My UGREEN CD226 GaN 100W 4-ports USB fast charger

If you want to have a common charger for multiple devices that charge using USB cable, and better still, to be able to charge multiple devices at the same time, then you can look for a multiport charger such as this UGREEN CD226.

The UGREEN CD226 is a 4-ports charger that supports fast charging (or quick charging / super charging) of various protocols including PD3.0, PD2.0, PPS, QC4+, QC3.0, QC2.0, FCP, SCP, AFC, etc.

You can feel that this Gallium Nitride (GaN) charger is quite big (compared with those single port charger) and quite heavy. Holding it is like holding a tennis ball.

Anyhow, if it is not using the modern Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, it might have been even much more larger in size. 

It has 3 USB-C charging ports and 1 USB-A charging port. Its maximum charging power is 100W. You can use one or more ports at the same time to charge your device(s) simultaneously.

It is compatible with many devices (handphone, smart watch, tablet, game station, ear phone, and even laptop).

If you connect your device to the right charging port, it supports the fastest charging speed compatible with your device's USB port. However, if you connect your device to a non-compatible fast charging port, it can still charge up your device without problem, but with a slower charging speed.

Port C1 and C2 have the same specs that support a maximum charging power of 100W. You should try charging your device with either one of these 2 ports first. If you are unable to get fast charging, then try port C3, followed by port A.

It supports products of multiple brands, including but not limited to iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Dell XPS, Asus, Lenovo, HP, Surface, Huawei, Honor, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Nintendo Switch, etc.

Apple product users might like it very much, because its charging speed is much more faster than Apple's original charger.

However, it does not support the latest 100W super charge protocol of my Honor Magic 4 Pro handphone. I can still use it to charge the Honor Magic 4 Pro, but the charging speed is much slower, compared with charging using the handphone's original supercharge charger.

Same with most other modern chargers, the UGREEN CD226 has protection mechanisms to prevent overheat, overvoltage, overcharge, etc.

Free online website to generate hi-res colorful QR codes with customized design

If you need to generate a QR code, for whatever reason, what tools do you normally use?

I have been using QRCode Monkey for quite some times, and I find this free online QR-code generating website is still among the best, as it is free of charge and feature-rich.

It allows you to generate QR codes of your own style and design. Your design can be colourful too.

Your QR code can be of high resolution until 2000x2000 px, which is good enough for most printing use.

You can save your QR code in the format of PNG file, as well as in vector graphics of SVG, PDF or EPS.

It even provides free API for your application to generate QR codes remotely.

If you need more advanced QR code functioning, you can also sign up for Pro account for free. That will enable you to generate QR code that integrates with various online application to do more wonders.

How much can you save from loan early settlement?

Typically, there are 2 types of loans. One is fixed interest rate type, and another is variable interest rate type.

Some examples of fixed interest rate loan are: car loan, personal loan, credit card loan, study loan, business loan, etc.

Since the interest rate is fixed throughout the loan tenure, you can calculate its total interest using the simple interest formula of P x R% x T. The total loan repayment amount will then be principal plus total interest. The installment amount will be total repayment amount divided by no. of installments.

Variable interest rate loan has its interest calculated daily (daily rest), monthly (monthly rest), or other predetermined interval period. Property loan is normally of this type.

For this type of loan, since the interest rate in the future is unpredictable, the actual interest saved from early settlement is also unpredictable until the time has reached its original repayment end date. If we fix the last interest rate before the early settlement made for the rest of the original tenure, then the interest saved can be estimated using the simple interest formula above. Just substitute P with the early settlement amount will do.

The rest of this article will focus on how much we can save from early settlement of fixed interest rate loan.

The interest saved is usually called interest rebate, and is calculated according to the rule of 78. For Islamic loans, it is calculated according to the formula of Ibra'. Basically, both formulae are identical.

As an example, let's say a 7 years loan with principal 100k, 3% interest per annum, if we fully settle it 3 years after the borrowing, how much interest rebate can we get back?

Principal = 100k

Interest = 100k x 3% x 7 = 21k

7 years total repayment = 100k + 21k = 121k

Monthly installment = 121k/84 = 1440.476, rounded up to 1440.48

Since there is a round up of 0.004 for every installment, the last installment will then be 1440.16 only.

The sequential sum of all installment no. = 1+2+3+...+82+83+84 = (84)(84+1)/2 = 3570

According to rule of 78:

Interest for installment no. 1 = 21k x 84/3570

Interest for installment no. 2 = 21k x 83/3570

Interest for installment no. 3 = 21k x 82/3570

and so on...

Putting all the above information into an Excel worksheet, we can produce the following... 

and from the table above, we can produce the following graphs for better visualization of the interest portion:

We can observe that, for earlier installments the portion of interest is higher, and this will gradually reduce over time.

Back to our question, if we make an early settlement at the 36th installment, how much interest rebate can we get?

The interest rebate will be the sum of interest portion of the 37th installment until the last 84th installment.

There is a formula to quickly calculate this interest rebate:

Interest rebate = n(n+1)/N(N+1) x I

where:

N is the overall no. of installments

n is the no. of remaining installments

I is the overall interest amount = P x R% x T

Many financial institutions require an early notice period of at least 3 months, else a penalty will be imposed based on the interest amount of the notice shortcoming installments.

Some financial institutions also charge a fee, such as processing free, or early settlement fee, for early settlement.

By including these factors, our final formula will be:

Interest rebate = (n-t)(n-t+1)/N(N+1) x I - C

where:

t is the shortcoming of notice period

C is the related charge for early settlement

Last but not least, looking at our example above, we can observe that the interest is nearly fully paid off during the last 1.5 years of the loan tenure. As such, the interest rebate available in that time range is very minimal, and you can't save much for making early settlement at the final stage of the loan tenure.