Choosing a port mix for a mixed device fleet

Most specification mistakes on multi-port chargers are port-mix mistakes, not wattage mistakes. The fix is to count devices before you count watts.

Start with the device census

List what will actually be plugged in at peak, by connector and by appetite. In practice fleets fall into three shapes:

• Modern and uniform — current laptops and phones, almost all USB-C. Weight the mix towards C ports: 8C + 2A, as on the LW800.
• Mixed age — USB-C laptops alongside older USB-A phones, tablets and accessories. Balance it: 5C + 3A or 6C + 4A.
• Public and unpredictable — guests, students, customers, whatever they walk in with. Weight towards A ports and keep PD on the lead: 5C + 5A, as on the LW695.

Then set the wattage

Take the peak simultaneous draw, not the sum of every port maximum. A meeting room with four laptops at 65W and a few phones is a 400W-class problem, not an 800W one — the LW470 or LW440 covers it. A co-working floor where members arrive with 140W-class machines is where the 880W and 950W units earn their place.

Then check duty cycle

Wattage and port count describe a moment. Duty cycle describes the year. A retail demo bench running twelve hours a day is a harder service than an office charger that idles from 18:00. Both can be served by the same model, but duty cycle is what should decide whether you specify spare units per floor and how you read the warranty terms.

Last, the physical constraints

Plug region (UK / EU / US / AU are interchangeable across the range), whether the unit is visible to the public and therefore needs to look like furniture, and whether anyone needs to see load at a glance — which is what the LCD telemetry models are for. Our deployment guides work through six common environments with model shortlists for each.