{"id":460266,"date":"2026-02-07T19:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/460266\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T19:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:18:16","slug":"ankers-new-45-watt-nano-charger-has-a-screen-and-other-upgrades-heres-what-its-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/460266\/","title":{"rendered":"Anker\u2019s new 45-watt Nano charger has a screen and other upgrades. Here\u2019s what it\u2019s like"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest Anker 45-watt Nano charger, announced in January<\/a>, which remains one of the smallest 45-watt chargers on the market, adds a full color screen<\/a> displaying an animated character and a smattering of details about the device you\u2019re charging.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

$30<\/p>\n

Anker Nano 45W charger with a built-in screen<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

The display is occasionally useful if you like to keep tabs on how much power your device is drawing, but the screen feels more like a marketing gimmick than a feature most consumers will actually benefit from. But it\u2019s not the only upgrade that makes the charger worth considering.<\/p>\n

The Nano\u2019s hallmark feature is a roughly 1-inch-wide screen that takes up half of the charger\u2019s glossy front panel. These sorts of screens are typically only found on Anker\u2019s larger multi-port power stations, and are frequently limited in what information they display.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Supported devices are identified and briefly named when plugged into the Nano charger.<\/p>\n

Anker promotes the Nano as \u201cthe world\u2019s first smart display charger that knows your iPhone.\u201d When you plug one in, the screen will briefly display your device\u2019s name, then show how much power is being delivered and its battery level. But the charger is limited to Apple hardware and only recognizes a limited number of devices, including iPhone 15 and later models and iPad models from 2020 onward. I tested it with an iPhone 16 Pro and an iPad 10 from 2022, and both were recognized and identified.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nano also has a three-stage charging system that adjusts the power delivery rate to help prolong battery life. As the device\u2019s charge level increases, power delivery is reduced. The stages are displayed as \u201cfast,\u201d \u201csteady,\u201d and \u201ctrickle\u201d alongside the current wattage and an animated blob-like character whose expression often confuses me. Sometimes it\u2019s sleepy, and other times it appears mad, even if that\u2019s not intentional. When only a USB cable is plugged in, the character will occasionally take a swing at a baseball, or turn into a cookie that opens to reveal fortunes like \u201cfun ahead,\u201d which doesn\u2019t mean anything at all.<\/p>\n

Tapping a touch-sensitive indent next to the Nano\u2019s USB-C port cycles through two additional screens, including a temperature display and one for switching between charging modes, or you can hold it for two seconds to flip the display 180 degrees as needed.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nano charger has three screens showing charging rates, temperature, and charging modes that can be cycled by tapping its touch-sensitive button.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of a touchscreen, the Nano charger has a touch-sensitive button on top (that looks like a dimple) you press to change screens or change modes.<\/p>\n

The default charging mode is auto (the charger resets to it every time it\u2019s unplugged), and it adjusts the power delivery over time. Care mode reduces the power to help further prolong battery life by keeping your phone cooler. It\u2019s designed for times when you\u2019re not in a hurry to top up your device, such as charging overnight, and it displays the word \u201cgentle\u201d onscreen to remind you to switch to auto mode if you\u2019re in a rush.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressing the charger\u2019s touch-sensitive button for two seconds flips the screen 180 degrees so you can reposition its USB-C port.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t just stop working when connected to devices that aren\u2019t officially supported. I tested it with a Kobo e-reader and a Playdate, and instead of identifying either device, the charger jumped straight to the charging status screen, displaying how much power was being delivered without their battery levels.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The screen-equipped version of the Nano charger (right) is slightly larger and heavier than the version introduced last year (left).<\/p>\n

The display\u2019s most useful feature is being able to check your iPhone or iPad\u2019s charge level, but that\u2019s information those devices already show. After a few seconds, the Nano charger\u2019s screen automatically turns off, requiring you to reach over to the outlet with a tap to see the charging progress again. You can\u2019t keep the display on at all times, so if your phone or tablet isn\u2019t on the other side of the room and connected via a 60-foot USB cable, why not just reach for your device to check if it\u2019s charged?<\/p>\n

The Nano\u2019s display would feel less gimmicky if it offered additional functionality, such as an estimate of how long it will take to fully charge, or an option to automatically switch to care mode overnight.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a><\/p>\n

The prongs on the Nano charger can fold flat for travel but also rotate 180 degrees, adding more flexibility for where you can plug it in.<\/p>\n

The most compelling reason to spend an extra $5 on the new $39.99 Nano charger instead of last year\u2019s $34.99 model is its redesigned folding prongs. They now rotate 180 degrees, so you can plug the charger into an outlet in two different ways to reorient the screen or keep the USB-C port accessible. It\u2019s a simple but clever design change that I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see Anker incorporate into other smaller chargers in the future.<\/p>\n

Photography by Andrew Liszewski \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

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See All Tech<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest Anker 45-watt Nano charger, announced in January, which remains one of the smallest 45-watt chargers on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,195,1800,209,64,61],"class_list":["post-460266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-gadgets","tag-hands-on","tag-reviews","tag-tech","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}