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After new testing, we’ve added the Insignia 140W Dual Port USB-C Compact Wall Charger as an also-great pick for charging heavy-duty laptops like the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021 or later) or Dell XPS 15. External Backup Battery Pack Charger 20000mAh
We’ve also added three new models to our section on other good USB-C laptop chargers.
Buying a new laptop charger was once an arduous and expensive ordeal, but computers with USB-C charging have made it much easier and more affordable.
The best choice for almost any modern tablet or laptop is Nekteck’s 60W USB-C GaN Charger. This adapter is just as powerful and reliable as a replacement from your laptop’s manufacturer, and it’s smaller than almost any other we’ve seen. It’s safety-tested and certified, and it comes with its own USB-C charging cable, making it a particularly great value at its very low price.
This compact charger can power almost any USB-C laptop at top speed, and it works great for lower-powered devices, too. Despite its affordable price, it even includes a cable.
This charger is about the same size as our top pick and charges just as quickly, but it’s not independently certified for safety and performance.
This model has all the power of the charger included with a 15- or 16-inch MacBook Pro but is smaller and costs much less. The included cable is removable and replaceable, in case it gets damaged.
With more power from one port than most models we’ve tested, this compact charger has two USB-C PD ports capable of delivering 140 W apiece or 145 W total. It’s pricey, but it comes with a long, 8-foot cable.
This compact charger can power almost any USB-C laptop at top speed, and it works great for lower-powered devices, too. Despite its affordable price, it even includes a cable.
Whether you need to replace your original charger or you just want to have an extra at home or the office, you should get the Nekteck 60W USB-C GaN Charger. It will charge almost any laptop 13 inches or smaller at full speed, and it can fast-charge most lower-powered laptops, tablets, and phones, as well.
The Nekteck is smaller and lighter than just about any other laptop or tablet charger we’ve found, it has a convenient fold-up plug, and it comes with a detachable cable, which is something that usually costs $10 to $20 on its own.
This charger is cheaper than many less powerful models, and like most of Nekteck’s products, it’s certified by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), which means an independent third party has tested it and ensured it meets performance and safety specifications.
Port 1: 60 W USB-C Dimensions: 1.97 by 1.97 by 1.2 inches USB-C cable: 6.5 feet, detachable
This charger is about the same size as our top pick and charges just as quickly, but it’s not independently certified for safety and performance.
Nekteck makes the best all-around charger we’ve tested, but if it’s out of stock (or if the price jumps to over $30), we recommend grabbing ZMI’s zPower Turbo 65W USB-C PD Wall Charger instead.
The ZMI has plenty of power for most laptops and any tablet, and like the Nekteck charger, it comes with a sturdy cable. The main reason it’s not our top pick is that the ZMI charger isn’t USB-IF certified. While that’s not a dealbreaker altogether, we think it’s worth a few more dollars to get the Nekteck charger.
Port 1: 65 W USB-C Dimensions: 1.97 by 1.97 by 1.1 inches USB-C cable: 4.9 feet, detachable
This model has all the power of the charger included with a 15- or 16-inch MacBook Pro but is smaller and costs much less. The included cable is removable and replaceable, in case it gets damaged.
Almost all computers that charge via USB-C have a maximum charge speed of 60 watts, but a handful can charge even faster with more power—most notably, the MacBook Air (2022 or later) reaches its peak charging speed at 67 W, the 15-inch MacBook Pro (2019) at 87 W, and both the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021 or later) and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019) at 96 W. For these laptops, we recommend Nekteck’s 100W PD 3.0 GaN Wall Charger.
This 100 W charger, which is notably smaller than Apple’s own charger, comes with a detachable USB-C charge cable and costs less than half the price of what a full replacement set would cost from Apple. Like our 60 W top pick, it’s independently tested and certified for safety.
Port 1: 100 W USB-C Dimensions: 2.7 by 2.7 by 1.2 inches USB-C cable: 6.5 feet, detachable
With more power from one port than most models we’ve tested, this compact charger has two USB-C PD ports capable of delivering 140 W apiece or 145 W total. It’s pricey, but it comes with a long, 8-foot cable.
