Charger watts: what your phone, tablet and laptop need

A charger's watt rating is the most it can give. Your device decides how much it takes. A phone that charges at 20W will charge at 20W from a 30W, 65W or 100W charger; the extra capacity is only useful when you plug in more devices at once.

Where to find your device's number:

• Phones. Apple lists the minimum adapter for fast charging per iPhone model on its fast-charge support page: 18W for iPhone 15 and 16, 20W for iPhone 17e and iPhone Air, 40W for the iPhone 17 line and 60W for iPhone 18 Pro. Samsung lists each phone's Super Fast Charging speed in its specs; check your model.
• Laptops. Look at the charger that came with it. Apple's Mac adapter page says any USB-C adapter will charge a Mac, higher or lower wattage, but for the best experience use at least the wattage Apple recommends for that model.
• USB-C Power Delivery. For fast charging, both the phone and the charger need to support USB-C Power Delivery (PD). Every charger in this guide does.

What to check: your device's recommended watts, how many devices you want to charge at the same time, and whether a cable is included. Several Anker chargers ship without one.

For one phone, or a phone plus earbuds, a small single- or dual-port charger is enough. The Anker Nano Charger (30W) is a 30W USB-C GaN charger, 1.12 inches thick according to Anker, and supports Samsung 25W Super Fast Charging. It comes in five colors; no cable is included.

If you want a second port, the Anker 323 Charger (33W) has one USB-C and one USB-A port with a foldable plug. The Anker 523 Charger (Nano 3, 47W) has two USB-C ports: Anker rates them at 27W and 20W when both are in use, and up to 45W from one port on its own. The cable is not included.

Two chargers in this range come with a cable. The Anker Nano Charger (35W) has a built-in retractable USB-C cable that extends to 2.3 ft, plus a second USB-C port, with 35W shared between them. The Anker Nano Charger (45W) includes a 6 ft USB-C to USB-C cable and supports Samsung Super Fast Charging.

• One device. 30W covers current iPhones up to the iPhone Air and most Android phones.
• Phone plus earbuds or watch. Pick two ports, and remember the total is shared.
• Cable. The 30W, 33W and 47W chargers ship without one.

A tablet or a thin laptop such as a MacBook Air often comes with a 30W to 70W adapter, so a 65W to 70W charger covers it and still charges a phone at full speed on the side.

The Anker 715 Charger (Nano II 65W) is a single USB-C port with a foldable plug; Anker says it is 58% smaller than an original 61W USB-C charger. The Anker 735 Charger (Nano II 65W) has the same 65W but three ports, which Anker describes as roughly the size of an AirPods Pro case. Neither includes a cable.

The Anker Prime 67W GaN Wall Charger has two USB-C ports and one USB-A: up to 67W to one device, and a 65W maximum when two ports are in use. The Anker Nano Charger (70W, 3 Ports) delivers up to 70W from a USB-C port and comes with a 4.9 ft USB-C to USB-C cable; Anker lists it at 2.09 × 1.68 × 1.24 inches.

• 65W is the common laptop number. It matches the adapter many 13-inch laptops ship with.
• Three ports are not three times the power. With a laptop and a phone connected, the laptop gets less than the headline figure. Section 5 explains how.
• Cable. Only the 70W charger in this group includes one.

Larger laptops, and desks where a laptop, tablet and phone all charge together, need more headroom. The Anker Prime Charger (100W, 3 Ports, GaN) gives a full 100W from either USB-C port when it is the only device connected, and Anker quotes a 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3 Pro) going from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes.

The Anker Charger (140W, 4-Port, PD 3.1) has two USB-C ports rated at up to 140W each, a color display that shows charging status and temperature, and a 5 ft 240W USB-C to USB-C cable in the box. PD 3.1 is the newer Power Delivery standard that goes above 100W.

For a whole desk, the Anker Prime Charger (200W, 6 Ports, GaN) charges six devices with up to 100W on each of two USB-C ports at the same time; it comes with a 5 ft AC power cord. The Anker Prime Charger (250W, 6 Ports, GaNPrime) has four USB-C and two USB-A ports, 140W from the first USB-C port, a 2.26-inch LCD and a dial to adjust output per port.

• 140W. Needed only for the largest laptops, such as a 16-inch MacBook Pro.
• Desktop chargers plug in with a cord. The 200W and 250W models sit on the desk, not on the wall.
• Price. Headroom costs more; buy it for the devices you have now.

A "100W, 3 ports" charger does not give 100W to each port. The total is split between the ports in use, and the split is fixed by the charger. For example, Anker rates the 523 at 27W plus 20W when both ports are used, and the Prime 67W at 65W total across two ports. Product pages list the per-port figures; the ones that matter are for the combination you will actually plug in.

• Check the two-port numbers. The headline watts apply to a single device.
• Plug the laptop into the strongest port. On the Anker Prime 250W, for example, the first USB-C port is the 140W one. The product page says which port carries the most.
• USB-A ports are slower. They are fine for earbuds and watches.