August 11, 2024 - Purchased the new 100W charger from Anker. Definitely slimmed down but a little bit longer. Charges multiple devices fine and so far has gotten warm and not as hot as the older version but that could change with longer testing. The slimmer build saves space as I use it in a power strip and it is a little lighter. So far so good as its for my Macbook Pro and next I hope they do a slimmer 140W so I can have a smaller plug for my gaming laptop. Also both versions are the same price as of now and imo its still a little high or hopefully sales to come or discount for buying multiple which I may do if they have that offer.

December 25, 2024 -

In my attempt to build the ultimate travel kit with minimal compromise, I tested Anker’s 100w+ charger lineup. My testing results surprised me and didn’t match up to some other reviews I’ve seen so I wanted to share my thoughts with the community.

I have very specific use cases that I think others might have. My everyday charger must:

• Be as small and light as possible

• Must have at least 3 ports including 1 USB-A for legacy support

• Provide enough power such that my Dell 5440 Laptop never tells me it’s connected to a slow charger.

• Provide enough power such that when all ports are used, the laptop does not slowly discharge

• Must renegotiate power correctly when items are connected/disconnected.

• Address the Dell Laptop’s power peculiarities. Laptop comes with a 65w charger, but the laptop will draw 90w from third party and 130w from its proprietary dock. This means, that the lowest sustain power it must detect is 65w to avoid the slow charger issue.

• Address my USB-C dock’s peculiarities that doesn’t follow USB-C PD protocol correctly. It will take 15w for itself and pass whatever else forward. It will not renegotiate power unless you plug/unplug.

This is my setup for on the road: Charger> