Asus launches a $27 GaN charger with four ports and 100W output

Asus has launched a compact 100W GaN charger in China priced at CNY 179 — roughly $27 — that fits four charging ports into a body the size of a travel pack of tissues. That price point undercuts comparable four-port models from Anker and Ugreen, which typically start around £33–£50 in the UK and $35–$55 in the US. The catch: global availability is unconfirmed, and the model currently sold through the ASUS UK Store is a different, three-port variant.

The hardware

The A Bean — also sold as the Adol 100W in some markets — measures 75 × 61 × 29 mm and weighs around 211 g, with foldable prongs to keep it bag-friendly. It comes in multiple colors, a small but welcome departure from the generic black-or-white bricks that dominate this category.

The port layout is three USB-C plus one USB-A. The two primary USB-C ports (C1 and C2) each deliver a full 100W when used alone — enough to fast-charge a laptop or a Nintendo Switch without complaint. The third USB-C tops out at 20W, fine for phones and earbuds. The USB-A port supports Huawei's SCP at 22.5W or Qualcomm Quick Charge at 18W, so older cables stay useful.

Power sharing

Plug in multiple devices and the math gets more modest, as it does with every multi-port charger. Two devices on C1 and C2 split to 60W and 30W. Run all four ports at once and the distribution becomes 45W + 30W + 20W across the remaining slots — still enough to keep a laptop, tablet, and phone charging simultaneously without any of them crawling, per Notebookcheck.

Supported protocols cover the main bases: USB Power Delivery (PD), PPS, Qualcomm Quick Charge, and Huawei SCP.

Availability

Right now, the A Bean is a China-only launch at CNY 179 (~$27). The charger Asus sells in the UK and US — the AC100-02 — is a three-port model with a different power distribution (65W primary, 30W secondary) and costs more. Whether the A Bean reaches Western markets, and at what price after import costs and taxes, hasn't been announced. If it does arrive close to its Chinese price, it would be a genuine budget option in a category where Anker and Ugreen currently set the ceiling.