Anker Universal Charger Only Misses Australia’s Plug, Review Finds
Anker's $80 Universal Charger combines a plug adapter with a multiport charger and outputs up to 100W. A hands-on review found it fast enough for a 14-inch MacBook Pro, but it throttles under sustained load, ships without a cable and lacks the plug type used in Australia.
Anker's $80 Universal Charger, a plug adapter and multiport charger in one, delivers up to 100W but lacks the Type I prong used in Australia and New Zealand, according to a hands-on review published November 12, 2026.
The reviewer tested the device at home in the United States and abroad. The verdict: it is more practical than expected, and it is staying in the bag for the holiday travel season.
What the charger covers
The charger has slide-out Type A, Type C and Type G prongs. Each locks the others while one is extended. Together they cover most of the world, including the US, Canada, Japan, China, Europe and the UK.
Type I is missing. That plug is common in Australia and New Zealand, so the charger is not fully universal.
Anker describes no cable in the box. The reviewer advises buying a proper, high-quality one, because Anker does not include any.
Power and limits
The charger has two USB-C ports, labeled USB-C1 and USB-C2, plus a third USB-C port and one USB-A port. Either main USB-C port can draw up to 100W alone. The third USB-C port caps at 15W and the USB-A port at 10W, and those two share power with each other. For the best speed, the reviewer says to use only one of the main USB-C ports.
That is enough for a modern iPhone or Android phone, a smartwatch or a laptop. The reviewer's 14-inch MacBook Pro supports 100-watt charging. It went from 0% to 50% in 33 minutes, then needed about 50 more minutes to reach 100% as trickle charging kicked in.
Larger laptops are out of reach. The charger cannot match the 140-watt rating of a 16-inch MacBook Pro or a similarly specced machine.
The reviewer also saw the output drop after prolonged use at 100 watts, as shown on the charger's display. When two devices were charged back to back, the second one charged much more slowly.
The built-in display
A 1.3-inch smart display on the front shows live line voltage, internal thermal readings and real-time wattage per port. A capacitive button below it controls the screen with short and long taps. The reviewer found that less intuitive than swiping, though it cuts down on fingerprints.
The reviewer called the display useful. It removes the guesswork over whether a cable or an outlet can charge a phone or laptop efficiently.
It also flags outlet safety. The charger detects output within 100-275V and signals when there is excess electrical pressure in the circuit. That matters when plugging into high-voltage outlets abroad, the reviewer wrote.
The reviewer came to the product after a last-minute work trip to Berlin. Without a US-to-EU adapter, the reviewer ended up hunting for an electronics store open late on a Sunday. Anker's product, the reviewer wrote, "takes a kitchen sink approach to charging."
