Battery and charging
What is a GaN charger and why is it smaller?
A GaN charger uses gallium nitride (GaN) transistors instead of silicon. The material switches faster and loses less energy as heat, so the charger can be smaller and lighter for the same power. On its own it does not charge faster: speed depends on wattage and the charging protocol.
What you gain with GaN
Size: a 65 W GaN charger can fit in the space of a traditional one with much less power, which makes it possible to charge a laptop, a phone, and earbuds from a single multi-port adapter.
Efficiency and heat: because it wastes less energy, it runs cooler under the same load.
What does not change
Charging speed is set by the charger's wattage and the protocol it negotiates with the device, such as USB Power Delivery (PD) or PPS. A 20 W GaN charger charges just like any other 20 W charger.
On multi-port chargers, total power is shared: plug in several devices and each one gets less than the advertised maximum.
What to check before you buy
- Choose the wattage for your most demanding device (a laptop needs far more than a phone).
- Make sure it supports USB Power Delivery (PD) and, for some Android phones, PPS.
- On multi-port models, check how power is split when every port is in use.
Guides to help you choose
Frequently asked questions
No. The battery receives whatever charge the phone accepts under the protocol; the transistor material does not change that.