Sindox 100W GaN USB-C PSU review

Intro

In addition to compact USB-C hubs, I’ve started collecting USB-C power supplies and battery packs. Today I’ll be reviewing the Sindox 100W GaN 2C2A fast charger which retails for $48-60 USD depending on available discounts/coupons. This charger appears to be the same as the similarly priced Hyphen-X charger – both are model RH-PD100W (MHDRH brand) manufactured by DongGuan RuiHang but the Sindox is white while the most readily available Hypen-X model is black. In quantities of 1000+, similar units are available for ~$25 USD from multiple alibaba vendors.

Full disclosure: While this is not a sponsored post, the products reviewed were provided at no cost for evaluation purposes. Products received in this capacity are destined for teardowns, future device interoperability testing, and/or charitable donations.

Feature Summary

• 2 USB-C ports (1x 100W or 1x 65W + 1x 30W))
• 2 USB A ports (1x 18-30W or 2x 7.5W)
• PD 3.0
• GaN technology
• non-detachable 2-prong USA-style AC/Mains folding power plug (snap-in international adapters available)
• 110-240V 50/60Hz AC/Mains compatible

Unboxing & Physical characteristics

A simple box with the charger, manual, and warranty card. Inside the box, the charger was wrapped in a simple bubble-wrap baggie.

14 power output combinations are printed on the charger. While helpful, this level of detail is a little excessive for on-the-product printing and perhaps better left for the manual/box. This is also printed in the manual and on the box just in case you forget to look at the charger

Measurements:

• 75mm x 75mm x 29mm

Key Manufacturing details

Quoting from DongGuan RuiHang website:

• Certification: CE, FCC, CCC, ETL, PSE, KC, CB, SAA
• Material: PC Fireproof Material, ABS
• Protection: SCP, OVP, OTP, OLP, OCP
• Support: PD3.0, PD2.0, QC2.0, QC3.0, QC4.0+, AFC, FCP, SCP, PPS
• Compatible with: Samsung PD65W, 45W, 25W, iPhone PD20W
• The charger has built-in PFC boost circuit
• The switching power supply is composed of [an] NXP primary controller, innoseco Gan power chip and new Jieneng MOS, with fixed voltage output
• The four interfaces adopt three independent step-down outputs, and the Zhirong sw3516 is used for secondary step-down and protocol identification control output
• The output power of two usb-c interfaces is controlled by a MCU to realize intelligent power distribution
• In addition, the components on the PCB board are treated with glue injection, and the front and back sides are also equipped with isolation plates and large-area brass heat sinks to enhance the internal stability and heat dissipation performance
• The setting of secondary filter solid-state capacitor at the output ensures the purity of the output

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As mentioned earlier, the Sindox and Hypen-X units are equivalent. But there seem to be other brands using the same design. It’s not just one manufacturing house with custom labelling either, there are multiple competing manufacturers churning out almost identical designs but just using different individual component suppliers presumably to see who can better optimize for cost. Just search for 100W GAN 2C2A PSU and you’ll find dozens. I wonder if anybody even remembers who the original engineering team was.

Teardown

to-do

Testing

The PSU lives up to its advertised specs. I was able to drive ~95W (resistive load) indefinitely on the USB-C #2 port. Curiously, I was not able to get this to work on USB-C port #1 but I was able to get 95W working with a real laptop. A purely resistive load is not the best test case and the fact that a real laptop worked at 95W on both ports is fine. I wasn’t able to reach 100W with a single load, but I suspect that is due to my test configuration. When powering a USB-C hub and operating multiple devices through that, I was able to reach 104W.

While I didn’t have the time or patience to test all 14 different power output combinations listed on the box, I tested enough to give me confidence in the claims. In particular I was able to drive ~65W laptop charging alongside ~18W USB-C phone charging which is my most frequent use case. I noticed that whenever plugging or unplugging a device, all ports are reset to 5V and power delivery is re-negotiated from scratch. I’ve yet to find a multi-port PSU that is more intelligent and avoids port resets.

I ran a stress-test on my Surface Laptop Studio with low battery level drawing ~95W from the PSU for over an hour. During testing, the peak temperature of the PSU was 58.6°C in the corner near the USB-C ports with other regions ranging between 50-55°C. Warm but not uncomfortable. Room temperature was 20°C with modest airflow from forced-air HVAC.

After diving into this, I realized I don’t have the proper equipment to thoroughly test power supplies so please refer to the AllThingsOnePlace review of the almost identical Hyphen-X for more insight:

Key takeaways from the video:

• Pro: low total harmonic distortion (THD) and active power factor correction (aPFC) leads to higher quality power and better efficiency under load compared to other designs
• Pro: over current protection (OCP) triggers at safe ~105W
• Con: high idle power consumption

Conclusion

Similar to AllThingsOnePlace, I have no concerns with this PSU. It is compact, lightweight, and fulfills the advertised claims. The only thing missing for me is USB-IF certification, but USB-IF doesn’t yet have a validation program for multi-port PSUs so I really can’t fault the manufacturer. The higher than typical idle power consumption is a little unfortunate given how well it performs, but easy to work around – just unplug it when not in use. The Sindox support team appears to be active on Amazon answering customer questions which is a good sign and better than most other brands. So if you prefer the white color, then the Sindox 100W GaN fast charger is a decent choice. If you prefer black, there is the equivalent Hyphen-X charger.