The Best USB Phone Charger (2024)

I’ve been a science journalist for nearly a decade, covering a wide variety of topics from particle physics to satellite remote sensing. Since joining Wirecutter in 2017, I’ve reported on USB-C cables, power banks, surge protectors, and more.

The current version of this guide builds on years of work by Wirecutter’s Nick Guy, who has reviewed mobile accessories since 2011 and covered them for Wirecutter for over six years.

If the USB charger that came with your phone or tablet is broken or lost—or, as in the case of the iPhone 12 or newer, it never came with one—a new third-party charger may be the most cost-effective replacement. But even if you still have the original chargers for all your devices, you might want to consider something that can charge your devices from a wall outlet more quickly, or charge multiple devices at the same time.

Most people have multiple devices that charge via USB—tablets, smartphones, power banks, e-readers, portable speakers, Bluetooth headphones, fitness trackers, and more—which frequently need to be recharged at the same time. Good multiport chargers cost only a little more than single-port chargers and aren’t much larger. If you think you might take advantage of a second port, they’re worth a few dollars extra, but you’ll save money and reduce bulk with a single-port model.

Multiport chargers are also great for travel. Instead of having to pack a gaggle of chargers for the family—or when you’re traveling alone, for your phone, tablet, headset, and Bluetooth speaker—you can bring one charger that handles everything. (Of course, you’ll have to pack the appropriate USB-C, Lightning, and/or Micro-USB cables, too.)

Many phones, such as the iPhone 12 and newer, can be recharged as fast as possible (up to roughly 50% charged in about 30 minutes) with a 20 W charger. Although you can still use a less-powerful charger with these phones, they’ll simply charge more slowly.

Battery percentage when charging an iPhone 13

After poring over charging catalogs from dozens of companies, all with established track records of great products and service, we whittled the list down based on the following criteria:

To find the top options in each category, we put the finalists through several tests:

Today’s USB-C phone chargers are tiny and cheap—often between $10 and $20, sometimes even with a good cable. Anker’s PowerPort III Nano is the best, most compact option for sending the fastest possible charge to most phones, capable of delivering 20 W over USB-C.

It’s impressively compact. The PowerPort III Nano is very small. Measuring 1.75 inches long, including the non-folding prongs, and only a little more than an inch wide and tall, its dimensions are almost identical to those of the 5 W charger that Apple packed with most iPhones for the past decade. It’s less than half the size of Apple’s comparable 20 W charger.

It has only one port, but it delivers up to 20 W. The PowerPort III Nano has a single USB-C port. Our testing hardware showed that the port worked as advertised, with a proper 20 W power draw measured at 9 volts/2.2 amps. (It also supports 15 W charging, which makes it compatible with USB-C devices that don’t use the Power Delivery standard, such as some Android phones.)

As with all of the other USB-C chargers we recommend in this guide, you should see most phones charge from empty to somewhere between 50% and 55% full in half an hour or so, compared with 20% full in the same time period on a 5 W charger. In fact, during our tests the iPhone 13 battery reached about 52% capacity in that time and 83% in an hour.

It comes with a cable. This charger comes with a 6-foot version of one of our favorite cables, the Anker PowerLine II, with USB-C and Lightning connectors. (That’s great for owners of older iPhones, but if you have an iPhone 15 or Android device you’ll need to supply your own cable.) It has sturdy housings, supports up to 18 W charging speeds, and its MFi certification means it meets Apple’s standards for safety and performance.

It has a long warranty, and Anker’s customer service is trustworthy. Anker’s 18-month warranty is on a par with many of its competitors’ coverage offerings. On the rare occasions Wirecutter staffers have had to take advantage of the protection, they’ve found the process to be quick and easy.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

If you’d like to fast-charge two devices at once—say, an iPhone 15 and a Kindle—the Boost Charge Pro 45W Dual USB-C Wall Charger is your best bet. It even has enough power to fast-charge one larger device, such as an iPad Pro or Chromebook.

