The new 45W Anker Nano charger has a display and other upgrades. Here’s what it’s like

the Anker’s latest 45W Nano charger, announced in Januarywhich remains one of the smallest 45W chargers on the market, Adds full color display Show an animated character and a few details about the device you’re charging.

The screen is sometimes useful if you want to monitor how much power your device is consuming, but the screen seems more like a marketing gimmick than a feature that most consumers will actually take advantage of. But it’s not the only upgrade that makes the charger worth considering.

The Nano’s defining feature is the roughly 1-inch-wide display that takes up half of the charger’s glossy front panel. These types of displays are usually only found on Anker’s larger multi-port power stations, and are often limited in the information they display.

Anker is touting the Nano as “the world’s first smart display charger that recognizes your iPhone.” When a device is connected, the screen will briefly display the name of your device, then show the amount of power being connected and the battery level. But the charger is limited to Apple devices 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 recognized and recognised.

The Nano also has a three-stage charging system that adjusts the rate of power delivery to help extend battery life. As the device’s charge level increases, power delivery decreases. The phases are displayed as “fast”, “steady” and “trickly” along with the current wattage and an animated blob-like character whose expression often confuses me. Sometimes he feels sleepy, other times he seems crazy, even if it’s not intentional. When just the USB cable is plugged in, the character will occasionally swing at a baseball, or turn into a cookie that opens to reveal fortunes like “Fun Ahead,” which means nothing at all.

Tapping a touch-sensitive indent next to the Nano’s USB-C port cycles through two additional displays, including a temperature display and one to switch between charging modes, or you can hold it down for two seconds to flip the screen 180 degrees as needed.

The default charging mode is automatic (the charger resets to it every time it is disconnected), and it adjusts power delivery over time. Care Mode reduces power to help extend battery life by keeping your phone cool. It’s designed for times when you’re not in a rush to charge your device, such as charging overnight, and displays the word “Gentle” on the screen to remind you to switch to automatic mode if you’re in a hurry.

It does not stop working only when connected to devices that are not officially supported. I tested this with a Kobo e-reader and Playdate, and instead of selecting either device, the charger went directly to the charging status screen, displaying how much power was being delivered below battery levels.

The screen’s most useful feature is the ability to check your iPhone or iPad’s charge level, but that’s only the information these devices actually display. After a few seconds, the Nano’s charger screen automatically turns off, requiring you to access the port with a single tap to see the charging progress again. You can’t keep the screen on all the time, so if your phone or tablet isn’t on the other side of the room and connected via a 60-foot USB cable, why not reach for your device to check if it’s charged?

The Nano’s display would feel less gimmicky if it offered additional functionality, such as estimating how long it would take to fully charge, or the option to automatically switch to care mode overnight.

The most compelling reason to spend an extra $5 on the new $39.99 Charger Nano instead of last year’s $34.99 model is its redesigned folding prongs. It now rotates 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 available. It’s a simple but smart design change and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Anker integrate it into other smaller chargers in the future.

Photography by Andrew Leszewski/The Verge