Review: YLpower 87W USB-C Charger (MSH-87PD)


My quest to move my entire life to USB-C continue. Headphones, laptops, Switch, phone, eReader - all taking the same power port. Bliss! But that means I need more USB-C chargers.

This is the YLpower 87W USB-C Charger.

White power supply with a USB-C and USB-A port.

First off, 87? What? The USB-C port is capable of 85 Watts - enough for even the most demanding laptop. The USB-A port supplies the remaining 2 Watts. Perfectly fine for most other uses.

£28 gets you a charger, UK plug, and a chunky USB-C Power-Delivery cable.

Good

It charged my ThinkPad, ChromeBook, Nintendo Switch, phone, and eReader using the USB-C to USB-C cable.

The USB-A port supplies 2.4 Amps. And you can use both ports at once.

The plug is compatible with Apple extension cables.

View of a plug suitable for an extension.

It's lightweight, and of a similar size and shape to an Apple charger.

Bad

It's not all sunshine and roses. USB-C PD is still in its infancy.

Two of my laptops charged from this at about 65W - which is good. But my third laptop would only charge at about 30W! Despite the fact that the laptop charges at 65W off different chargers. Mind you, that laptop refused to charge off a ChromeBook's 45W charger. USB-C is a bit weird. I replaced the cable which came with the charger, but to no avail. It still charges, but slowly.

For some reason, my BlueTooth headphones wouldn't charge on the USB-C output. But they worked on the USB-A outlet. They work fine when charged from other USB-C chargers. But they don't work when plugged into my laptop's USB-C port!

Who are YLpower? As far as I can tell, they exist to resell MingShengHui chargers - this is the MSH-87PD. I've no idea what sort of customer support they'll offer.

The unit gets a little warm in use. There aren't any heat dissipation measures - no vents or anything like that.

Verdict

It works, and is pretty cheap.

It's hard to know whether any problems are with the unit, the cable, or the inherent teething troubles of USB-C. Given that it works well on the Nintendo - notorious for hating 3rd party chargers - I think it's my laptop which needs an update.

You can buy the charger for about £28. That's a reasonable, but not spectacular, price.

This purchase was refunded via NiceRebate.com (affiliate link).


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One thought on “Review: YLpower 87W USB-C Charger (MSH-87PD)”

  1. says:

    I got scared of using off-brand generic USB chargers (power supplies) after reading this analysis, where the author viewed the voltage output of each charger on the oscilloscope.

    I myself have noticed this kind of issue twice: one USB charger powering a pair of desktop speakers would introduce a noticeable humming noise, while with another charger the sound is clean. One USB charger would make the touchscreen unresponsive while charging, another charger would work fine.

    Too bad it's difficult to measure that ourselves (unless you have the knowledge and the expensive equipment).

    Reply

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