Volta Giga 200W GaN Charger Review

When the Giga 200W GaN Charger Indiegogo campaign was first launched, it has already received $75,453 backing on the first day, which exceeded its target by 754%.

In this product design review, we are comparing the Giga with the Chargeasap Omega and Thundergo. As mentioned in our earlier review between Chargeasap Omega and Thundergo, there is a vast difference in the amount of backing received. It will be interesting to see how Volta‘s Giga performs for this project.

We also compiled an updated comparison chart between the three chargers. Note that there seem to be discrepancies in Giga’s maximum wattage specifications and the output combination or configuration.

Size and Weight Comparison

Type of Ports: The Giga and Thundergo have 3xUSB-C and 1xUSB-A ports, which are slightly more future-proof than the Chargeasap Omega’s 2xUSB-C and 2xUSB-A ports.

Port Arrangements: The USB ports on the Giga and Thundergo are in a single row, while the USB ports on the Chargeasap Omega are in a 2 x 2 matrix.

The port arrangement is essential, as it affects the overall shape of the design. The Giga and Thundergo are slightly smaller by about 16% on the thinnest side, which makes it easier to keep in our pockets. Even though the ports on the Chargeasap Omega are 2×2, it is only 10mm thicker and still small enough to go into pockets comfortably. According to the project writeup, Giga’s designer selected the Angl shape design during their internal review.

• Size: Giga occupies the most space, or 12.6% more than Thundergo. We do not foresee this as a significant issue unless you plan to carry the charger in your pocket daily.
• Weight: Giga is about the same weight as the Thundergo and 40% heavier than the Omega.
  

  Tech Specs	Chargeasap Omega 200W GaN Charger	ThunderGo 200W GaN Charger	Giga 200W GaN Charger
  Weight	220g	320g	310g

Power Output Combination

The power output combination is quite similar to Thundergo as both have 3 x USB-C and 1 x USB-A ports.

• The first two USB-Cs (C1 and C2) are the same, with 100W maximum power. Both C3 have 65W full power, and C3+A1 share a maximum of 25W.
• The major differences:
  • Giga USB-A port has a 65W maximum versus Thundergo’s 60W.
  • For Giga, the following is a weird combination:
    • C1+(C3+A1) = 100+ 15W(shared)
    • When using C1, C3 and A1 concurrently, the shared max. power drops from 25W to 15W

It is unclear if there is a typo error in Giga’s design tech specs, as they also have another mistake in the individual USB port specification.

Electronics Hardware and Protection 

All the chargers use the same Navitas 6127 GaN IC chip.

Read: What is a GaN IC Chip?

The Giga also uses Graphene heat dissipation, has 95% power efficiency, and all the protection that anyone can think of for a charger. (except Nuke)

Price and Warranty

Giga 200W GaN Charger comes with a 2-year warranty, whereas the other two models only have a 1-year warranty. Perhaps this shows that Volta is confident in their product, hence explaining the higher price of $89 even for Early Birds.

The higher price could also be because of the shortage of electronic components, as Omega and Thundergo are both experiencing slowed delivery. The suppliers need to be transparent about the delivery issues during this pandemic, as that should be an acceptable reason.

Add-Ons

Other than the usual worldwide converter plugs and extension cable options, Volta also supplies laptop USB-C to Barrel Adapters for different laptop brands, car chargers, right-angle connectors, etc.

Compare Technical Specifications of Giga, Omega and Thundergo 200W GaN Chargers

As mentioned above, Giga’s maximum wattage for the 3rd USB-C (C3) and USB-A (A1) was 30W each, as shown on the Indiegogo campaign page. We have added 20V/3.25A to the specs (highlighted in red), as their output combination shows that both ports (C3 and A1) can go as high as 65W.