How to charge 30, 50, or even 100 smartphones or tablets simultaneously

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If you have a lot of devices to keep charged up, then this solution is far superior to using dozens of chargers.

Most of us have a few devices that need regular charging, and a decent 2-port or, at the most, 5-port charger is enough. But some people have to charge up more devices than that. A lot more. And daisy-chaining a bunch of standard chargers on an extension cord is not really a long-term workable solution.

But there is an answer.

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As usual, which solution you choose depends on how much you want to spend.

At the cheaper end of the spectrum, there are plenty of USB hubs out there that come equipped with a variety of ports. At the smaller, more reserved, end of the spectrum, there are plenty of 7-port, 10-port, and 16-port USB hubs available.

I've tested these, and while they work well, they're more of a consumer item as opposed to something that you might have working daily in a workplace or office. These also handle data transfer, so they aren't dedicated charge stations.

Prices range from about $38 to $80.

Need more? Sure thing.

Here are a pair of decent USB charge hubs with 20-ports and 25-ports. Priced around $35, these are more suited to daily use, and handle higher power load better thanks to more efficient cooling. These are dedicated charging hubs, so don't carry data between devices.

Prices are around $40.

Need more ports? Not a problem.

While not many are going to want such charging capacities, 60-port and even monster 100-port USB charging hubs exist, priced in the $100 to $160 region. They are big and bulky, and will need a fair bit of space (factor in having tens of devices connected, along with all the wiring), and are not the sort of thing you're going to want to move about regularly.

While on the subject of wiring, you'll need a lot of USB cables. I recommend decent braided cables to eliminate snagging, and the whole project turning into spaghetti. Cables from the Amazon Basics or Anker Powerline line work well because they resist tangling.

While you might find cheaper units around, I would not trust their ability to deliver this sort of power. You're dealing with a lot of power, and also connecting a lot of devices to a single charge point.

Simultaneously blowing up a hundred smartphones doesn't bear thinking about.

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