USB-C chargers can top up phones faster than older USB-A models can, and they work with both iPhones and Android devices. As of November 2020, all iPhones come with the USB-C–to–Lightning cable necessary to take advantage of the faster charging USB-C offers. (If you got your iPhone before that, you may have to buy a cable separately.) If you have an Android phone and a USB-C cable already, you don’t need to buy anything extra to fast-charge with our USB-C picks.
Our pick
This small and inexpensive charger will fast-charge any phone, including iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel handsets. But it has only one port.
If you want the smallest power brick available that’ll charge your phone at the fastest speeds, we recommend the single-port Anker PowerPort III Nano. It’s the same size as Apple’s ubiquitous 5-watt charger (the one that Apple used to include in iPhone boxes), and it supplies up to 20 watts over USB-C. That’s enough power to charge most phones—whether you have an iPhone, a Samsung Galaxy model, a Google Pixel handset, or some other Android phone with fast charging—more than halfway full in just 30 minutes. This model also powers Apple’s MagSafe wireless charging system at its maximum 15 watts.
Port one: 20 W USB-C
Dimensions: 1.2 by 1.1 by 1.1 inches
Also great
This model has fast-charging USB-C and USB-A ports that provide maximum power no matter what cable you use, together in one small and reliable charger.
RAVPower’s 30W Dual Port Compact PD Charger (RP-PC132) is more powerful than the smaller Anker PowerPort III Nano. Its USB-C port can charge at up to 18 watts, and it has a second port—in the form of the classic USB-A—that allows you to charge a second device at 12 watts. In our testing, the USB-C port charged a phone to 85% in an hour, compared with 70% from the USB-A port.
Port one: 18 W USB-C
Port two: 12 W USB-A
Dimensions: 1.9 by 1.9 by 1.2 inches
Upgrade pick
If you want to get the fastest charge possible to two modern devices at once, this charger is the best of the few options available. But you need to bring your own USB-C cables.
The Spigen PowerArc 40W ArcStation Pro is what you should get if you want to take advantage of fast USB-C with multiple devices. When a single port is in use, it charges at up to 30 watts. When you use the two USB-C ports at the same time, both support full 20-watt charging, so you can charge two phones at top speed—an iPhone’s battery will go from 0% to more than 50% charged in a half hour, whereas in the same amount of time on the charger the iPhone comes with, it would be at about 20%. This kind of dual–USB-C charger is still pretty rare, and the PowerArc 40W ArcStation Pro represents the best execution of it.
Port one: 30 W USB-C (20 W USB-C when both ports are in use)
Port two: 30 W USB-C (20 W USB-C when both ports are in use)
Dimensions: 1.9 by 1.9 by 1.1 inches
Also great
Affordable, fast, and compact, this charger can provide fast power to up to four devices at once, although not at the maximum speeds USB-C offers.
The Anker PowerPort 4 is the model to choose if you carry a lot of gear—say, a phone, a smartwatch, a power bank, and Bluetooth headphones—or if you’re traveling with companions. Each of its four ports supports a 12-watt power draw, as fast a charge as you can get from standard USB-A. No other reliable four-port charger packs that kind of power into such a diminutive size and at such a low price.
Port one: 12 W USB-A
Port two: 12 W USB-A
Port three: 12 W USB-A
Port four: 12 W USB-A
Dimensions: 2.6 by 2.6 by 1.1 inches