If you have a laptop that requires more than 100 W (such as a 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 or later), or if you’d like to fast-charge two smaller devices simultaneously, the Insignia 140W Dual Port USB-C Compact Wall Charger is your best bet.
Its two USB-C ports can deliver up to 140 W apiece or 145 W total, and it’s small and light (weighing just 10 ounces), given its high output.
Like our other picks, the Insignia has a handy fold-up plug, it’s USB-IF certified, and it comes with a cable. Not only is the 8-foot-long cable longer than that of the rest of the bunch, but it’s more powerful—capable of passing up to 240 W—and adds premium features like a woven-nylon sheath and an attached hook-and-loop cable tie.
Port 1: 140 W USB-C Port 2: 140 W USB-C Dimensions: 3.3 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches USB-C cable: 8 feet, detachable
I’ve been a science journalist for more than seven years, covering a wide variety of topics from particle physics to satellite remote sensing. Since joining Wirecutter in 2017, I’ve reported on power banks for phones and tablets, portable laptop chargers with USB-C ports and/or AC outlets, USB-C cables and adapters, and more. I spent nine hours researching and 26 hours testing USB-C laptop and tablet chargers for this guide alone.
The current iteration of this guide builds on extensive research and testing conducted by Nick Guy, who has covered power accessories since 2011 and reviewed them for Wirecutter for over six years.
This guide covers chargers for laptops that get power via a USB-C connection, specifically those that use USB Power Delivery (USB PD), a technology that lets USB-C transmit the high power required to charge a laptop. Most modern laptops—from super-slim ultrabooks to heavy-duty laptops designed for gaming, video editing, or working with lots of data—charge using USB-C.
With USB-C now nearly ubiquitous across phones, tablets, laptops, and more, you no longer have to rely on your device’s manufacturer to be the only source of a safe charger. Every computer comes with a charger, but you might still need or want another, whether to avoid carrying it to and from work or because you need to replace a broken one.
Some tablets that charge via USB-C come with underpowered chargers, so our picks will allow you to charge them much faster. For example, the 20 W charger that comes with the largest iPad Pro will charge its battery to 18% after 30 minutes and 35% in an hour, while a 30 W or faster charger provides a 33% charge in half an hour and 65% in one hour.
No matter what kinds of USB-powered devices you own, we have picks to power them at their fastest charging speeds.
We pored over the USB charging catalogs from a wide range of reputable brands to find the best competitors. From there, we whittled down the list based on the following criteria:
To find the top options in each category, we put the finalists through a number of tests.
This compact charger can power almost any USB-C laptop at top speed, and it works great for lower-powered devices, too. Despite its affordable price, it even includes a cable.
Nekteck’s 60W USB-C GaN Charger is the best charger you can buy if you need a replacement for almost any modern laptop with a 13-inch (or smaller) screen that charges via USB-C. It’s also a great option for the iPad Pro.
It will charge your device fast, it’s small, and it’s safe, since it’s one of the few chargers (especially at its price) to be certified by the USB-IF. It’s also quite affordable—a fraction of what you’d pay Apple for a replacement—even though it includes a 6.5-foot, 60 W USB-C cable in the box.
It delivers the power it promises. The Nekteck offers enough power for almost any 13-inch laptop, including the more power-hungry 13-inch MacBook Pro.
USB-C charging is standardized into different power levels, and the most common ones used with computers and tablets are 45 W (15 volts, 3 amps) and 60 W (20 volts, 3 amps). This charger supports the former but will automatically switch to 15 W, 27 W, and 36 W rates as needed to fast-charge phones and other devices.
When plugged into a 13-inch MacBook Pro, it properly charged at 60 W with 20.4 volts. It passed the Total Phase tests, as expected.
It’s a bargain compared to first-party chargers. The 60W USB-C GaN Charger has often been on sale, sometimes for well under $20. Even at its historical high price of $29 (as of this writing), it still costs only a third of what Apple charges for its comparable charger and cable.
It’s such a strong value that we don’t think you should buy a lower-powered charger even if your device requires only 45 W; those slower chargers aren’t any cheaper, and the 60 W option will potentially be more useful in the future.
