// WIRED US/UK — MOBILE & WEB
The 3 Best USB Phone Chargers (2026): Anker, DeWalt
A car charger is not a complicated device. The best USB car charger is the one that charges your phone quickly, does not overheat, allows multiple devices to charge, and remains compatible with whichever USB cable you (or your passengers) happen to have available. It is usually also a trusted brand, with certification to international standards—not a janky gas station charger that'll blow a fuse with an internal short or offer insufficient protection against dust and debris.
I put car chargers to the test with ammeters and phone apps, and on multi-hour road trips, to make sure each one lived up to its promises. The best car charger I've found is the three-port Anker 167.5W Nano ($38), which combines 100-watt fast-charging capability for auxiliary devices, plus dual-port USB-Cs, USB-A capability, and safety features that include overheat protection.
If you shun dangling cords, I offer the Anker 75W Fast Charger ($30) with slightly lower top amperage but a retractable cable. And for families whose kids can't live without constant tablets in the back seat, there's the DeWalt 72W Front and Back Seat Charger ($45).
For other power needs, check out WIRED's guides to the Best Portable Jump Starters, Best Power Banks, Best MagSafe/Qi2 Power Banks, and Best Laptop Power Banks or Best Portable Power Stations.
This three-port charger from Anker offers pretty much everything I want from a USB car charger while remaining hearteningly compact and affordable. The 100W fast-charging USB-C port kicks out nearly 7 amps at top speeds, enough juice to charge my Macbook Air to 50 percent in about 25 minutes, before fast-charging slows down, and does the same for my iPhone. But especially, Anker's PowerIQ technology smartly assesses the differing voltage needs of various phones to avoid over- or under-voltage. I've never actually seen this Anker on sale on Amazon above $40.
It also doesn't hurt that Anker makes some of WIRED's most trusted portable power technology—tech whose reliability we've verified over years of real-world testing. You don't overwhelmingly want a janky cheap charger that blows a fuse. Good insulation and a tiny built-in fan effectively lower overheating versus other fast-chargers, though you'll still notice some heat when charging at 100 watts or above. USB-A capability is welcome for versatility, though my testing showed somewhat lower power than advertised on that port.
Either way, I was able to charge both my top-pick portable jump starter, the 4000A Wolfbox ($120), in a little over an hour while also keeping my phone topped off on a road trip—which is pretty much as high-demand as I get while also blasting AC and the radio, and this caused no problems with the 15-amp circuit on my older car. But note that while most modern cars run on 20-amp fuses, the max capacity for this charger when drawing from all three ports does run pretty close to the max load for an older-model car charger. The charger is able to draw quite close to the maximum amperage on a 15-amp fuse.
A similar budget pick: The lower overheating on my top-pick Anker bodes well for longevity, which means it might still be a cheaper option in the long haul. But note that a similar three-port fast-charger from Chinese brand Ugreen ($21) performed comparably on charging speeds. But it also got significantly hotter within 10 minutes of fast-charging.
A retractable charging cable has the distinct merit of keeping your car tidy, without dangling charging cords to get tangled between your foot and the gas pedal. It also obviates the need to remember a cable at all. This Anker model offers a 2-foot cable that retracts quite easily back into its base after a quick tug on the cable, neat as you'd like. The cable's 45W fast-charging capability will max out the charging capability of most iPhones.
Anker is a brand I trust for charging technology. But it's worth noting that retractable cables introduce a couple failure points that could lower longevity. The cable ca