This 140W USB-C station with Qi2 and retractable cable is the most practical charger I've seen

If I tell you I’ve seen at least a thousand different chargers at IFA 2024, it would be a big understatement, but one product really stood out to me as something I’d want and use every day. The Baseus Nomos 5-in-1 solution has literally everything I need in a desk station, and it can replace at least three different products that are sitting on my desk now. But the best part? It has a retractable 100W USB-C PD cable. See, I’m a simple person: I see efficient cable management, and I swoon.

The Nomos 5-in-1 is just a blocky black box (though I wish it came in other colors, too). On top, it has a flippable 15W MagSafe-compatible Qi2 wireless charger and a display, which I’ll come back to later. I like the versatility of the flip here: if I’m charging a phone with magnets built-in or in a MagSafe-compatible case, I can twist up the pad and see my phone’s display while it fills up. But if I’m charging a pair of earbuds or a magnet-less phone, I just flip it down to lay the product down.

On the front of the Nomos is where the magic happens. You get a built-in retractable 100W USB-C cable that can extend up to 1m (3.3 feet) and lock at four different lengths midway. The joy and simplicity of pulling that cable to charge my DJI Osmo Pocket 3 while checking out the unit couldn’t be described.

I already use several retractable USB-C cables at my desk, but the pucks for the retraction mechanism sit in front of me all the time. The Nomos hides this mechanism inside the charger, so I wouldn’t have another thing taking up space at my desk. Plus, it’ll be more than enough to charge my MacBook at full speed.

When you’re done, snap the cable back, and it magnetically attaches to the station, neatly tucking in and leaving no loose bits lying around. The perfection!

Other than Qi2 and the 100W cable, the Nomos 5-in-1 has two extra USB-C ports and one USB-A port — great for all my charging needs. All in all, the unit can go up to 140W total, so it should be more than enough to top up a laptop, a phone or two, plus some accessories.

Coming back to the display, it’s where you’ll see all the charging power outputs of every port on the unit. So you have visibility over how fast — or slow — your devices are charging. I only tested it with a nearly full Pixel 9 Pro XL on the Qi2 pad (which drew a measly 2W and 3W because it didn’t need much power, as you can see in the two photos above) and a half-empty DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which drew between 13W and 18W from the retractable cable.

I wasn’t able to do more testing in my brief hands-on with the unit, but my previous experience with Baseus products has been solid and positive, so the Nomos 5-in-1 should reach its top power output when the devices you plug in need it.

All in all, this one desktop station could replace my multi-port USB-C charger, my wireless charging pad, and my USB-C retractable cable, and free up a lot of space and visual clutter. And if you knew how much I hate visual clutter, you’d understand why I’m so pumped that this kind of product now exists. I don’t have any availability dates or prices for the Nomos 5-in-1, but I’ll try to get my hands on a unit soon to test it out.