UGREEN: terrible power bank and even worse customer service

[vespasianvs]

Name of Brand: UGREEN

 

Description of your issue: It's actually the first time where I have specifically used a brand because they were recommended by LTT. I bought a UGREEN Uno Power Bank 10000mAh 30W and was impressed at first with how cool it looks. However, it doesn't charge my Samsung Galaxy A34. I plug it in, the phone says 'charging' but then the the power bank goes into standby and then just shuts down 2 minutes later.

 

Have you tried solving your issue through the brand's customer support channel? If so, what was the result?

Absolutely, here is a copy of the thread with UGREEN customer support:

 

Me, 9th March, 17:12: (Initial support request opened):

I'm having problems with charging my Samsung Galaxy A34 phone.

 

I plug the power supply in, it detects and says charging... But then doesn't work. It doesn't charge and goes into standby. I have tried it on a friend's Pixel 8 pro, and it works on that. I can charge my phone with an Anker power supply and mains power. The charging port is fully clean and working perfectly. The only thing that seems unable to charge my phone is my ugreen power bank. 

 

UGREEN, 10th March, 06:58:

Could you please send me a video to show the problem?
And can the power bank work with other phone's model?

 

Me, 10th March 07:10:

Here is a video of the problem. The power bank will charge a pixel 8 pro fine. And an Anker power bank will charge the Samsung A34 in the video fine too. 

 

UGREEN: 11 March, 09:43:

Can the power bank work well with Samsung A34 before?

 

Me: 11th March, 09:49:

No, it's never worked with the Samsung A34. 

 

UGREEN: 13th March, 07:05:

It's suggested that you restart the phone to see if it's working. 
If it still doesn't work, you can take a video of the problem.

 

Me: 13th March, 07:19:

The phone has been restarted and I already sent you a video of the problem. 

Here is the link... Again... 

 

UGREEN: 17th March, 07:06:

It might be the problem of the compatibility, it's suggested that you use it with other phone device.

 

What do I want for resolution?

Well, faster responses. Not to be told to get a new phone so I can use their power bank (that is apparently compatible with all phones) and probably a full and refund with them paying the return postage costs for the power bank.

Sadly, now I look at Trust Pilot reviews, it seems like they are having fairly major issues with customer support.

[Levent]

I am not sure what kind of a powerbank that is, but some PD powerbanks dont well with dumb charging. If your phone or your cable that is in any way not capable of negotiating QC or PD protocols, that is precisely what usually happens. 

Make sure your you are able to connect that phone to your PC using a USB cable and transfer data, if not that means socket on your phone is messed up.

[vespasianvs]

Data transfer works fine - I've used a USB cable to copy files off the phone before without a problem. The phone is also pretty much brand new, so I'd be surprised there. Thanks for trying to help though - seems like this forum is better than UGreen Support

[Timme]

Do you have any other USB-C device or someone else's phone to test it on? 
Also, try to disable "fast-charging" in Battery options.

[vespasianvs]

3 minutes ago, Timme said:

Do you have any other USB-C device or someone else's phone to test it on? 
Also, try to disable "fast-charging" in Battery options.

I tried it with a Pixel 8 Pro, and that worked fine. I tried various battery options on the A34 and nothing there got it working. The A34 charges fine with my Anker power bank, which is why I am so frustrated with UGreen (and particularly their very poor customer support).

 

I do love that these forums are better than UGreen customer support

[Timme]

20 minutes ago, vespasianvs said:

that worked fine

This is a problem on the phone side. Not to say the Ugreen power bank isn't part of the issue, but it is a compatibility issue. Since the power bank has a single USB-C port AND cable, it handles power/voltages in a more complex way, which isn't supported by your phone(and how Samsung configured it). 
Does your Anker device happen to have 2-3 ports?
 

[vespasianvs]

30 minutes ago, Timme said:

This is a problem on the phone side. Not to say the Ugreen power bank isn't part of the issue, but it is a compatibility issue. Since the power bank has a single USB-C port AND cable, it handles power/voltages in a more complex way, which isn't supported by your phone(and how Samsung configured it). 
Does your Anker device happen to have 2-3 ports?
 

I suppose I do understand that. My Anker power bank just has a single USB-C port (all of my devices are USB-C). However, I think my complaint here is really just the dismissive attitude of the customer support. To basically result in essentially being told to just use a different phone isn't how problems get solved. It's not like the Samsung Galaxy range isn't a pretty mainstream phone range.

