Best iPhone chargers: How to pick the right USB-C power adapter

Why we love it: Apple’s 20W USB-C power adapter is as basic as it gets. It’s one of the bulkiest chargers on this list as well as one of the heaviest, It won’t charge a laptop, and you can’t charge more than one device at a time. However, if you want to keep your chargers in the Apple family, it’s a solid option for $19/£19.

In our testing, it won’t charge your phone noticeably faster than the old Apple 18W plug, but it is noticeably cheaper than the model it replaces. We’d like it better if Apple offered a half-price option for iPhone buyers, but even at full price, it’s not a terrible value at all. The U.S. and Australian models don’t feature a folding plug, but the more cube-like U.K. model does, despite the larger plug type, and is a much cleaner design as a result.

While 20W is the minimum for fast charging, we recommend a 30W charger for newer iPhones.

Why we love it: Measuring just 1.12 × 1.12 × 1.39 inches (U.S. model), the 30W Anker USB-C Nano 3 Charger 511 is the smallest 30W USB-C charger we’ve had in our labs for testing. It weighs just 1.3oz (36g).

We recommend you buy a 30W charger over 20W as it will charge newer iPhones even faster. The iPhone 15 Pro models will probably fare better with 35W for the fastest iPhone charging, so owners of the very latest iPhones should look at the two-port 40W Anker Nano Pro charger reviewed lower down. Earlier iPhones should be fine with 30W chargers such as this one.

It’s available in a range of pastel colors, including Misty Blue, Lilac Purple, Phantom Black, Aurora White and Natural Green.

The U.K. Anker Nano 3 (511) model is larger and doesn’t feature foldable prongs—so for U.K. buyers, we recommend the equally incredibly light and powerful Anker Nano USB-C Wall Charger (30W), pictured above, that does have foldable prongs.

Why we love it: At 1.26 x 1.26 x 1.57 inches and 48g (U.S. model), the tiny Ugreen Nexode 30W GaN Charger is slightly larger than the similar Anker Nano (reviewed above). To make it even more portable both U.S. and U.K models feature foldable prongs.

That extra power won’t make much difference with many iPhones as 20W is enough for fast charging. But if you have an iPhone Pro or Max, a 30W charger will allow it to charge a little faster (27W), and it certainly won’t hurt to have the added power on other models. At 30W, It could even recharge a 13-inch MacBook Air!

While the 2-Port Nexode 45W Charger, also by Ugreen and reviewed below, gives you two ports, the single port of this charger pumps out a few more watts than either of the two on the 45W dual charger—so if you only have one device to charge, this is the better (and cheaper choice).

Why we love it: This is another new-generation USB-C charger that measures just 1.22 × 1.26 × 1.37 inches—only marginally larger than the 30W Anker Nano and about the same as the Ugreen Nexode.

It weighs just 45g—although you’ll likely not notice the difference with the 36g Anker Nano or 50g Ugreen Nexode.

Available in either white or black, it’s not available outside of North America.

Why we love it: At 1.23 x 1.25 x 1.3 inches, the compact GaN-tech Anker PowerPort III is also pretty tiny and may be found cheaper than the 30W USB-C chargers as it is rated at the lower 20W.

The U.K. model is less flexible due to the size of the U.K. plug and doesn’t allow for foldable prongs, so we prefer the Anker Nano or the even finer Apple 20W Charger in that country only.

However, if you can afford it we recommend you go for a 30W charger if your iPhone is a version 13 or later.

Why we love it: The Ugreen Nexode 45W GaN Wall Charger 2-Ports Charger has more ports and power than the Anker 511 Nano Pro, but at 1.57 x 1.57 x 1.93 inches isn’t much larger.

Each USB-C port is rated at 45W, although note that 45W is the maximum total output—you can choose either port to supply it. Using both ports, one will give 25W and the other 20W.

It’s a great compact choice for homes with a couple of iPhones in need of a power boost.

Why we love it: Measuring 1.7 x 1.9 x 0.9 inches (4.4 x 4.8 x 2.3cm), the Plugable 40W Dual USB C Charger is a dual-port charger that is a little larger in volume than the Ugreen 2-Port Nexode 45W Charger reviewed above, but has a slimmer profile when plugged into a power socket. It’s wider but sticks out of the wall half as far as most chargers.

It’s also lighter than the two-port Ugreen charger: 2.5oz vs 3.46oz (70g vs 98g).

Each USB-C port is rated at 40W (maximum total output is 40W). Using both ports, that 40W is intelligently shared by priority. A 9V or higher device will charge faster than a 5V device, and you can see which devices is charging the fastest with the LED indicating the charge speed: blue for fastest, and green for slow.

