Review: Ugreen's 'Uno' Line of Chargers and Hubs Brings a Little Whimsy to Utility Products

By Julie Clover

Ugreen caught my attention earlier this year when it released a new line of “Uno” accessories that feature LED screens that can display fun emoji. The Uno line includes everything from wireless chargers to power banks, and I spent a few months testing the products to see how they performed.

According to Ugreen, everything in the Uno line was designed with a “robot-inspired” aesthetic, meaning a square style with an LED screen that can display emoji. Emojis are fun and add a bit of fun to accessories that are usually boring, but they are also useful and can change depending on battery level and other factors.

Ugreen Uno Magnetic Wireless Power Bank

At $45, the Magnetic Wireless Power Bank looks like a lot of other power banks on the market at first glance, with a rectangular design that mirrors the shape of the iPhone. However, the LED screen and the attached stand, which turns out to be a set of headphones, make it stand out.

The power bank is made of smooth metallic plastic with soft silicone on the back where it magnetically attaches to the iPhone’s MagSafe. It feels relatively lightweight, but it’s a little over 3/4-inch thick, so it adds a little bulk to the iPhone. It comes in black, which is similar to Apple’s space black, and a light purple shade. While it’s a little thick, it’s pocketable, measuring 4.2 inches by 2.8 inches. The plastic material feels a little cheap, but it’s lightweight, and I wouldn’t expect too much for the price.

The LED display protrudes a bit, which does give it a distinct robotic look, and it often displays an emoji that represents the battery level. I say “often” because most of the time it actually shows a percentage of the exact battery level. I don’t know what causes the emoji to appear, and I would have liked a button to toggle between the battery percentage and the face.

You need to turn on the power bank by pressing the side button while it’s connected to the ‌iPhone‌, which initiates charging. More than once I’ve connected it to my ‌iPhone‌ and forgotten to activate it, but having a sleep mode seems to preserve the battery level when not in use. The button has other functions too, and a single press turns on the LCD, while a double press turns it off.

When you turn on the device, it displays a “Hello” message, and when you turn off the device, it displays a “Bye” message. The emoji displayed changes depending on the battery level. At 100 percent, the face shows heart-shaped eyes, and at 99 to 80 percent, it changes to a happy face with smiling eyes. At 79 to 21 percent, it’s a happy face with a more neutral expression in the eyes, and at 20 percent or lower, it’s a sad face. Each face animates slightly, with the eyes and mouth changing positions.

This is a Qi2 charger, so it can charge iPhone ‌MagSafe‌ at up to 15W. 15W is no longer the maximum charge speed, as the iPhone 16 models support 25W ‌MagSafe‌ charging, but it is equivalent to the original 15W ‌MagSafe‌ charging. The capacity is 10,000 mAh, which is standard for small chargers these days.

In an hour-long test, it charged my iPhone 16 Pro Max from one percent to 39 percent, with 67 percent battery left. After charging my iPhone to 80 percent (the maximum I set), the charger had 20 percent power left.

I've tested several times and I can reliably get one full charge of the 16 Pro Max from the power bank, and I haven't had any issues with it during my testing. My iPhone does get warm sometimes, but that happens with any MagSafe power bank I use.

Along with Qi2 charging, there's a USB-C port that can be used to charge your iPhone and other accessories, as well as charge the power bank. The USB-C port is 20W, so you can get a faster charge on your iPhone using the USB-C to USB-C cable (included) or USB-C to Lightning cable depending on which iPhone you have. 20W can also charge an iPad at a reasonable rate, but it's not fast enough. Pass-through charging is supported, so you can charge the power bank via USB-C while simultaneously charging a connected iPhone.

The package includes a kickstand that flips out from the top. It holds the iPhone in the perfect position for FaceTime calls or watching videos, and it’s sturdy. The kickstand has multiple positions, so the viewing angle can be adjusted, and it can be used in landscape or portrait orientation. When not in use, it folds into the top of the battery to look like headphones.

Ugreen Uno 30W Power Bank

The $38 Ugreen Uno USB-C Power Bank with 10,000mAh capacity is similar to the Magnetic Wireless Power Bank in design, but it doesn’t have wireless charging. Instead, it offers 30W charging over USB-C and has a built-in USB-C cable.

All the emoji faces are the same, and the build quality is identical, but the power bank is slightly thinner and taller at 4.6 inches by 2.8 inches. This model is just over half an inch thick and does not magnetically attach to the iPhone.

While it has the same design as the earbuds, there is no stand on top. Instead, there is a power button on one side of the “earbuds” to turn the power bank on and off.

Along with the built-in USB-C cable, there are additional USB-C and USB-A ports on the top, so you can charge multiple devices at once. The flat USB-C cable fits into a slot on the back of the charger and feels securely attached. I couldn’t get it to budge by tugging on it, but there’s always the danger of attached cables breaking.

30W is fast charging for the iPhone, and my iPhone 16 Pro Max charged from one percent to 54 percent in 30 minutes during testing, which matches fast-charging tests using standard 30W power adapters. I was able to fully charge the power bank before it ran out of juice.

