Crave PowerHub Pro Review – The Only Charger You Need To Own
With the ever expanding phone collection in our arsenal, we have also collected the chargers that came with them. Now sure having multiple chargers on hand is admittedly quite useful, but the issue arises when you need to find the correct charger for your device, which you never seem to do because phone battery charge rates are all over the place.
What does that mean anyway?
Well the batteries that are packed in current generation phones don’t have different charging rates. Some would charge at a lower voltage and slower and while some will charger at a much faster pace, albeit with a higher voltage. This can cause issues when it comes to owning a lot of chargers, as its somewhat confusing to find out which charger belongs to what and which charger is actually optimal for charging your smartphone or other USB gadgets.
Enter Crave PowerHub
As someone looking for an unified charging solution, I was actually pretty glad when to find out the PowerHub from crave. It is a 4 Port desk charger that can combines all of the necessary features that I look for in an AIO charger, in a compact package with an affordable price.
Initial Impressions
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, our package was held up for quite a while in New Delhi Customs, as the state of lockdown meant that no freight was moving across the country. Nevertheless, it reached us as soon as cargo was moving again.
Anyways, like most products with minimalist packaging, the Crave PowerHUB Pro is packaged quite well, with the outer box depicting the necessary information that might help you if you need to buy it at a store. The box requires no tools to open. Inside you are greeted with the power bank itself, with all accessories tucked away neatly underneath.
However upon holding the charger itself, it felt quite heavy and had a solid feel to it. Despite the price point which is just $59.99 on the official site, is very well built. It plugs into a regular wall socket (US) and there is a blue LED on the top that notifies you when the charger is on.
The package does come with some accessories, which you can see in the image below. It includes the basics:
- A manual along with a card to register the product
- The Desk stand Assembly
- Power Chord (US)
- Two Velcro patches
Port Breakdown
As mentioned earlier, the PowerHUB comes with a 4-port configuration with a maximum total output of 75W. Here is the power breakdown for each port.
- 1x USB Type-C rated for 60W Output, which is easily enough for bigger devices like laptops or Tablets.
- 1X USB Type-A (Orange) with Quick Charge 3.0, rated at 18W which is a huge plus for phones that support quick charge.
- 2X USB Type-A (Blue) rated at 2.4A/12W each.
Testing
For testing out the charger, we used three devices. All of the devices were fully depleted of their charges and tested from 0% battery. They were not being used while they were charging but we have included the phone charging results while it was being charged from 2% battery, while being sparsely used for calls and the odd messaging.
We have also included the results for how the supplied charges of the Poco X2 and Macbook fare against it.
The primary device that was used to test out the quick charge functionality on the QC Type-A port was the Xiaomi Poco X2, which has a massive 4500mAh battery, rated to charge at 27W on its stock charger.
To test out the remaining 2.4A ports, we hooked in our Anker PowerCore 21000mAh Powerbank, requires a 2A charger atleast if you want to charge it in under 12 Hours.
For the Type-C port, we used a 13’ MacBook Pro 2017, that has a 61W charger and can take in charge via the USB-C port on the PowerHUB.
Results
| Device | Port Used | Battery Rating | Crave PowerHub (HH/MM) | Stock Charger (HH/MM) |
| Poco X2 | Type-A QC 18W (Orange) | 4500mAh | 1:37 | 1:15 (27W QC) |
| 13’ MacBook Pro 2017 w/Touch bar | Type-C (PD) 60W | 12960mAh (3 Cell) | 1:30 | 1:24 |
| Anker PowerCore Power Bank | Type-A 2.4A 12W (Blue) | 20100mAh | 10:38 | 11:07 (5V/2A Xiaomi Charger) |
Observations
- Poco X2; 4500mAh battery: The Poco X2’s stock charges at a ludicrous 27W. Which is why it edged out the Crave PowerHub Pro, which is limited to 18W. However the charge time of the PowerHub is not bad and can be easily used as a daily driver.
- MacBook Pro: The stock charger on the MacBook Pro edged out just a bit, as compared to the PowerHub. However the difference of roughly 5 minutes is almost negligible.
- Anker PowerCore: The Anker PowerCore surprisingly charged faster on the PowerHub Pro, which were hoping would happen. The stock Xiaomi charger only charges at 2A while the PowerHub Charges at a slightly higher 2.4A.
- Additionally we connected multiple devices on the charger, all at once to see how hot or efficiently it would charge. After30 minutes on a full load, we noticed that the device did get hot, but not so much that it was impossible to touch or interact with. After 1 Hour, we were still able to get desired results that we noted while we were charging each device individually.
Additional Features of the Crave PowerHub Pro
- Safety: The Crave PowerHub Pro is compliant with CE, FCC and RoHS, which is not only environmentally safe, but also saves your device against all manner of electrical issues like – Short Circuit, Over Current and Heating.
- Smart IC: The PowerHub Pro features a smart IC that can detect what amperage your device is using or needs and then adjusts the power requirements accordingly.
- Multiple Mounting options: You can either keep the charger on the desk with the included desk stand or you can stick it below the desk with the included velcro stickers. We tested it out and the adhesive is easily strong enough to hold the charger and handle the constant USB insertions.
Final Thoughts
At $59.99 USD on the official site, this is one hell of a deal. Even better is the fact that, it can be had for $10 less at Amazon. This brings in the important question – should you but it, considering you already probably have something good enough or just as good lying around the house?
The answer might depend on how many battery related gadgets that you own and how much are you willing to localize your charging points. The ideal place for a product like this is around the living room or the office, where you have multiple devices that require some form of USB power to multiple gadgets. For others that do not use that many gadgets, it might not be worth the investment as you already have your bundled in charger, which works just as well, if not better.
About the Author
Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.
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