It comes with a great cable. It may even be worth it to buy the charger if you simply need a new cable—it comes with a great one, and the price isn’t much higher than buying one separately. USB-C charging cables have come down in price alongside USB-C chargers themselves, but good ones still normally cost $10 to $15.
The one caveat here is that the included cable supports only 60 W charging, so don’t expect to get full speed if you use it with more powerful chargers.
It’s USB-IF certified for peace of mind. Nekteck is one of the few companies with USB-IF certification across its entire product line. That means an independent lab has verified that it meets an industry-standard set of criteria for safety and performance.
Since we test all of our recommendations ourselves, we don’t rely exclusively on USB-IF certification to make a pick. But that stamp of approval on the company’s designs and adherence to USB-C standards gives the Nekteck charger another advantage over the competition.
It’s tiny and lightweight. The Nekteck charger is nearly the smallest USB laptop charger we’ve tested at this power level, just a hair bigger than the ZMI zPower Turbo 65W USB-C PD Wall Charger. Measuring 1.97 by 1.97 by 1.2 inches, it has a volume that’s about half that of Apple’s 61W USB-C Power Adapter, and it’s small enough to throw in a computer bag or a jacket pocket. Folding prongs make it that much more compact.
It comes with a solid warranty and reliable support. Nekteck’s standard warranty period is 12 months, which is plenty of time to use your charger and ensure it’s working properly. We’ve found the customer support to be helpful, both in terms of response speed and addressing our concerns.
If you want a charger that comes in an Apple-y white or adds a pop of color to your work setup, you might be disappointed that this model comes only in black.
This charger is about the same size as our top pick and charges just as quickly, but it’s not independently certified for safety and performance.
ZMI’s zPower Turbo 65W USB-C PD Wall Charger is the best charger you can buy if our top-pick charger is out of stock, or if it’s significantly cheaper when you’re ready to purchase.
It offers 65 W charging in a relatively compact package about the same size as the Nekteck, and like the Nekteck, it passed our Total Phase tests without any issues. That means it will charge safely and correctly match the power level of whatever you plug it into.
However, it doesn’t have USB-IF certification like the Nekteck charger does. ZMI includes a 5-foot, 100 W USB-C cable in the box, and that cable also passed our tests.
It provides plenty of power for most laptops and tablets. The ZMI charger properly powered a 13-inch MacBook Pro at 60 W, and it showed the expected results in the Total Phase tests. Although it can provide up to 65 W, the extra 5 W you get compared with our top pick won’t make a big difference, even with more power-hungry devices.
It’s the most compact charger we’ve tested, by a hair. Measuring 1.97 by 1.97 by 1.1 inches, the zPower Turbo is almost identical in size to the Nekteck 60 W charger, and once again, it’s about half the size of Apple’s 61W USB-C Power Adapter. The plain black box won’t turn any heads, but with the contrasting glossy and matte surfaces, it looks nicer than many chargers.
Its included cable is high quality. The 5-foot cable that comes with the ZMI 65 W charger is designed to support up to 100 W charging, which we verified with Total Phase testing. That means you can use it with more power-hungry devices compared with our top pick.
Its warranty is even longer than our top pick’s. The charger and cable combo comes with an 18-month warranty, giving you an additional six months (on top of our other picks’ one-year warranties) to request a replacement if your charger is faulty.
This model has all the power of the charger included with a 15- or 16-inch MacBook Pro but is smaller and costs much less. The included cable is removable and replaceable, in case it gets damaged.
Nekteck’s 100W PD 3.0 GaN Wall Charger provides enough power to fast-charge a 2022 or newer MacBook Air, a 2021 or newer 14-inch MacBook Pro, or a 2019 15- or 16-inch MacBook Pro, and it costs less than half the price of Apple’s 96W USB-C Power Adapter. It’s smaller, too.
You can find even smaller high-power-draw chargers, but they’re a lot more expensive than this particularly affordable model. We think it provides a great balance of price, size, and power.