The Ugreen beats it on charging speed, but that which means more for 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0 Samsung users than max 30W iPhone users. If you want to use it to charge a MacBook, that extra 5W might be more useful.

Why we love it: The Minix NEO P3 100W Turbo packs a lot of power and has four ports: three USB-C and one old-school USB-A.

Two of the USB-C ports can charge at 100W, although obviously not at the same time. That means you can use this power adapter to charge a laptop as large as the 16-inch MacBook Pro as well as tablets and phones. The third USB-C is perfect for fast iPhone charging at 20W, as is the 18W USB-A port if you have an older charging cable.

Using two ports at the same time it supports one 65W and one 30W feed. Using three supports 45W, 30W, and 20W charges. With all four, it supports, 45W, 30W, and two 7.5W feeds.

Like Apple’s dual-port charger, this adapter features intelligent power allocation, automatically adjusting the power output of each port depending on the devices connected to it.

The U.S. plug folds, making it a tidy package for carrying around, and the U.K. and EU pin converters simply slide onto the U.S. pins to make this a great home charger in those territories and a useful international travel companion.

Why we love it: The OneWorld 65 is an international adapter that also boasts a built-in 65W PD Charger that can charge up to six devices simultaneously.

It features one 65W USB-C PD port, one 20W USB-C PD port, another USB-C charging port, and two USB-A charging ports—the non-PD USB-C port and two USB-A ports share 15W of power. Note that the maximum power output is 65W so if you are charging a mid-sized laptop in full use, there won’t be much spare juice for fas-charging your iPhone.

But the real benefit of the OneWorld 65 is that as well as all the USB ports you can also use this as a travel adapter. Sliding connectors will fit into U.S., European, Australian/Chinese, and British wall sockets so covering over 200 countries, and you can plug a similar range of plugs into the OneWorld 65 from the other side.

OneAdaptr has a few versions of this handy travel adapter—all with the sliding international prongs and an AC socket. The $39 entry-level OneWorld30 features one 20W USB-C PD port, 2x 15W USB-C and 2x 15W USB-A ports; the $69 OneWorld65 reviewed here; the $89 OneWorld100 features two 60W USB-C PD ports and 2x 15W USB-A ports; and the $109 OneWorld135 features two 100W USB-C PD ports, 1x 20W USB-C and 1x 18W USB-A port.

Why we love it: The biggest selling point of the Casetify Fast Charger is its cute pink/blue color, although it is also available in plain white. Its 33W beats standard 30W chargers—enough for an iPhone fast charge and AirPods or Apple Watch at the same time.

This two-port charger (USB-C and USB-A) is not as tiny as some other chargers but at 1.3 x 1.9 x 1.5 inches it isn’t much larger.

It comes with U.K. and E.U. plug heads that slip over the foldable U.S. prongs, so makes a great travel charger, too.

Why we love it: Apple offers its own dual-port USB-C charger in two models. As far as we can tell they are identical in everything except shape and size. As an Apple product, it’s reassuringly expensive but also a little smarter than most power adapters.

The neat 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter is aimed at iPhone users, and the larger non-compact model is called the 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, which is the one built for the newer MacBook Air models. Both U.S. chargers feature foldable plugs. The larger version is maybe only preferable if you prefer the ports pointing straight on rather than below the plug itself.

As it was designed to work with an iPhone and also something as energy-hungry as an M2/M3 MacBook Air, it needs to be able to distinguish which device needs what. When you connect two devices, power is automatically distributed between them based on their power requirements. In most cases, it will give each device 17.5W, but if you connect a MacBook or iPhone and an Apple Watch or AirPods, it will receive up to 27.5W and the Watch/AirPods gets up to 7.5W.

Apple doesn’t say so, but we expect that it uses GaN technology to keep its size to a minimum.

Why we love it: If you are short on power sockets, adding a wall charger leaves you with one less place to connect a plug for another device. You could add an extension strip—such as the Ugreen GaN Power Strip reviewed below—but the Plugable Wall Outlet Extender is smaller and neater, giving you two USB ports and a passthrough power socket.

The USB-C socket can power an iPhone at up to 30W, and there’s another USB-A port that can handle 12W. Note, though, that the combined USB power output is 32W, so if you use both, that USB-C port might get pegged back to just 20W.

Why we love it: This power strip is both a desktop charger and AC extender with three power sockets, and includes four USB ports (3x USB-C, 1x USB-A), two of which are PD compatible at 100W so powerful enough to charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro or super-fast-charge the latest iPhones.

This is great for adding all sorts of device-charging on or underneath your desk.

The other USB-C port and the USB-A port can each fast-charge an iPhone at 22.5W. Maximum output on the USB ports is 100W, and for the three power plugs (one on the top, and two behind) 1,870W.