It has two powerful USB-C ports. Both of the Belkin’s USB-C ports are capable of charging a single device faster than our top pick (we measured up to 45 W from each, though most phones max out at 30 W charging speeds). And when charging two devices, we measured up to 25 W from the upper port and 20 W from the lower port, which is still enough power to fast-charge most phones.

It has an easily packable size and shape. Unlike our top pick, the Belkin has a folding plug, and it weighs just a couple of ounces more. Despite being a bit larger (it measures 1.8 by 1.6 by 1.5 inches), its curved edges make it easy to slip into a pocket or purse.

It has a long warranty and good customer support. Belkin backs this charger with a two-year warranty, which is even longer than that of our top pick, and we’ve found their customer support to be responsive and reliable.

It’s on the pricier side but offers good value. This is one of the most expensive models we tested, despite not including a charging cable, but it packs a lot of power into a small package. Plus, if you need a cable for an iPhone 15 or Android phone, it’s available in a bundle with a 6.6-foot USB-C cable for $10 more, as of this writing (you’d likely pay as much or more for any of our favorite USB-C cables).

It delivers high speed from both ports, even at the same time. Its USB-C port can charge a single device at up to 30 W, and its USB-A port can do so at up to 18 W, allowing you to charge your phone two to three times faster than with the standard chargers included with most phones. When both ports are in use, it has a total max output of 30 W, supplying up to 18 W from the USB-C port and up to 12 W from the USB-A port.

It’s a great option if your devices aren’t all USB-C yet. Although a USB-C port is smaller and faster than USB-A, and works with more kinds of devices, the USB-C standard is not yet ubiquitous. This charger combines the benefits of USB-C with the convenience of USB-A, which means you can charge most phones as fast as possible, while also powering a second device on the USB-A port at a respectable rate.

It’s nearly as fast as our top pick. In our tests, the RP-PC144 performed exactly as promised. You can expect an iPhone 13 to charge to about 36% in a half hour on the USB-A port and closer to 50% on the USB-C port.

Despite offering two ports, it’s still quite small. This power brick is larger than what comes with most phones, but it isn’t huge. It measures about 1.9 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 1.2 inches thick—noticeably smaller than the Apple 30W USB-C Power Adapter—and weighs less than 3 ounces. Plus, a folding plug makes it convenient for travel.

Its warranty is even longer than that of our top pick. RAVPower backs this model with a 30-month warranty, which gives you more time than the rest of our picks to ensure that it’s working properly.

It comes with a (short) cable. Included with the charger is a 3-foot cable that can connect a USB-C port to a Lightning-powered device, such as an iPhone 14 or older. (Owners of the iPhone 15 or Android devices will need to bring their own C-to-C cable.) It is sturdily built and packs up small for travel, though we’d generally prefer a longer cable for everyday use.

The Anker PowerPort 4 offers four USB-A ports in a compact design, making it ideal for a couple who’s traveling (or one person who uses a ton of gear). It lets you charge as many as four devices at once—say, two iPhones and two Apple Watches—albeit at a slower pace than our other picks.

It’s one of the fastest multiport chargers we’ve tested. Despite its advertised 40 W maximum output, we measured 12 W draw from all four ports at the same time, for about 48 W total. Unless your device has Quick Charge capabilities, that’s as fast as it can charge via USB-A, and many multiport chargers like this can’t provide that much power to every port at the same time. Based on our experience with the PowerPort 4, we can say that even if the speeds do drop a bit in practical use, you can still be sure of fast USB-A charging across all the ports.

It’s bulkier than one- or two-port chargers, but still not huge. At just over an inch thick, the PowerPort 4 has the same thickness as our top pick, and its largest sides measure 2.6 by 2.6 inches—small enough to plug into a standard wall outlet without blocking the second socket.

While many multiport chargers have a long cord between the charger’s body and the wall outlet, the Anker PowerPort 4 plugs directly into the outlet, so it’s less bulky to carry. And like most of our picks, it has a convenient fold-up plug.

It’s relatively affordable. Although it doesn’t come with a cable, it’s one of the most inexpensive multiport chargers we’ve tested.

