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A good fast charger can make a world of difference when you’re low on battery and short on time. With more devices — from smartphones to laptops — supporting quick-charging tech, having an accessory that can deliver serious power in minutes is almost essential. Many newer phones no longer come with charging bricks in the box, so picking up a reliable fast charger will be essential for most people. Whether you’re at home, at work or on the move, the right charger can help keep your gear topped up without wasting time.
Today’s fast chargers come in all shapes and sizes. You’ll find compact wall plugs perfect for travel, multi-port hubs for charging several devices at once and GaN (gallium nitride) chargers that offer powerful performance in a smaller footprint. Some support multiple charging standards like USB Power Delivery (PD) and Qualcomm Quick Charge, making them great for everything from iPhones to Android phones, tablets and even some laptops. In this guide, we’ll help you find the best fast chargers for your setup, so you can spend less time tethered to an outlet and more time getting things done.
Best fast chargers for 2025
If you just need an extra power adapter that you can put in a convenient location (like next to your bed or a couch), you can’t go wrong with Anker’s 30W Nano Charger. It’s exceedingly affordable at under $20 while providing excellent charging speeds for its size. And because it’s so small, it can fit pretty much anywhere. The folding prongs are a nice touch as well.
Plugable
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly two-port adapter, consider Plugable’s 40W Dual USB-C Charger. At $60, it is pricer, but it gives you the ability to power up a couple of devices at the same time like a tablet and a phone. Like a lot of other bricks, its 40W output is shared across both ports. Keep that in mind if you have two devices plugged in at the same time, since charging times will be slower.
Anker
If I were trying to pack light and could only choose one fast charger to bring with me, it would be Anker’s 67W three-port wall charger. Not only is it even more compact than the previous model, it has three ports (including one USB-A) and a max output of 67 watts. That’s enough to support most ultraportable laptops. And thanks to Anker’s PowerIQ 4.0 tech, the brick can detect which device plugged into its USB-C ports has the lowest battery before allocating additional juice to that gadget. For anyone who likes this design but wants something with a higher power output, Anker has a 100W model that’s also really compact.
UGREEN
For anyone who puts a premium on thinness, UGreen’s 65W Nexode Ultra-Slim fast charger is another excellent contender. Like Anker’s model, it has three ports (one of which is USB-A) and a similar max power output. To maintain its super sleek dimensions, Ugreen thoughtfully included folding prongs. The one small issue is that it may block adjacent outlets if plugged into a crowded power strip due to its thin yet wide design.
Plugable
One thing I really appreciate about Plugable is that the company is great at making simple, affordable gadgets, and its 140W USB-C GaN power adapter is a great example of that. Sure, it only has a single port, but with a max output of 140 watts and price of just $50, it’s one of the most powerful chargers for the money on sale today. This amount of juice is enough to support all but the biggest and most powerful laptops on the market, while the charger is also smaller than many first-party bricks.
Anker
If you just want a single charger that can handle pretty much any device, Anker’s 140W laptop charger is it. It provides enough juice to satisfy all but the most power-hungry gadgets (like 18-inch gaming notebooks) and it comes with four ports (three USB-C and one USB-A) for simple simultaneous charging. While it might seem unnecessary, Anker’s built-in display makes it easy to see exactly how much electricity is being sent to each device. Unlike a lot of less expensive bricks, this one comes with an included 140W cable as an added bonus.
Satechi
I carried Razer’s USB-C GaN charger around for years because it was one of the first 140W adapters on the market, and I love the combination of a sturdy metal housing and support for interchangeable plugs when traveling abroad. However, at $180, it’s a bit too expensive to wholeheartedly recommend. That’s where Satechi’s 145W travel charger comes in, because it offers a similar power output along with swappable international plugs for $60 less. You also get four USB-C ports (though nothing in the way of USB-C) and a less premium plastic body, but those are very reasonable trade-offs for something with a more affordable price of $120.
UGREEN
Weighing in at 4.8 pounds, UGREEN’s Nexode 500W charger isn’t very travel-friendly. However, if you’ve got a work station or just a ton of gadgets that need to be juiced up at the same time, it might be exactly what you need. It has a max 500-watt output, but more importantly, the top port can send up to 240 watts to a single gadget. That matches the upper limit of what the USB Power Delivery Extended Power Range spec can currently handle, which means you should be able to charge pretty much any certified USB-PD device at its max speed. And thanks to its five USB-C ports, one USB-A jack and UGREEN’s Thermal Guard tech, the Nexode is basically a one-stop charging hub for your entire fleet of gadgets.
