Do Car Chargers Really Deliver? Baseus 65W vs Xiaomi 100W for Laptop Charging

Today, we're diving into the world of Type-C car chargers for laptops. Are these compact chargers really capable of meeting the demands of a laptop? We’ll take a close look at the Baseus 65W and Xiaomi 100W chargers, testing their capabilities and limitations.

Understanding Type-C Charging Protocols

Not all car chargers can power a laptop. Many quick-charge protocols, designed primarily for smartphones, offer voltages of 5V, 9V, and 12V. However, laptops generally need 20V to charge effectively.
Many cheap car chargers can provide maximum 12V. They can't charge most of laptops

Testing Laptop Power Consumption

To understand each charger’s capacity, we first need to know how much power a laptop consumes under different workloads. Here’s what I found:

• Idle mode: Around 20W.
• Video streaming (e.g., YouTube): Between 30-35W.
• Work tasks (e.g., compiling projects): About 64-66W.
• High-performance tasks with GPU: 73W, which can go up to 86W when both CPU and GPU are under load.

Testing the Baseus 65W Charger

The Baseus 65W charger performed well in general use but showed limitations under heavy load. After 30-40 minutes of high-power use, it began to heat up and even turned off periodically. The charger also has an unreliable central contact that can cause disconnections if it moves in the socket.

Under load, the charger reached its maximum output of around 67W. This is enough for standard tasks but struggles with more intense operations like gaming.

Testing the Xiaomi 100W Charger

The Xiaomi 100W charger comes with an excellent spring contact, providing stable positioning in the car socket. However, in our tests, it delivered only 50W instead of the advertised 100W. I double-checked with different cables and even tested it at a higher input voltage of 24V, but the output stayed the same.

This limited power output makes the Xiaomi charger suitable only for lighter laptop tasks, not heavy gaming or demanding workloads.

Conclusion

After testing both chargers, here’s the verdict:

• The Baseus 65W charger is reliable for everyday work but may disconnect without careful positioning.
• The Xiaomi 100W charger is easy to secure in the socket but does not deliver the promised 100W, maxing out at 50W.

Overall, each charger has its pros and cons, and neither fully meets the needs for demanding laptop tasks. I recommend the Baseus for lighter tasks and the Xiaomi if stability in the socket is your top priority, though both may struggle with gaming-level workloads.

Thanks for Reading!

I hope this comparison helps you make a more informed choice for your Type-C laptop charger. If you have questions or suggestions for future tests, feel free to leave a comment!