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For many folks, you probably just rely on the charging brick that came with your phone, or tablet, or perhaps even laptop. With USB-C, though, not all chargers are equal. So, if you want some aftermarket options – good for replacing older, lower-power ones you have – we’ve spent some time with two options from Anker.
The first one is probably one you’ve been seeing ads for on the internet – the Anker Nano. This one has the same size and general shape of the smaller chargers that Apple had been including, but it has two very important differences. First off, it’s a USB-C port on it. Secondly, it can put out 20W of power vs the 5W that most chargers this size will do. If you’re pulling 5V it’ll do it at 3A, while the more power-hungry devices can get 9V at 2.22A.
On their website, they’ll got various run downs of how fast the Anker Nano will charge. But you know me, I had to test things out. So, using an Anker USB-C cable, I tested out how quickly it charged up 1st-gen iPad Pro:
- 9:19 AM: 24% (this is when it was plugged in)
- 9:59 AM: 54% (nice bump, a percent a minute)
- 10:35 AM: 79%
- 11:28 AM: 98%
- 11:32 AM: 100%
You can see at first, I was getting some super rapid charging. It slowed down a bit, but that’s because I was using it to take notes during meetings. so the screen was on a good bit. Still, not a bad charging speed for this nano-brick, especially when it’s only $16.99.
On the other hand, if you want “MOAR POWER”, well, they’ve got bigger bricks as well. I also checked out the Anker PowerPort III Duo. As with the Nano, this is way more powerful than you’ll get in a stock charger. This one has about the same size as an Apple Macbook charger (just don’t try charging a laptop, as you’ve only got 18W max per port available) with a very neat trick. While the standard plug folds in (great for travel!) you can also swap it out for a (non-foldable) European prong. Meaning, you can travel with this and easily charge your phone and tablet without needing additional adapters.
Given that you’ve got two USB-C ports here, you can obviously charge more things with the Anker PowerPort III Duo than with the nano, but with very similar sorts of charging rates:
- 5V ? 2.4A
- 9V ? 2A
- 12V ? 1.5A
- (18W Max Per Port)
Frankly, having more ports is never a bad thing in my book, and the Anker PowerPort III Duo, and you can add one to your stash for $29.99, in either white or black finish.
As you’ve seen, both of these chargers have USB-C ports on them. Well, what if you’re not quite up to that standard on your devices? They’ve also got cables that will cover you. Along with USB-C to USB-C, they’ve got USB-C to lightning cables (which I’ve been making use of), as well as USB-C to USB-A cables; the whole range starts at about $14 and goes up from there (you can check them out here). Sure, you could use an adapter, but if you’ve got a fixed scenario, a solid cable designed for it is a good idea in my opinion.
So, sure, you’ve got a lot of choices out there in the market when it comes to charging, and you could well be happy with your default OEM options. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something new for your home or travel usage, Anker is easily one of the first spots we’d recommend you take a look, as they occupy that sweet spot between affordability, reliability, and brand trustworthiness. anker.com