UGREEN
For anyone who wants a power adapter with a bit of personality, Ugreen’s 100W Uno Charger is surprisingly charming. Not only does it have a max output of 100 watts, which is more than enough to cover a wide range of devices, it has a built-in screen that can make various faces at you depending on the situation. It also features four ports and has magnetic feet so you can attach it to something ferrous like a filing cabinet or even the lid of your laptop.
What to consider before buying a fast charger
Before you start looking at specific chargers, it’s critical to determine three things: how many devices do you need to charge, how much power do they require and whether or not you’re planning on traveling with any of them.
The reason for the first question is simple. If you only need to charge a single device, like an iPhone or Android phone, it’s cheaper and usually more space-efficient to get a lower-wattage phone charger with one port instead of two or three. Next, it’s critical to figure out how much electricity your gadgets need because it doesn’t make sense to buy a power brick that pushes out more juice than your device can actually use. This may sound a bit tricky, but most major manufacturers will list a product’s max charging speeds in its tech specs, which is typically denoted by a specific wattage (15W, for example) or a quick-charge rating.
Unfortunately, very powerful or large laptops like gaming notebooks can suck a ton of juice (more than 140 watts), which means they may rely on more traditional power adapters with barrel plugs. This may result in them not being compatible with universal chargers. Some of these PCs may also support charging over USB-C, so even if a specific adapter can’t deliver its full power draw, it can still send over some energy — but it will do so at a slower rate compared to the laptop’s included charger. To get the best performance, using a fast charging cable, such as a USB-C cable, can make a big difference in maintaining consistent power delivery.
For frequent travelers, size and weight are often important considerations, because the bigger and heavier a charger is, the more annoying it will be to lug around. You’ll also want to think about other factors like support for international plugs, which can be a big help to anyone who regularly visits other countries. If you’re already traveling with power banks or a charging station, choosing a compact GaN charger can help streamline your gear.
Finally, you’ll want to figure out if your smartphone uses a proprietary charging standard or if it’s compatible with the USB Power Delivery spec (USB PD). For example, the OnePlus 13’s included SuperVOOC power adapter can send up to 100 watts to the phone. However, if you use a generic USB-PD charger, speeds top out at 45 watts. That’s still pretty quick, but not nearly as fast as OnePlus’ brick — and the same applies to devices with super fast charging support. Also, make sure your charging cable and connector are up to spec, as lower-quality accessories can bottleneck your charging speeds.
Fast charger FAQs
What is GaN?
When looking for chargers, you may notice that some are marked as GaN, which stands for gallium nitride. This is an important distinction because, when compared to older adapters that use silicon switches, GaN-based devices support increased power efficiency and output, allowing manufacturers to create more compact bricks that run cooler and support higher wattages.
Depending on the specific power output, GaN adapters can be 30 to 50 percent smaller and lighter than silicon-based alternatives. That might not sound like much, but when they’re sitting in a bag alongside a laptop and a half dozen other accessories you might have, cutting down on excess bulk and weight goes a long way.
Do fast chargers affect battery life?
Technically yes, because the process of sending a ton of watts into a gadget and potentially generating additional heat while doing so can decrease battery health over time. That said, modern devices and chargers use various protocols to ensure temperatures and power levels stay within preset limits — in large part to avoid damaging the product or creating a safety risk. At a base level, simply charging a gadget regardless of speed will cause degradation over time (nothing stays perfect forever, you know?). So as long as you use compatible chargers and cables, the impact of fast charging is generally quite negligible.
What’s the difference between a fast charger and a regular charger?
There isn’t a single generally accepted definition of fast charging. However, with power adapters capable of sending as little as five watts or less, it’s important to know how much juice your device is getting, especially if you need to recharge something quickly. So depending on who you ask (particularly when it comes to smartphones), any charger that can push out more than 15 to 18 watts is generally considered to be “fast.” That said, with some phones capable of receiving more than 100 watts and up to 240 watts for some laptops, it’s more important than ever to consider what devices you own before buying a new fast charger.
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Sam Rutherford
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