Living Room Charging Station

Side table charging station tucked into corner; Anker charging station

The station is built around a $35 HOOBRO Side Table with Charging Station, End Table with USB Ports and Outlet, which won’t be confused for Ethan Allen but snuggles into the available space perfectly and looks “fine.” (Certainly a lot better than the rat’s nest of cables that used to be in that void!) Also gives me a place to stash laptops, tablets, wireless keyboards, etc., that’s out of the way.

The table has a built-in 110V outlet and (2) 10W (5V ⎓ 2A) USB-A ports, which is probably enough for impromptu / guest phone / watch / etc. recharging, but wasn’t quite what I needed from that space. So I added an Anker USB C Desktop Charging Station (623), with: (3) 110V outlets; (1) USB-C PD 45W port; and (2) 15W USB-A ports.

Although the power strip’s USB output tops out at 60W total (per the manual), and 45W isn’t the most a MacBook Air can take (and less than the stock charger for the MacBook Pro provides), 45W of USB-C PD power is enough to use and simultaneously at least trickle charge modern Mac laptops, and the 110V outlets provide additional flexibility.

One of the Anker’s 110V outlets is currently occupied by an Anker USB C 20W charger (511) powering a MagSafe charger, a combination which so far I do not recommend: Per the Klein meter, I’m only seeing 9V ⎓ 1A, which means the MagSafe puck is likely only charging at 7.5W. (The 511 specs say it should support one of two modes, 15W (5V ⎓ 3A) or 20W (9V ⎓ 2.22A).) I need to play with this a bit more and see what’s going on.

The 623 Power Strip’s USB-C port supplies: 5V ⎓ 2.4A (12W) / 9V ⎓ 3A (27W) / 15V ⎓ 3A (45W) / 20V ⎓ 2.25A (45W). Hooked up to a battery pack that reports charging wattage, I can confirm the Anker is negotiating (at least with the Zendura SuperTank Pro and the Sharage Storm 2) right around 45W:

SuperTank Pro charging at 43.6W