Anker’s new desktop charger solved a problem I didn’t know I had

All I want from a charger is that it works when I plug something into it, and that it’s convenient enough to fit my lifestyle. When I got the new Prime Chargers from Anker, I wasn’t sure if any of them would really fit my lifestyle, but I was wrong.

Once I started testing one out, I discovered it was exactly what my living room was missing.

Multi-port charging

I’m talking about Anker’s new Supercharged Multi-port Desktop Charging Station, which is part of its latest Prime series of chargers. It’s a relatively small but hefty GaN dock with six USB ports housed in a piano black panel and surrounded by a ribbed plastic body. There are four rubber feet on the bottom to keep the device from slipping, and on the back is a really thick, removable AC power cord leading to the wall plug.

I often charge a variety of devices, and until now I’ve been content with wall chargers connected to extension cords, regularly unraveling USB cable ports that drag on the floor, regularly forgetting which charger charges which device the fastest. The Anker Prime Charging Station has solved that problem. It takes up one plug on the extension cord, but has six ports of varying power on the other end, with a combined 200W of charging power spread across them all.

There are two USB-A ports and four USB-C ports, all with Anker’s ActiveSheild 3.0 power and thermal protection and PowerIQ 3.0 technology. This means it supports several USB charging standards, including Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, Samsung’s Fast Charge, and Apple’s Fast Charging. I can charge a single device at up to 100 watts. The specs are impressive, but the reason I like it is more its convenience than its capabilities.

Life on the shelf

Extension cords are a pain. They slide around the floor and mean that the cables are always snaking around the room. Mine are also crammed inconveniently next to my couch. The main power cord of the Anker charger is over a metre long and I found a convenient shelf for it in my living room, which made all the difference. Once I plugged it in, there were no more cables on the floor and I no longer had to crawl around to find the right cable, plug in a new one or sort them out.

It sits there, taking up very little space. It’s heavy, weighing 561 grams, so it needs a sturdy shelf. I can see at a glance what cables are connected, what ports are available, and whether the device I want is charging or not. Its massive power means I can charge anything I want from it, and it also seems to offer the fastest speeds available. For example, it charges my Apple M1 MacBook Air without a hitch, meaning I no longer have to rely solely on the Apple charger — I only have one —.

Charging standards are confusing, and I wasn’t sure if the Anker charging station’s PowerIQ technology would handle Samsung’s fastest charging system, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 shows “Super Fast Charging” on the screen when connected to it, indicating that it’s using the most available power. I tested it with Anker’s older 100W USB-C cable and the new 240W USB-C cable, and both trigger Samsung’s fastest charging. The same goes for the proprietary charging puck that comes with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, and I know the charging station works with Motorola’s TurboPower fast charging because I also tested it with the Edge 50 Pro.

Other New Anker Prime Products

The Supercharged Multi-port Desktop Charging Station isn’t the only new Anker Prime product coming. I also tried out the new Prime Wall Charger, which offers 100W of charging via a pair of USB-C ports and a single USB-A port. The wall socket’s foldable prongs and convenient size make it handy for travel. Like the Charging Station, it enables Samsung’s fast charging and Motorola’s TurboPower.

The Anker 14-in-1 Workstation Dock is a much more complicated piece of hardware to integrate into your life than a charging station and wall charger. It’s likely to be one of those products that directly addresses a problem you’re fully aware of, rather than one you didn’t know you had.

Standing upright on a desk, the workstation has two 10Gbps USB-C ports, a single 10Gbps USB-A port, and two 480Mbps USB-A ports, as well as two 4K HDMI ports, an Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There’s a screen at the top of the piano-black front panel that shows details about which port is charging, how much power is being used, and the data transfer speeds, and you can switch between screens by pressing the top power button. Viewing angles are good, and the device is bright enough to see in a well-lit room.

Price and Availability

When can you buy the new Anker Prime charging products and how much do they cost? Let’s start with the charging station, which is my personal favorite and costs $80, or £80. It’s expensive for a charger, but considering the number of ports and the power available, it’s a decent value. The 100W wall charger costs $85, or £85, while the new 240W USB-C cable costs $30 for the 3-foot version or $35 for the 6-foot cable. The 14-in-1 workstation is a solid piece of hardware at a solid price, as it will cost $250, or £200.

There’s another new product in Anker’s Prime lineup that I haven’t seen before. It’s the 250W Prime Charging Station (pictured above), which is almost a hybrid of a charging station and a workstation. It has four USB-C ports on the front and two USB-A ports on the side, with a combined output of 250W. There’s a screen on the front that shows the charging speed and power output, while a dial on the side lets you switch between different information panels. It costs $170 or £170. All of Anker’s new Prime charging products are available on Amazon starting today.

Problem solvers

There’s another common theme to Anker’s new Prime gear that runs through them all, and that’s a sense of quality. Every product I’ve tried feels very solid, with plenty of reassuring weight and sturdy plastic, as well as solid cable connections for reassurance. The 24-month warranty only reinforces that feeling of getting a good product that the company believes in.

Chargers and workstations aren’t exactly exciting, but for me, the charging station has slotted easily into my life and solved a problem I hadn’t thought about before. It’s taken what I took for granted as “the way it is” and made it less of a chore, and since it’s not ugly or cheap, I can live with it on display in my living room.

I prefer convenience over excitement, and now I’m wondering how to best use an even more technically impressive workstation after this success.