If you’re like me, you’re probably frustrated with the large power brick that ships with your laptop. It takes up too much room in your bag, it’s impossible to keep the cables tidy, etc. If you’re after a smaller and easy to keep tidy laptop charging setup, then I can help.
This is my personal laptop charging setup. I use a Lenovo Laptop which according to the power brick is a 45W charger. Most laptops require at least 45W. You can check what you need on the brick of your original charger but as a word of advice, you’re unlikely to find a solution for gaming laptops that are power-hungry. If your existing power brick doesn’t tell you the watts required, you can calculate it as Watts equals Volts x Amps.
The good news is if your Laptop charges via USB C you can find a more convenient and portable USB C travel charger solution. It’s also a good alternative if you have lost or damaged your original setup and need a replacement laptop charger; or if you just want a spare laptop charger for home, school, college, etc. My personal preference is I leave the heavy factory laptop charger in the office and use one of these smaller chargers as a travel laptop charger.
My personal USB Laptop Charging setup is as follows:
Best Option – Replacement USB C Laptop Charger
Anker 65W GAN Charge – Compatible with Lenovo, Dell, HP
Why? This is one of the more compact GAN chargers I have found. It only has a single USB C port, but that’s perfectly acceptable for my needs. The power plugs fold down into the unit and it’s much smaller than a laptop brick. A big plus is when it’s plugged in, it doesn’t block any outlets. It retails for about US$40 on Amazon and is frequently on sale. There’s a similar 60W version with USB C and USB A which is OK, slightly bigger, and if you can get it on sale might be worth considering if you want to charge your laptop and phone at the same time.
Upgrade Option – Replacement USB C Laptop Charger (Better for In-Flight Use)
Anker 4 Port 1xUSB C and 3xUSB A Charger (1x USB C and 3x USB A)
This is my pick as an upgrade option, but it’s not as compact. The upside is you get 4 ports (1x USB C and 3x USB A). The USB C port is rated at 45w. It also has a long power cable, which is much better for in-flight use where it’s sometimes harder to get a brick to stay in place. It’s about US$45 on Amazon. Technically you’re not saving any space compared to your laptop power brick but you do pick up extra USB C and USB A ports so you can charge your laptop, iPhone, Airpods, iPad, and more all at once. Again, why I think this is essential for flights.
Must Buy – USB C Laptop Charging Cable
Uni USB C to USB C 100W Braided Cable
Why? This is rated up to 100W so it gives you more than enough upgrade protection. It’s long enough, at 10ft and it’s braided nylon, which is so much easier to keep neat and tidy. The lugs that you use to plug in and out have a heavy-duty feel which gives me confidence in their reliability. The cable is also a decent thickness which suggests it will last a long time. It retails for close to US$10 on Amazon. You have to buy this to be able to charge your laptop with one of the options above.
Recommended – USB C to Lightning Cable
Uni USB C to Lightning Braided Cable
If you’re going to go for a USB C charger, you might as well charge your iPhone with a USB C lightning cable. I really like this cable, it has all the same benefits as the USB C to USB C to cable (nylon braided, quality connectors, etc). It’s a bit shorter, at 6ft but definitely worth it. It retails for under US$15 on Amazon.
General Observations
Everything in the above setup can also happily charge an iPad Pro. I have also used this setup on a work-supplied HP laptop. I’ve also bought the same setup for my child’s school laptop (Mac) as I’d prefer he uses an after-market USB C charger to and from school, just in case he leaves it there (we keep the original one at home). Anker does make some larger power bricks, including a 100W version with 4 ports but at $100 it’s a little out of my price range. I did miss the change of grabbing it when it went to $70 and if it drops to that price again, I will grab it. Why? Because this is the only charger that I know of that can charge two (2) 45w laptops via USB C simultaneously. That’s just cool.
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