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Charging & power

Shortlists and guides for compact USB-C chargers and everyday power banks. We decode wattage, Power Delivery and PPS, cable ratings and airline limits, and match each model to a specific bag of devices.

Review · Charging & power

Anker 100W 3-port charger (B121B) review: the split is printed, the display is a gimmick, the cable is the catch

A 100-watt charger with two USB-C ports, one USB-A, folding UK pins and a touch display that shows what each port is drawing. The display gets the attention; the useful part is that Anker publishes exactly how the 100 W is shared — 70 + 30, 95 + 5, 80 + 12 + 7.5 — which most rivals do not. This review is about whether that is worth the bag space, and the two things Anker's own page gets wrong.

Updated 25 September 2026

Guide · Charging & power

Charger wattage, PD, PPS and cables: what actually charges your devices fast

A USB-C charger's wattage is a ceiling, not a promise. What a phone or laptop actually draws is negotiated — by USB Power Delivery, by Samsung's PPS, by the chip in the cable — and the negotiation fails silently: the device charges slowly and nobody says why. This guide explains the three things that have to agree, using the figures Anker, UGREEN, Belkin and Samsung publish for their own products.

Updated 25 September 2026

Shortlist · Charging & power

Compact USB-C chargers that replace the box of plugs: six sizes from 30 W to 140 W, with the port splits that matter

The drawer of chargers exists because every device came with its own. One USB-C charger of the right wattage replaces all of them — but 'the right wattage' depends on what you plug in at the same time, and only some makers publish how the power is shared. Six UK-plug GaN chargers from 30 W to 140 W, compared on the figures their makers actually state.

Updated 25 September 2026

Shortlist · Charging & power

Power banks for everyday travel: six from a 122 g magnetic slab to a 99.75 Wh laptop brick, plus the 2026 flight rules

A power bank is sold by a number that is not the one that matters. The milliamp-hours on the box are cell capacity; roughly two-thirds reaches your phone, and the airline cares about watt-hours, which most makers do not print. Six banks compared on stated Wh, delivered capacity, port wattage and weight — plus the CAA rules that tightened on 27 March 2026.

Updated 25 September 2026

Comparison · Charging & power

65 W or 100 W charger? UGREEN Nexode 65W against Anker 100W for a laptop-and-phone kit

Both are three-port GaN chargers with folding UK pins that replace a laptop brick and a phone plug. One is 65 W, the other 100 W; one publishes how it shares power, the other does not; one states PPS for Samsung phones, the other does not. Which to buy depends on the laptop, the phone and whether you want the arithmetic in writing.

Updated 25 September 2026