It has the same warranty as our top pick. The PowerPort 4 comes with an 18-month warranty and is backed by Anker’s reliably solid customer service.

If you’d prefer a charger that’s more powerful than our top pick, adds a folding plug, and comes in more colors: Get the Anker 511 Nano III 30W Charger (A2147). It has a single USB-C port, supports charging speeds up to 30 W, and weighs just 1.4 ounces. It comes in several colors—including black, white, light green, light blue, and light purple—and has a handy fold-up plug. It doesn’t come with a cable, but at this writing it’s less expensive than our top pick, costing just $15.

If you need two chargers and want the best deal: Get the RAVPower PD Pioneer 20W Wall Charger (RP-PC150). It’s nearly identical to our top pick, but only comes in a two-pack and is out of stock at this writing. But if you need multiple chargers anyway, this one has great specs and is a better deal than buying two of that model (or any of our other picks).

If you’d prefer a charger with a slimmer shape than our top pick, plus a folding plug: Get the Belkin WCH009dqWH. Its USB-C port supports up to 20 W charging speeds, it has a folding plug, and it has an appealing matte texture (though it only comes in white). Weighing just 1.6 ounces, it has a flatter profile than any model we tested, so it doesn’t jut out as far from the wall.

It also comes with a USB-C charging cable, though it’s nearly half the length of the one that comes with our top pick, and the bundle costs about $10 more than our pick at this writing.

If you want a charger with a higher max output and more color options than our RAVPower pick, plus international plug adapters included in the box: Get the Casetify PowerThru 33W Fast Charger. It splits 33 W between each of its ports (one USB-A and one USB-C) and has a folding plug. As of this writing, it’s available in two color schemes (black/white and blue/pink) and weighs just 2.7 ounces.

Compared to most models we tested, it has a funky shape (in a good way) that still leaves plenty of room for a second plug on your wall outlet. It also comes with two international plug adapters, which can be helpful if you’re a frequent traveler. On the downside, it’s expensive ($42 at this writing) and doesn’t come with a cable.

If you want a wall charger that doubles as a power bank, and you don’t mind that it’s heavier and pricier than our picks: Get the Anker PowerCore Fusion 10000. It has as much battery life as any of our favorite power banks, and its fold-up plug makes it easy to charge a couple small devices (or recharge the power bank itself) while on the go.

It has a USB-C PD port and USB-A port that can charge up to two devices with 20 W of combined output power, and handy battery-status lights that tell you when it needs to be recharged. It comes in either black or white, and its plastic exterior has a pleasantly grippy texture.

On the downside, it’s expensive ($55 at this writing), it doesn’t come with a cable, and it’s significantly bigger and heavier (9.6 ounces) than our picks.

Scosche launched the PowerVolt PD30 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2024, and we plan to test it against our current picks when it becomes available this fall. It has a single USB-C port with a 30 W rated max output, a compact shape, and a fold-up plug.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the USB phone chargers we’ve tested. We have removed any models that have been discontinued or no longer meet our requirements.

Single port USB-C chargers

The following models are more powerful than our top pick and add a folding plug, but they’re bigger and heavier:

The following models are as powerful as our top pick, and add a folding plug, but they’re bigger and heavier:

The following models are more powerful than our top pick, but they weigh more and don’t add any standout features:

The following models are as powerful as our top pick, but they weigh more and don’t add any standout features:

Multiport chargers

The following models have two fast-charging USB-C ports and a folding plug like our upgrade pick, but they’re bulkier and less powerful:

Like our upgrade pick, the Anker 521 Nano Pro 40W Charger (A2038) has two fast-charging USB-C ports. However, it is heavier, has a lower total output, and lacks a folding plug.

The Aukey Focus Duo 30W PD Charger (PA-D1) has a fast-charging USB-C port, a USB-A port, and a folding plug, but it weighs more than otherwise comparable models.

The Nimble Wally Mini Wall Charger has a fast-charging USB-C port, a USB-A port, and a folding plug, but it is heavier and has a lower total output than otherwise comparable models.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.