I thought this 245W charging station was overkill, but now it’s an office essential for me

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I have a charging station on my nightstand that handles the overnight charging of my daily stuff. My iPhone, apple watch, AirPodsand whatever power Bank or other equipment I’m getting it’s R&R time on this one. But until now I didn’t have anything comparable to my desk.

Baseus Nomos NH21 245W 6-in-1 USB-C Charging Station This is a perfect desktop charging station as it has enough power and outlets to handle all my devices.

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Unlike many nightstand charging stations I’ve tested, the Nomos NH21 eschews style for pure function. The unit is a dark blue box packed with outputs.

There’s a Qi2 swiveling wireless charging pad at the top that can deliver up to 15W of power – perfect for an iPhone. It comes bundled with two 80cm/31.5inch braided USB-C cables on retractable reels that can handle 100W of power.

The reels feature precision damping gear for effortless pull-out and intuitive one-touch retraction, giving it a very premium feel. If you’re worried that the retractor will get damaged, don’t worry! Baseus says it has been tested to handle 35,000 bridges.

There are two USB-C ports on the front that can handle up to 140W of power – enough to fast charge a MacBook Pro – and there’s an 18W USB-A on the side for all your old bits and bobs.

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It supports PD 3.1, QC4, PPS, SCP and more, so no matter what device you attach, you can ensure it charges as fast and safely as possible.

The unit has to manage a lot of outlets and power, and to handle it, it features smart power allocation to ensure the right amount is delivered to the appropriate device as quickly as possible.

A lot of charging stations I’ve tested take a few seconds to figure out where to send which power after a new device is attached (or the one that was charging is disconnected), but the Nomos NH21 handles it almost instantly.

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There’s a display too, because veterans like us love displays! It has a three-inch color LCD digital screen that can display real-time data at a glance, showing total output, individual port power and overall performance with the press of a button on the side of the unit. It’s clear and bright, and perfect for checking at a glance if things are charging properly.

I have tested several charging stations with lower power output than the Nomos NH21 by using fans to keep them cool. Not this one. Baseus’ engineers built it around GaN (gallium nitride) transistors, so it runs cooler than older silicon technology.

This moves the power supply – a massive 252W unit – to the outside of the device to limit the amount of heat the charger has to generate. This means that it can use passive cooling to keep the unit at the proper temperature.

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outcome? A design that works really well. I pushed this charging station to its limits and kept it there for more than a day – not the kind of use case a normal user would ever have – and had no heating issues.

The Nomos NH21 have the ability to reduce output if things get hot, and there’s a balanced mode that keeps output below 100W, but I didn’t see the need for either. It ran quietly, and thanks to no fans, was silent the entire time.

The power supply that the Nomos NH21 requires is huge, so you need a convenient AC outlet nearby, and it has a proprietary 4-pin connector on the end, so if you lose or break it, it’s game over for the unit. So take care of that power supply!

ZDNET’s shopping advice

$200 is a lot to pay for a charging station, but this is no ordinary unit. Bessius Nomos NH21 It can handle just about anything you use, from a single earbud to a laptop, and it’s a joy to have on the go with six devices connected all pulling power at once.

The dual retractable USB-C cables are a nice touch, and not only helps declutter my desk, but also means that when something needs charging I don’t have to go looking for the cable because someone (me, it’s always me) has moved it somewhere. The display is also a nice touch for me, but I know not everyone will appreciate it.