With its built-in USB-C cable, this model is best suited for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models. with USB-C ports, but since it has additional USB-C and USB-A ports, it can also be used with a Lightning cable.

For fast charging, the USB-C Uno external battery is better than the Qi2 model, and it’s nice not to have to carry a USB-C cable.

100W USB-C Charger

The $48 Ugreen 100W USB-C Uno Charger is probably my favorite of the bunch, and it has the most robotic design. It’s a square-shaped charger, but there’s an LED display that shows emojis, a headphone-like strip on the top, and a pair of feet that cover the plug at the bottom.

The feet detach so you can plug the Uno into a wall outlet, and it’s best used as a desktop charger due to the placement of the prongs. If you plug it into a standard outlet, the face will either be up or down, but it can definitely be used that way. I haven't lost the little feet yet and they have a magnet inside that you can attach to your laptop when the charger is plugged in if you're using it on the go.

This charger is surprisingly compact and heavy, and it’s made of the same black plastic as the power banks.

When plugged in, the LCD display is always on. I keep the charger on my desk, and it blinks at me all day long. If you have it in plain sight, it can be annoying. When something is charging, three faces appear, one with glowing eyes and one with a greedy face. When the device is fully charged, a face with sunglasses appears.

There are four ports on the top of the charger, including three USB-C ports and one USB-A port. Since this is a 100W charger, it can charge the 16-inch MacBook Pro and everything below it. To get the fastest charge from the MacBook Pro (the full 100W), you will need to plug it in separately to one of the two top ports.

When charging multiple devices, power is split between the ports. When two devices are connected, the split is 65W/30W with the USB-C ports, or 65W/22.5W with one USB-C port and one USB-A port.

The three-port split has options of 45W/30W/20W, 45W/30W/22.5W, and 80W/7.5W/7.5W, while four ports in use will split the power up to 45W/30W/7.5W/7.5W. The manual that comes with the charger has more specific information about how the power is distributed to each port.

Ugreen claims that the charger has overvoltage, overcurrent, overload, and overheating protection, and I didn't have any issues using the charger.

There's also a 65W version that comes in white and purple and blue and pink, and it's nice to see options that aren't the standard black.

USB-C Cable

Ugreen has an $8 Uno USB-C to USB-C 100W PD Cable that has little emoji eyes on it, and it pairs well with the 100W charger. It’s braided nylon and feels like a good quality cable.

The basic cable is 1.6 feet, but there are pricier models that are 3.3 feet, 6.6 feet, and 10 feet long. It supports data speeds of up to 480 Mbps.

2-in-1 Wireless Charger

Ugreen’s $49 Uno 2-in-1 Wireless Charger also meets the Qi2 standard and supports up to 15W charging for iPhones on MagSafe devices. It has a foldable design with a charging puck for the iPhone and a second 5W charging spot for the AirPods Pro. The iPhone charger can be positioned at a variety of angles, and the iPhone can be held in either landscape or portrait orientation, allowing you to use StandBy mode.

The square-shaped 2-in-1 wireless charger is similar to other Uno products and is made of the same black plastic. It has an LCD display on the front and a headphone-style design on the top. The face isn’t as animated as other models, but it shows two happy eyes when turned on and in standby mode, and a happy face with a mouth when the device is charging.

Ugreen includes a USB-C cable that plugs into the back, but you’ll need to provide your own power adapter. You can also buy an additional Apple Watch charger to add to the side so you can charge three devices at once.

The charger is relatively compact, so it doesn’t take up much space on your desk at all, but it’s weighted so it won’t tip over.

Uno 6-in-1 Hub

Ugreen’s latest product in the Uno line is the 6-in-1 USB-C Hub, which costs $18. It’s a cheap hub, but it’s good for pass-through charging and connecting accessories to your Mac. As for the design, it features the black plastic that Ugreen uses for much of the Uno line, and an LCD display that displays various emoji animations.

The build quality of the hub feels cheap and I wasn’t impressed with it. It’s the same plastic as other Ugreen products, but the hub feels so light and almost flimsy. The emojis were also less useful on the hub, with only separate faces for idle and faces for charging.

There are three USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and an HDMI port that supports up to 4K/60Hz. It provides 85W pass-through charging for the Mac, as well as 15W for connecting peripherals. 85W is usually enough for all Mac laptops, but you won’t get the maximum charging speed for the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

I had some issues transferring data with this hub, with the transfer stopping midway. I’m not sure why, but it affected several ports. I doubt this is an issue with all models, but I don’t like the size or usefulness of this hub, and I think there are better options.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for an accessory that brings a little more fun to your desk than a standard power adapter or power bank, I think Ugreen’s Uno line is worth considering. I especially liked the 100W USB-C charger and the Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charger, though everything except the hub worked well.

Ugreen’s Uno products also make fun gifts, and I think the power bank with the little emoji face would work well for anyone with an ‌iPhone‌. I want to point out that the Qi2 charger appears to be for the iPhone only, as some reviews have mentioned that it doesn't work with Android devices.