 

I have always had Anker power banks in the past, and I think I will go back to that after this.

[Timme]

1 minute ago, vespasianvs said:

I suppose I do understand that. My Anker power bank just has a single USB-C port (all of my devices are USB-C). However, I think my complaint here is really just the dismissive attitude of the customer support. To basically result in essentially being told to just use a different phone isn't how problems get solved. It's not like the Samsung Galaxy range isn't a pretty mainstream phone range.

 

I have always had Anker power banks in the past, and I think I will go back to that after this.

Well, they did reply and tried some troubleshooting. Granted, in a not most efficient or empathic manner to address your frustration. But anything else is only from a god-tier support person that comes rarely. 
Did you try Samsung support?:D

[wanderingfool2]

6 hours ago, Timme said:

Do you have any other USB-C device or someone else's phone to test it on? 
Also, try to disable "fast-charging" in Battery options.

6 hours ago, Timme said:

This is a problem on the phone side. Not to say the Ugreen power bank isn't part of the issue, but it is a compatibility issue. Since the power bank has a single USB-C port AND cable, it handles power/voltages in a more complex way, which isn't supported by your phone(and how Samsung configured it). 
Does your Anker device happen to have 2-3 ports?

I do find it entertaining that you asked if he has someone else's phone to test on when in his original post he literally spells out that he tested it on someone elses phone and it works.

 

Granted the whole implementation of PD with USB is pretty poor overall, but if his phone is working on all the other power banks and chargers; and works for a bit of time on the UGREEN before it goes into sleep, then UGREEN really should be the one refunded for the purchase (upon device return).

 

 

To @vespasianvs not sure if this would have any effect on things but does your phone have power sharing on it?  I'm curious, as I do wonder if that could trip up a device like UGREEN if something isn't implemented correctly.

 

Another thing I would ask, have you tried asking UGREEN if they can return the product for a refund given that it can't charge a standard kind of phone (Although admittedly they might point out that they have a compatibility list...but that's something that LMG should really be looking at in regards to a sponsor if the company literally lists compatibly because perhaps they haven't implemented things the way they should be to make it work with all products that one would expect)

[Timme]

16 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

I do find it entertaining that you asked if he has someone else's phone to test on when in his original post he literally spells out that he tested it on someone elses phone and it works.

Sorry, I must be blind. Could you quote this for me, please? 

19 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

Granted the whole implementation of PD with USB is pretty poor overall

That is a weird thing to say these days. And compared to what exactly? 
This specific UGREEN power bank has PD 30W(for Apple, less Android) and PPS QC(Android). Now, whether the A34 simply doesn't support newer standards(QC2) or it expects a different simple read from the cable, it is the phone that's saying "no, thank you".

[Timme]

7 hours ago, vespasianvs said:

I tried it with a Pixel 8 Pro, and that worked fine. I tried various battery options on the A34 and nothing there got it working. The A34 charges fine with my Anker power bank, which is why I am so frustrated with UGreen (and particularly their very poor customer support).

 

I do love that these forums are better than UGreen customer support

Wait, did you also try using cables on both USB-A and C open ports?

[wanderingfool2]

1 hour ago, Timme said:

Sorry, I must be blind. Could you quote this for me, please? 

Quote

I have tried it on a friend's Pixel 8 pro, and it works on that.

Quote

The power bank will charge a pixel 8 pro fine

 

1 hour ago, Timme said:

That is a weird thing to say these days. And compared to what exactly? 
This specific UGREEN power bank has PD 30W(for Apple, less Android) and PPS QC(Android). Now, whether the A34 simply doesn't support newer standards(QC2) or it expects a different simple read from the cable, it is the phone that's saying "no, thank you".

There seems just to be a lot of "gotcha's" when it comes to PD these days.  Although granted it should still be able to trick charge a phone even if PD isn't working as intended.  The thing is the OP also stated that it starts to charge and then the battery bank seems to shutdown when it's charging the phone so it really points to something wrong on UGREEN end.

[Timme]

1 minute ago, wanderingfool2 said:

 

There seems just to be a lot of "gotcha's" when it comes to PD these days. Although granted it should still be able to trick charge a phone even if PD isn't working as intended. The thing is the OP also stated that it starts to charge and then the battery bank seems to shutdown when it's charging the phone so it really points to something wrong on UGREEN end.

