Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger review: Cutting edge 65W fast charging

The market is full of fast chargers, but picking the right one that can power up all your various gadgets is no simple task. Between older protocols, Qualcomm Quick Charge, USB Power Delivery, and the newer USB PD PPS standards, it’s a real headache. The Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger wants to remove the hassle as a one-stop-shop for all your charging needs.

Android Authority previously reviewed Elecjet’s 45W USB-C Super Fast Charger and rated it very highly as one of the few affordable chargers on the market to fast charge Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series. Can the brand’s 65W charging hub meet the same high bar? Let’s find out in this Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger review.

What you need to know about the Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger

• Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger: £44.99/€44.99

Based on the increasingly popular GaN technology, the Elecjet X21 Pro offers high power charging in a very compact form factor. It’s much smaller than your typical desktop hub or high-power wall charger and works as both a desktop and portable power plug.

See also: What is GaN and what does it mean for your tech?

The Elecjet X21 Pro sports two USB-C ports with USB Power Delivery and USB PD PPS compatibility. These ports are accompanied by a single USB-A port sporting a wide range of other charging standards to power up pretty much any other gadgets you may have lying around. With up to 65W of power output, even via the USB-A port, Elecjet’s X21 Pro is sufficient not just for smartphones but high-end laptops too.

Elecjet bundles a selection of interchangeable regional power adapters in the box. These can be swapped using a proprietary connector on the back of the plug. The X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger is available exclusively in black.

What’s good?

The Elecjet X21 Pro supports the modern USB Power Delivery PPS standard with up to 63W of power. That’s everything you need to charge cutting-edge laptops and smartphones, including the latest Samsung Galaxy phones. There’s also a huge range of legacy fast charging standards at up to 60W as well. Fast charging protocols from Apple, HUAWEI, MediaTek, Samsung, and Qualcomm are all onboard via the USB-A port.

I recorded very fast charging speeds and good power efficiency in my tests. The only finicky device was the Microsoft Surface X Pro, which wouldn’t quite charge at full speed. But the Elecjet isn’t the only charger to have that problem with this device.

This plug will fast charge basically anything. 65W is also enough power to charge up a laptop and smartphone at once with reasonably fast speeds, although you do sacrifice peak speed when charging multiple devices. If you’re looking for a charger for all your gadgets, this is it.

Elecjet has also implemented a very smart patent pending connector on the back of the X21 Pro. It allows for quickly twisting in a different regional adapter — three of which are included in the box — or an extension plug into the back of the charging brick. This makes the adapter an ideal travel companion and desk hub for your gadgets. It’s a very well-thought-out design that definitely adds extra value over other chargers on the market.

What’s not so good?

The only fault with the Elecjet X21 Pro, and pretty much all multi-port hubs, is that it’s much harder to know how much power you’ll receive and on which ports when plugging in multiple gadgets at once. The table below breaks down how Elecjet says its ports work.

I’m yet to see a multi-port plug that’s smart enough to ideally balance charging loads. You’ll receive up to 45W and 18W when plugging in either two USB-C or a USB-C and USB-A gadget. Sadly this means you can’t fully fast charge two Samsung Galaxy S21s at once. That said, Elecjet’s solution here is better than most. When plugging in three devices at once, the top USB-C port is handed 45W fast charging priority while the other two fight it out for the remaining 15W.

The only issue to be aware of is that using the second USB-C port and USB-A at the same time shares are a rather paltry 24W. It’s an odd caveat that’s likely down to the chip inside the charger rather than a design oversight by Elecjet. Either way, just make sure to always use the top port to maximize charging speeds.

The end result is a hub that’s good at charging two devices, but can’t fast charge three at once. It’s down to personal preference whether you like Elecjet’s priority port approach or the more common even-split power approach used in other hubs. Personally, I’m leaning towards Elecjet’s idea as it keeps it usable as a laptop charger even when slowly topping up other gadgets.

The soft plastic body is also a bit of a dust magnet and marks easily. But otherwise seems very sturdy and shouldn’t damage easily. The plug also gets a bit warmer than other GaN chargers I’ve tested, but it’s nowhere near too hot to touch.

Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger review: Should I buy it?

Fast charges laptops: check. Charges the finicky Galaxy S series: check. Fast charges older USB-A gadgets: check. The Elecjet X21 GaN Pro Fast Charger meets all the criteria most consumers will want from a compact GaN adapter. The only caveat is the somewhat finicky nature of multi-device charging.

Priced at £44.99 (~$62), the Elecjet X21 Pro is competitive for a hub charger but definitely not the same value proposition as the inexpensive 45W Fast Charge model. Although the ingenious interchange plug system definitely earns extra premium points against rival products like the four-port RavPower PD Pioneer 65W desktop charger.

At the time of writing, UK customers can pick the charger up with a 20% discount coupon from Amazon, making it quite the steal. Sadly availability of the Elecjet X21 GaN Pro is limited to just some European countries. Customers in the US can grab a version without the interchangeable adapter connector for $29.49, which also isn’t a bad deal.