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How to pick
Phones have not come with a plug in the box for years, and the old five watt brick in your drawer charges far slower than the phone can manage. A 20W or higher USB-C charger fixes that. This is the one place I will not budge on brand, because a bad charger is the one that runs hot and eventually causes a real problem. Anker and UGREEN both make this properly and neither is expensive. On cables, buy braided and buy longer than you think, because gas station cables fray at the plug within a month and then charge intermittently, which people almost always blame on the phone.
What I recommend
Chargers
This is the one place I will not budge on brand, because a bad charger is the one that runs hot and eventually causes a real problem. Anker and UGREEN both make this properly and neither is expensive.
Anker or UGREEN USB-C charger
A 20W or higher USB-C charger charges a phone several times faster than the old five watt brick in your drawer. Phones have not come with a plug for years.
- Several times faster than an old brick
- Small enough to travel with
- Both brands are consistently reliable
- Cable is usually sold separately
- Unbranded chargers are a genuine safety risk
- More heat means slightly more battery wear over years
Anker Nano or UGREEN Nexode multi port charger
One small brick that charges a phone, a tablet and a laptop at once. GaN technology makes them far smaller than they used to be. Replaces a drawer full of old plugs.
- Charges a laptop and phone from one plug
- GaN makes them remarkably small
- Replaces several old chargers
- Power is shared, so everything charges slower at once
- Costs more than a single port charger
- Still needs the right cables
Cables and power banks
Gas station cables fray at the plug within a month and then charge on and off, which people almost always blame on the phone.
Anker or UGREEN braided USB-C cable
Braided, and longer than you think you need. Two good ones outlast a dozen cheap ones and remove a recurring annoyance permanently.
- Braided ones last years rather than months
- Longer cables are far more useful in practice
- Cheap for the aggravation saved
- Heavier and stiffer than thin cables
- Check the end matches your device
- Very long cables charge marginally slower
Anker PowerCore power bank
For long days out, travel, or the next time the power goes down and you still need a phone. Anker have made these longer than anyone and it shows in how they hold charge sitting in a bag for a month.
- Holds its charge for weeks unused
- 10,000mAh is two full phone charges
- Small enough for a pocket
- Adds real weight to a bag
- Airlines limit capacity, check before flying
- Takes hours to recharge itself
- Capacity
- 10,000 mAh for a phone
- Bigger
- 20,000 mAh to charge a laptop
- Ports
- USB-C in and out
- Flying
- Check your airline's limit
Related reading
Phone charging slowly or not at all?
Nine times out of ten it is the cable or lint in the port, not the battery. Worth checking before you replace anything.