Media consumption is one of the main consumers of battery on modern electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. But thankfully, most of these devices support fast charging, where you can quickly top-up the battery and be ready for the next episode.
If your device (iPad or smartphone) comes with a “slow” charger or doesn’t come with a charger at all, then it is high time to invest in a decent fast charger. Most higher output fast chargers in the market usually come with multiple (at least two) ports so that you can charger two devices at the same time.
This is exactly the case with the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite, a 35W dual port charger that we recently came across. Both the ports on this unit are USB Type-C and you can fast charge two devices simultaneously (although the power output per port drops to 18W). But how does this charger perform in real-life usage? Does it provide the voltage and current it says it can provide?
You will find out all about the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger in this review. We are writing this review after using the charger for more than two weeks testing its claims and capabilities. We even did some stress tests on the charger to check its breaking point and temperatures. Continue reading the review to find out more about the same.
First of all, let us quickly unbox the package and take a look at its contents. We have the main 35W charger in the box. Our unit came with a UK Plug but you can choose between US, UK, and Europe plug styles. We will talk more about the charger and its design in the next section.
Then, we have a multi-lingual Welcome Guide that describes how to use the charger for fast charging devices and even some basic specifications. Last but not least, we have a thank you card from VOLTME. That’s all the things in the box.
We recently reviewed the VOLTME Revo Duo 30 Charger.Even though the power output is increased by only 5W, the size difference between the two is a lot. If you place the VOLTME Revo Duo 30 and the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite side-by-side, you can see that the latter is slightly longer while the former is a lot wider.
The VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite weighs around 86g and has a dimensions of 28mm ×44mm × 45mm. Now coming to the overall design of the charger, the front has two USB Type-C Ports. There is no LED illumination. On the left side, there is the “VOLTME” branding and both left and right sides have a texture to give us a better grip while plugging in or out of an outlet.
As we mentioned earlier, we got the UK Plug variant but irrespective of the plug, the charger accepts universal mains voltage (100 – 240V AC 50/60Hz). On the bottom, there is some information regarding the specifications of the charger.
The main selling point of this charger is its 35W output from two USB-C Ports. Both these ports support USB PD and PPS Protocols. When you use either the first USB-C Port or the second one in solo mode, you can draw the maximum power from the charger i.e., 35W.
Here are the details of the output voltage and currents either from the first or the second USB-C Port in solo mode.
Now, if you want to charge two devices simultaneously, you can do that with the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite. But as expected, the maximum power from each port falls to 18W.
Here are the details of the output voltage and currents when you use both the first and the second USB-C Ports.
This means, you can technically “fast charge” two devices simultaneously.
While the above-mentioned values are from the specifications provided by the manufacturer (VOLTME in this case), does the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger adhere to these specifications? In order to check whether the charger can supply the rated power at different voltages, we performed a series of tests on it. Here are the results.
We used a constant current electronic load to test the power output from the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger. The real-world applications such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. do not draw a constant currentall the time. This test ensures to check the limits of the charger and even its breaking point.
Before we look at the results, let us quickly go through the test setup. We connected a USB Meter to the USB-C port of the charger. Then, we used a VOLTME Powerlink Mosscable to connect the output of the USB Meter to a USB PD Trigger Module. Then, finally, we connect the output of the trigger module to an electronic load.
Due to losses in the meters and cables, we are taking the readings only from the USB Meter that we connected at the USB-C Port (or USB-A Port) of the Charger.
Coming to the tests, if the USB-C Port supports 5V ⎓ 3A, then we set the load to draw 3A for a period of 20 minutes. Then we gradually increased the current until the charger shut off. We are calling this the shutoff current.
The sad reality about this testing method is the load draws a constant current and the charger heats up very quickly. So, what we did is set a current where we can use the charger without heating too much or shutting itself off. This current will be slightly less than the specified current. We are calling this the stable current. We performed this test for all the supported voltages.
That said, here is a summary of voltage and current tests on both the USB-C Ports in solo mode.
Voltage | Specified Current | Shutoff Current | Stable Current |
5V | 3A | 3.5A | 2.8A |
9V | 3A | 3.5A | 2.8A |
12V | 2.91A | 3.4A | 2.7A |
15V | 2.33A | 2.7A | 2.1A |
20V | 1.75A | 2.1A | 1.6A |
Here, Stable Current means the current that the charger can supply at that particular voltage without shutting down.For the next test, we used both the USB-Ports simultaneously.The maximum power from each port is now limited to 18W. But both the ports supported voltages up to 12V. Here is the summary of voltages and currents from both USB-C Ports when used at the same time.
Voltage | Specified Current | Shutoff Current | Stable Current |
5V | 3A | 3.4A | 2.8A |
9V | 2A | 2.3A | 1.8A |
12V | 1.5A | 1.7A | 1.3A |
As a final test, we pulled the maximum possible power i.e., 35W at 12V⎓ 2.9A continuously tillthere is a thermal shutoff. The reason we selected this voltage is that it has the highest current rating among the voltages that deliver full 35W (15V ⎓2.33A and 20V⎓ 1.75A).
The charger supplied the full 35W power at the above-mentioned voltage and current for more than 2 hours straight. Even though it got hot, it did not reset itselfor no thermal shutdown in this one hour at least. Impressive. During this time, the temperatures of the charger reached close to 65°C.
The VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite uses GaN III Technology that helps in making the size of the charger small and even improve the efficiency. Another important piece of technology incorporated in almost all VOLTME chargers is their proprietary V-Dynamic system where the charger intelligently distributes the power to both the ports depending on various factors such as the current state of the battery, fast charging support, etc.
What about practical usage of the charger? We started charging an iPhone 14 that has 10% charge left. In about 30 minutes, the battery of the iPhone 14 reached 65%. The charger can really fast charge devices without breaking any sweat.
Next, we charged two USB PD compatible smartphones that were almost fully-discharged. Initially, both the devices pulled close to 18W from the respective USB-C Ports. Last but not least, we also used the charger on the 13” M1 MacBook Air. It worked flawlessly.
The listing price of the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger is $19.99. But with sales and deals, you can get the charger for even less (around $16). VOLTME also offers 18-month warranty on the charger. Now, if we combine the price, warranty, and the excellent performance, it is definitely a worthy purchase.
Overall, we really liked the compactness of the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger and the price-to-performance figures.It has two USB Type-C Ports that support USB PD and PPS protocols. So, you can fast charge your devices.
What about fast charging two devices? Yes, it is possible to fast charge two devices using the two USB-C ports of the VOLTME Revo 35 Charger but keep in mind that the power output from each port is limited to 18W.
We performed a bunch of real world and not so real-world tests. We were thoroughly impressed that the charger can produce the output asmentioned in its specifications.If you are looking for a decent USB Fast Charger with dual Type-C Ports, then the VOLTME Revo 35 Duo Lite Charger is a very good option. It is light not only in size/weight but also on your pocket.
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