I was indeed blind 
For the power bank, I somehow missed that it had another 2 open ports - one type-C and another USB-A. Was it mentioned if all of those were tried as well? With a single cable handling both PD30 and PPS QC3, poor QC2 on A34 paired with Samsung's "3rd-party" optimizations may just not support that type of cable. Happens with other electronics, so the question is whether those ports work. Specifically, USB-A to C as it's probably has the lowest output.

[eLLe7]

Worth a shot. Mine is a nexode 100w and it have a feature where it won't go to sleep(slow charge mode). Can you try pressing the side button for a few secs? If yours also have this feature, there should be a circling animation on the display. Well, this is Only if it's charging while it's on. 

[vespasianvs]

16 hours ago, wanderingfool2 said:

I do find it entertaining that you asked if he has someone else's phone to test on when in his original post he literally spells out that he tested it on someone elses phone and it works.

 

Granted the whole implementation of PD with USB is pretty poor overall, but if his phone is working on all the other power banks and chargers; and works for a bit of time on the UGREEN before it goes into sleep, then UGREEN really should be the one refunded for the purchase (upon device return).

 

 

To @vespasianvs not sure if this would have any effect on things but does your phone have power sharing on it?  I'm curious, as I do wonder if that could trip up a device like UGREEN if something isn't implemented correctly.

 

Another thing I would ask, have you tried asking UGREEN if they can return the product for a refund given that it can't charge a standard kind of phone (Although admittedly they might point out that they have a compatibility list...but that's something that LMG should really be looking at in regards to a sponsor if the company literally lists compatibly because perhaps they haven't implemented things the way they should be to make it work with all products that one would expect)

The compatibility list is very interesting to me as I *always* check those (I'm not a tech newbie) and I'm pretty sure I didn't even see it when I bought the power bank. It could be me (very possible) or it could have been added - who knows.

 

Reading TrustPilot reviews for UGreen is very interesting when it comes to customer support, especially since the new year. I wonder if they have changed something?

[vespasianvs]

14 hours ago, Timme said:

I was indeed blind 
For the power bank, I somehow missed that it had another 2 open ports - one type-C and another USB-A. Was it mentioned if all of those were tried as well? With a single cable handling both PD30 and PPS QC3, poor QC2 on A34 paired with Samsung's "3rd-party" optimizations may just not support that type of cable. Happens with other electronics, so the question is whether those ports work. Specifically, USB-A to C as it's probably has the lowest output.

Oh, I've tried all of the options and I get the same thing. Like all tech people I have a box full of cables (and other power banks too) so tried different things.

 

I'm now trying to arrange a return of the power bank to ugreen (bit waiting for tech support). They have agreed I can return it (at my cost, which I am not happy about), but then failed to actually send me an address to send it to!

 

I'll go and buy from Anker next time - never had any problem with those, even with my mum's ancient phone and my latest Anker power supply.

[Timme]

6 minutes ago, vespasianvs said:

Oh, I've tried all of the options and I get the same thing. Like all tech people I have a box full of cables (and other power banks too) so tried different things.

 

I'm now trying to arrange a return of the power bank to ugreen (bit waiting for tech support). They have agreed I can return it (at my cost, which I am not happy about), but then failed to actually send me an address to send it to!

 

I'll go and buy from Anker next time - never had any problem with those, even with my mum's ancient phone and my latest Anker power supply.

Nothing personal about the ports - wasn't mentioned and you never know the person on the other side, so general clarification only.

This response/resolution is horrible. I assume they expect you to save the box it came in and send it back. LTT really should address this.

Good luck with Anker and I hope their support isn't a "small indie company". To avoid contact, though, in the future do check the detailed specs of newer power banks and complex charging bricks and match them to your device. Newer banks not working with older and simpler phones is a common issue these days.

[vespasianvs]

Yeah, I'm normally pretty good at checking compatibility, which is why I'm wondering if that compatibility table has been added since I bought the power bank. Even if it is my fault though (with is entirely possible), I still don't feel like the support has been what I'd expect.

 

I've used Anker before and their support has always been superb. I only went with ugreen as I'd kept hearing about them from LMG, so I thought I'd give them a go!

[wanderingfool2]

9 hours ago, vespasianvs said:

The compatibility list is very interesting to me as I *always* check those (I'm not a tech newbie) and I'm pretty sure I didn't even see it when I bought the power bank. It could be me (very possible) or it could have been added - who knows.

 

Reading TrustPilot reviews for UGreen is very interesting when it comes to customer support, especially since the new year. I wonder if they have changed something?

