A power charger that plugs into an outlet may not sound like anything all that special. We have all been using these for many years. But the smart folks at Anker decided to make the best possible charger that they could, and as a result, came up with a fantastic device: the Anker Laptop Charger (140W, 4-Port, PD 3.1). It is useful not only when you need to charge a bunch of items in your home or office but also when you want a handy travel charger. I paid $99.99 for it on Amazon, and it was a great purchase. It has lots of useful ports and a great display, all in a compact package that makes this much more useful than a traditional power charger, including anything from Apple.
Four ports, lots of power
This charger has four different ports on it: three USB-C ports and one traditional USB-A port. Having four ports available means that you can often charge everything that you need with this one device.
This charger supports USB Power Delivery 3.1, a standard that allows for power transfer of up to 240W.
If you are charging one device, you can use either of the top two ports (marked USB-C1 and USB-C2) to get 140W, assuming that your cord can support that much of a charge. That is more than enough power to charge a laptop; the top-of-the-line current MacBook Pro can get a fast charge with a 96W USB-C power adapter. The USB-C3 port can deliver up to 40W, and the USB-A port can deliver up to 33W.
If you are using multiple ports, the amount of power that each port gets depends upon which combination of ports you are using. For example, if you use the USB-C1 and USB-C2 ports at the same time, they get up to 70W each (for a total of 140W from both ports combined). If you use the USB-C1 and the USB-C3 port at the same time, the first one gets 100W, and the second one gets 40W. If you use all four ports at once, you can get 65W on the USB-C1 port, 45W on the USB-C2 port, and 12W each on the USB-C3 and USB-A ports. That should be sufficient for many needs. You only need a 20W charger to fast-charge an iPhone or Apple Watch or to charge an iPad Pro.
Display
For a few months, I’ve been using an Anker Laptop Power Bank (my review), which is a great portable battery. One of the things that I love about that product is the display, which makes it easy to see things like the battery life and how much power is going out to each port. This is the first time that I’ve had a power charger that plugs into an outlet and that has a display. The color display is a great feature.
First, it is useful to be able to see how much power is going out of each port. This is an easy way to ensure that you are getting all of the power that you want for each device. It is also useful when troubleshooting why something doesn’t seem to be charging the way that it should—for example, you may be using a cord that has a limit on my much power it can transfer. Also, if you are using multiple ports at the same time, the display lets you see how much total power each port is getting and can potentially get.
Second, the display can provide a temperature warning if it is getting too hot—and to compensate, the charger will decrease how much power it is providing to stay safe.
Third, the display can show other information, such as the total operating time of the charger and even, at times, an animated face.
There is a single round button on the face of the device. Press the button to switch between different displays. Long-press the button to rotate the screen, ensuring that you can read the display regardless of what direction you plug it in.
Portable
I am using this charger in my office. I purchased a 2-pack of Anker 100W USB-C cords that are six feet long with a rugged nylon exterior ($11.99 on Amazon) to use with the USB-C1 and USB-C2 ports. I use one cord to connect to my Anker 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe ($129.99 on Amazon) (my review), which I use to charge my iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods Pro. I use the second cord to connect to my iPad Pro. I don’t regularly use the other two ports in my office, but they are there for when I need them.
When it is time to travel, this charger becomes very portable. Because this is one of the newer Gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, it is small and compact: only 2.72 × 2.72 × 1.42 inches. And the prongs fold down, so it is easy to pack.
I can throw this in my bag with a couple of cords, and I am good to go. Thanks to the four ports in a compact size, I can travel with just this one charger instead of multiple chargers that have only a single port.
USB-C cord included
This charger comes with a five-foot 240W USB-C to USB-C cable. I needed something just a little longer in my office to reach the top of my desk (and I didn’t need a full 240W of charging capacity) so, as noted above, I purchased a 2-pack of 100W six-foot USB-C to USB-C cords to use with the charger, but the five-foot cord that comes with this charger is also nice to have.
Conclusion
This is a great charger. It is small, perfect for travel, provides lots of power to up to four devices, has a very useful display, and comes with a USB-C cord. I highly recommend it.
Click here to get Anker Laptop Charger (140W, 4-Port, PD 3.1) from Amazon ($99.99).