You are one of the lucky people who just got your new MacBook, iPhone X or Nintendo switch and wondering how to keep them charged while on the road? Or you are one of those enthusiasts who is really enjoying the new technology not because you need it but because you like to see how it works? Well you are at the right place if you want to learn the latest in the USB Power Delivery Car Charger market. So let’s get to it!

 

#
Picture
Brand
Power
Design
Quality
Amazon US Price
1
LinkOn
4
5
5
$18.40
2
Anker
4
5
5
$29.94
3
Bat Power
5
3
4
$59.99
4
NekTeck
3
5
5
$19.99
5
RavPower
3
4
5
$19.99

 

1. LinkOn

The LinkOn car charger takes the well deserved first position on our list. It has the best design and it is built from top quality materials. The charger is also the smallest in the category without significant compromises in terms of specks. This is the only charger which got updated to support the new PPS (Programmable Power Supply) specification of the Power Delivery protocol. That will allow you to super fast charge you Samsung Note S10 or the Samsung S20 series smartphones. We expect more and more devices to adopt PPS which makes this car charger a good investment in the future.

The power delivery (USB Type-C) port offers up to 45W (15V / 3A or 20V / 2.25A power profiles) which is more than sufficient to charge pretty much every mobile device which supported Power Delivery out there even while it is heavily used. The 45W PD output will allow you to charge even notebooks like MacBook Pro or Dell XPS.

All the car chargers we compared include also a USB-A port in order to support legacy devices. In this case the USB-A port supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 which will extend the list of supported quick charging devices even further. In fact the list of supported protocols includes Huawei FCP, Samsung AFC, QC4.0+, Apple 5V/2.4A, MTK PE1.1/PE2.0.  The only missing protocol is Dash Charge which is required for some older One Plus models as the newer ones are compatible with PD.

The max output from this port is 18W which makes the total output power from the charger 63W which is pretty decent.

We have tested it at max load and this car charger is surprisingly cool. This speaks for extremely efficient power conversion using high quality elements but more importantly it will have higher durability.

Our conclusion is that this should be your go to device if you can afford it since it is also the most expensive from all the chargers we compare.

 

 

2. Anker

Second place goes to the leader of mobile accessories on Amazon – Anker. They were slow to respond to the demand for PD charging in car chargers field but they are quickly catching up releasing a wide range of USB-C chargers.

Their most powerful car charger delivers 30W total power on their USB-C port which is quite sufficient for any smartphone or tablet but if you want to charge your notebook you would rather do it while it is powered off. What is unique for this car charger is that it’s secondary port can delivery up to 19.5W specifically for legacy Samsung devices devices (S8 and S9 series).

The design of this car charger is exactly what you can expect from Anker. It has blue led light ring which helps you find the car charger easily especially if your 12V plug is in the dark corner of your car. Size is just slightly bigger than the the leader and the build materials look promising.

This car charger is clear recommendation if you want durability and quality as this is what you can expect from Anker.

 

 

3. Bat Power

At third place we put the most powerful competitor. It can deliver up to 120W of power which is achieved by the stunning 90W USB-C PD3.0 output and two USB-A QC3.0 outputs all working simultaneously. This is the most powerful car charger on the market at the moment.

It does not shine with a special design and it is quite bulky but you would expect such a powerful device to be large. We would have been happier if this car charger supported PPS which would allow it to get the maximum charging speed of the new Samsung series. However if you are looking to charge your powerful USB-C laptop even while under heavy load this is your best solution. It also comes in black or white color and has USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-IF certified USB-C to USB-C cable which will allow you to charge at 90W with no issues.

Our tests at max load showed that the unit runs quite warm which is really not surprising considering the high output power. Our unit worked just fine but we would update this review after some time so we can give you some information about its durability as this is our biggest concern. We also read some reviews on amazon showing the unit melted which is really quite concerning. Running this unit at max load is really quite uncommon scenario in reality but we still would recommend you to limit usage of all the three ports simultaneously. This will surely help the unit to last longer.

As you could expect from cutting edge tech there are some unexpected issues which need to be ironed out and we enthusiast are happy to be part of the process.

 

 

4. NekTeck

The solution from NekTeck dropped a bit since last update but it is still in our top 5. It delivers 45W total power out of its USB-C port and unfortunately its USB-A port is only a standard 12W charging port.

The reasons why this charger is still in our top 5 are two. First its it competitive price. You would not find such powerful car charger at a better price and it also includes 3.3ft USB-C cable in the package. The second advantage is its clean design and high build quality. The aluminum body with ergonomic shape will really stand well in your car interior. Thing which many people oversee when buying a car charger.

The build quality also comes with solid performance. The units runs cool and gives you impression for highly durable product.

We would highly recommend you this charger if you don’t need higher power and if you have limited budget.

 

 

5. RavPower

Fith place goes to RavPower. Another well known brand for mobile devices charging on Amazon. They offer a solution with 30W USB-C PD and a 18W USB-A QC3.0 ports. The power output is not as significant but the size and design are quite nice.

When plugged in it has a really nice blue led light around the ports. It’s fiber carbon surface will be much more resistible to scratches which is quite important if you expect to use it very frequently.

The offered package at this price is quite competitive.

 

 

Conclusion

The marked of USB-C car chargers has changed quite a bit since our last review and now we see some market leaders stepping in as well as some really new players which are not afraid to push the limits. This is all good for us the users as such competition drives the progress while keeps the prices affordable. There is also many options for everyone to choose from. Just three years ago you were able to count the USB-C car chargers by the fingers of your hand. Today the options are more than 100. There are many brand we also liked but haven’t make it to our top 5 like AmazonBasics, Aukey, Maxboost, Belkin and Choetech. We will keep an eye as always and will get this article updated as soon as there is significant change so that you are making the best decision for your purchase.