Honestly, that's something that I'm sure you probably missed checking, and was there since the get go...because who would ever expect that it wouldn't be able to charge a cell phone.  Sure the PD stuff I would probably check, but I would expect it should still be able to handle the basic 5v 1a as the base case.  [I personally check compatibility for products as well, especially when buying for work, but I wouldn't have even thought of looking for it for a product like this...so I am assuming you probably wouldn't have been actively looking for it either]  *Note, not blaming or saying it's your fault as a battery bank should really be compatible or at least offer minimal charging*

 

It really sucks though they are making you pay for the shipping, I personally would have tried getting them to pay for the return shipping...but then again after such a long time I sort of understand why you would just want it done with (also prevents the whole "We didn't receive it" kind of thing)

[manikyath]

there's a thing with USB-C that is very dumb, and i'm guessing that's what you're running into.

 

in theory to get 5 volts off usb-c you need some resistors on specific pins (cba to look up the details, you get the point anyways), but those are not necessary if you charge off USB-A, because that always outputs 5 volts.

 

so, there are a rather large amount of devices available that forego these resistors because they just work with an A to C cable, and they dont support USB-PD anyways, so why bother.

 

problem here is if you're charging with a C to C cable, the power bank sees no communication, so it just assumes nothing's there.

 

so... in theory this is a phone problem so their support is right.. BUT, that's not a way to handle a customer, and in my opinion every power bank should have a "dumb 5 volt" output on it.

 

if you're interested in resolving the issue trough other means, there's activator plugs for USB PD.. not that you should need that...

[vespasianvs]

14 hours ago, manikyath said:

there's a thing with USB-C that is very dumb, and i'm guessing that's what you're running into.

 

in theory to get 5 volts off usb-c you need some resistors on specific pins (cba to look up the details, you get the point anyways), but those are not necessary if you charge off USB-A, because that always outputs 5 volts.

 

so, there are a rather large amount of devices available that forego these resistors because they just work with an A to C cable, and they dont support USB-PD anyways, so why bother.

 

problem here is if you're charging with a C to C cable, the power bank sees no communication, so it just assumes nothing's there.

 

so... in theory this is a phone problem so their support is right.. BUT, that's not a way to handle a customer, and in my opinion every power bank should have a "dumb 5 volt" output on it.

 

if you're interested in resolving the issue trough other means, there's activator plugs for USB PD.. not that you should need that...

Really useful info here thanks - and I am at least learning something through this experience. I'm a tech guy - but more software than hardware!

 

The A34 normally charges with a C to C cable from the wall socket, so I still struggle to see why it won't work...

 

An update though:

• I bought the power bank from UGreen UK and it shipped from their UK warehouse.
• They want me to return it to their warehouse in Germany, paying for international (tracked & insured) shipping and customs fees.
• There are also lots of 'terms' telling me all of the reasons that they will just not refund me *or* return the power bank to me (such has hand writing the address!).

Essentially this means that anything bought from UGreen in the UK is never going to be economical to return unless it's some of their really expensive stuff.

 

Looks like I'm just going to try to sell the power bank and then buy a decent Anker power bank.

[wanderingfool2]

20 hours ago, manikyath said:

problem here is if you're charging with a C to C cable, the power bank sees no communication, so it just assumes nothing's there.

While I would potentially agree with this, one issue I would say is that if it starts charging then there must be something that it originally thinks is okay.

 

6 hours ago, vespasianvs said:

• They want me to return it to their warehouse in Germany, paying for international (tracked & insured) shipping and customs fees.
• There are also lots of 'terms' telling me all of the reasons that they will just not refund me *or* return the power bank to me (such has hand writing the address!).

That sucks, might still be able to try pushing them to accept it with free return due to the fact that the product will not even do a trick charge

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, wanderingfool2 said:

While I would potentially agree with this, one issue I would say is that if it starts charging then there must be something that it originally thinks is okay.

it might wake up and wait for comms, and if it doesnt see comms conk out again. if your phone is properly dead dead it might not do comms until it's booted up.

[vespasianvs]

On 3/19/2025 at 6:07 PM, wanderingfool2 said:

That sucks, might still be able to try pushing them to accept it with free return due to the fact that the product will not even do a trick charge

Yeah, tried this - it's a hard no. Just gonna have to try to sell the power bank myself and buy a new one. It's a shame as it's the first time I've used a company based on them being an LTT sponsor and it's not been great. Sticking with Anker in the future for my power needs!