It has a remarkably svelte design. The square power brick is quite compact: Apple’s charger is 3.2 inches square and just over an inch thick, while Nekteck’s is 2.75 inches square and about 1.2 inches thick.
Both the Apple and Nekteck chargers have fold-out prongs, but the prongs on Nekteck’s charger can’t be removed and replaced with a longer cord as they can on an Apple charger. Like our top and runner-up picks, it comes only in black, but it has a sleek look on the whole.
It’s certified safe and accurate. Like the company’s 60 W charger, the 100 W Nekteck charger is USB-IF certified, meaning an independent lab has verified that it meets a set of criteria for safety and performance.
It has a long cable and warranty. This Nekteck charger includes a 6-foot detachable USB-C cable, adding to the value of the package. And if anything happens to the charger itself, Nekteck provides a 12-month warranty.
With more power from one port than most models we’ve tested, this compact charger has two USB-C PD ports capable of delivering 140 W apiece or 145 W total. It’s pricey, but it comes with a long, 8-foot cable.
Few laptops need more than 100 W to charge at top speed, but if you have one that does—like a 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 or later, or Dell’s XPS 15 or 17—the Insignia 140W Dual Port USB-C Compact Wall Charger is unparalleled.
It costs about $10 more than Apple’s version at the time of this writing, but it’s just as powerful and compact as that charger, and it has two things the Apple model doesn’t: a second USB-C port and a luxuriously long cable.
It has two powerful ports. Insignia’s charger can pump out up to 145 W total from its two USB-C ports, or up to 140 W from either port. Even if you don’t need the full 140 W for a single device, it’s nice to have some extra power to split between two devices—say, to fast-charge a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro simultaneously.
It’s small, lightweight, and sleek-looking. Like Apple’s 140W USB-C Power Adapter, Insignia’s version weighs just 10 ounces, or about as much as a standard volleyball. It’s squarish in shape, measuring 3.3 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches, and has a convenient fold-up plug.
Like our other picks, it comes in only one color—white—but its rounded edges give it a streamlined, sophisticated look.
It’s pricey, but still a good value for what you get. Costing $110 at the time of this writing, the Insignia charger is the most expensive of our picks (by a lot), but it’s also the most powerful of the bunch, and the only one with multiple charging ports.
It comes with a standout cable. At 8 feet, the removable cable that comes with the Insignia charger is longer than those included with our other picks, and since it’s capable of passing up to 240 W, you can use it with even more powerful devices (few such devices currently exist, but it’s still a nice feature to future-proof your purchase).
The cable is covered in an extra-rugged fabric sheath, and an attached hook-and-loop cable tie helps keep it neatly coiled in your bag.
It’s been cleared by an independent third party. Like all of our picks, this cable is USB-IF certified, ensuring that it meets performance and safety specifications.
It’s backed by a solid warranty and reliable support. This charger-and-cable combo has a one-year warranty, giving you ample time to confirm it’s working properly. Insignia is Best Buy’s in-house electronics brand, and we’ve found the customer support to be helpful and responsive.
If you want to charge several other devices while charging your laptop: Get the Baseus GaN2 4 Ports Fast Charger 100W. Like our picks, it offers lots of power for the size and price, comes with a cable, and has a foldable plug.
Plus, it’s one of just a few options with two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports (although, like most chargers, its output is split between ports when two or more devices are charging at once, which will cause all of them to charge more slowly). Its only notable downside is that it’s not USB-IF certified.
If you have a high-powered laptop and frequently travel internationally: Get the HyperJuice 140W PD 3.1 USB-C GaN Charger. It has a 30 W USB-A port, a 100 W USB-C port, and a 140 W USB-C port (the maximum output when multiple ports are in use is 140 W).
It’s more expensive than any of our picks, and it’s not USB-IF certified. But it’s lightweight, comes with a cable, has a foldable plug, and includes three international plug adapters.
If you want lots of power and ports in a portable package and you don't need a cable: Get the Anker 747 Charger (GaNPrime 150W). It has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port with a total maximum output of 150 W.
