USB Power Delivery (aka USB PD) is one of the greatest technological advances of the past five years. If your laptop supports USB PD, you can use a universal charger that also works with many phones and tablets or even with the Raspberry Pi 4. In fact, the wonders of USB PD saved my bacon when I forgot a charger on my trip to Computex in Taipei this year but was able to borrow a coworker's MacBook AC adapter and use it with my Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
Normally, you pay quite a premium to get a charger that supports USB PD, but with Amazon Prime Day approaching, Anker's PowerPort Speed+ Duo adapter is on sale for $19.49 on Amazon. This device can deliver up to to 30 watts from its Type-C port and another 12 watts from its Type-A connector.
From experience, I can say that the Anker PowerPort Speed+ Duo is really compact and well-built. Having taken it on some trips, I really appreciate the way its prongs fold back so they don't get bent in your bag. And unlike some charger brands, Anker has a great reputation and strong warranty support.
The only real downside to PowerPort Speed+ Duo is that the 30 watts it offers may be too little for using a more power-hungry laptop while charging it. When I plugged this charger into my ThinkPad, it booted and ran okay, but I got an error message saying that I wasn't giving the computer enough power. However, the computer seemed to be working okay, and it charged very easily, particularly when I had it in sleep mode.
If you want even more juice than this charger offers, you can spend more and get the Aukey USB-C 60-watt charger for $35.99. But if you're comfortable with 30 watts, the Anker is a steal.
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