But if you are not a traveling salesperson or a Digital Nomad, I do not recommend this product for the sole reason that the price is too high.
I would recommend this product without hesitation if it retailed for around RM150 instead of RM230.
I hope this helps in your purchasing decision to get what you need and still being financially smart about it.