It’s small and light, has a foldable plug, and comes with an unusual accessory—a silicone stabilizer that suctions onto the wall outlet to keep the charger from getting bumped or pulled out.
It’s on the pricier side, doesn’t come with a cable, and isn’t USB-IF certified, but if it suits your needs even with those trade-offs, it’s still a great charger.
This is not a comprehensive list of all USB-C laptop and tablet chargers we’ve tested. We have removed any models that have been discontinued or that no longer meet our requirements.
The Amazon Basics 100W Four-Port GaN Wall Charger has two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports, and it offers lots of power for the price, but newer multiport options are available that are smaller and lighter and/or come with a cable.
The Anker 313 Charger (Ace, 45W) offers less power for the size and price compared to most of our picks, and unlike those models, it doesn’t include a cable.
The Anker 717 Charger (140W) performed well in our testing, but unlike our 140 W Insignia pick, it has just one USB-C port, it’s not USB-IF certified, and at this writing it has a fairly low rating (3.3 stars) on Amazon.
The Anker 737 Charger (GaNPrime 120W) offers a lot of power for its size, and it comes with a handy silicone stabilizer to keep it suctioned securely onto the outlet’s faceplate. However, its oblong shape makes it jut out awkwardly from the wall, it’s not USB-IF certified, and it’s pricier than otherwise comparable models.
The Apple 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter has a super-low profile, and we like that its ports face the floor when it’s plugged in so your cords stay parallel to the wall, saving even more space. However, it doesn’t offer much power for the size and price (the same is true of the standard-sized Apple 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter).
The HyperJuice 245W GaN Desktop Charger has the highest total output of any charger we’ve tested, though it splits that power among four USB-C ports. Given its peak power, it’s a good size and price, and it comes with an AC extension cable so your ports are always within reach. However, it’s not USB-IF certified, and at 1.2 pounds it’s one of the heaviest models we tested.
The Nekteck 107W USB C Charger (GaN Tech) splits its total wattage between two USB-C ports (one maxes out at 65 W, and the other at 30 W) as well as two USB-A ports, which is less power than we’d recommend for most people’s desks.
The RAVPower 61W GaN Tech Wall Charger is one of the smallest chargers we tested, at 2 by 2 inches and just over an inch thick, but it doesn’t come with a cable.
The RAVPower 65W GaN Tech Wall Charger (PD3.0) offers a combined output of 65 W from its two ports; each can put out that much power when used individually, or they can split it. However, otherwise comparable models have more ports.
The RAVPower PD Pioneer 61W 2-Port USB C Wall Charger and RAVPower 65W GaN Tech Wall Charger are good values for what they are, but we think it’s better to invest in the future by choosing a charger with at least two USB-C ports.
The RAVPower 90W GaN Tech Wall Charger is a former upgrade pick, but otherwise comparable models are more powerful, have more ports, and/or are about the same size.
The Satechi 75W Dual Type-C PD Travel Charger has two USB-C ports, offering 60 W from one port and 18 W from the other, plus two USB-A ports with a combined 12 W output. But it’s an expensive charger, and in our testing neither USB-A port supported that full 12 W on its own, even when nothing else was plugged in. The 108 W version is essentially the same charger, except it has a 90 W port in place of the 60 W port.
The Ugreen Nexode 100W USB C GaN Charger-4 Ports Wall Charger, and a similar 65 W version, both triggered error messages in our testing software. Also, several customer reviews for each model note that the chargers often reset while charging, rather than delivering a consistent flow of power.
The ZMI zPower Trio 65W Desktop Charger is too low-powered for a desktop charger (its combined output is only 65 W), despite its small size and low price.
We also tested the following models but ultimately dismissed them, since otherwise comparable models offer more power for the size, more power for the price, USB-IF certification, a foldable plug, and/or a more packable shape:
This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.
Sarah Witman has researched, tested, and reviewed all manner of products—from massage chairs and mousetraps to pencils and power banks—since joining Wirecutter in 2017. Before that, she worked as a science writer and fact checker for numerous publications, and she studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin. In her spare time, she eats as much cheese as her body will tolerate.
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2C 1A Foldable Wall Charger 65W Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).