Anker’s Newest USB-C Charger Is Fast, Cheap, and Pocket-Sized

Despite my reliance over the recent years upon Apple, Samsung, HTC, Google, and Motorola, one common thread among them has been that as soon as I greedily unbox my new device at home like Gollum tearing through a retail box of Ring Pops, I ditch the charger for an Anker.

There’s nothing wrong with the chargers that come with most devices, per se. It’s just that the Anker charger performs just as well, but takes up less space in my backpacks and luggage. Anker’s latest, which debuted last week, is so small it could be mistaken for a Shrinky Dink.

can it get much smaller?

Bravo to Anker for their image of the new Nano 45W charger hovering in mid-air over a fingertip. Whether or not it was intentional, what came to my mind immediately was a hummingbird.

I haven’t measured any hummingbirds myself (not lately), but if the world’s smallest hummingbird is 2 1/4″ long, the Anker Nano 45W makes it look comparatively homogenous. At only 1.45″ long and compared to the previous Anker charger it replaced, the Nano 45W also weighs 25 percent less at only 52 grams. That’s about the weight of a single AA battery.

There’s more to it than weight and size. At 45W, it’s also faster than the 30W and 35W chargers that come with MacBook Airs and the 20W chargers that come with iPads.

I’ve yet to have an Anker charger die on me in the past 10 or so years I’ve been using them. I’ve even torture-tested one on a month-long motorcycle trip across Southeast Asia.

I’ve yet to get my hands on one to test out Apple’s fast charging capabilities with it, but Anker says that it’s compatible with Samsung’s Super Fast Charging.

Right now, it seems to be exclusive to Amazon. You can pick one up for $35. Just be careful not to lose it between the couch cushions, since it’s so damn small.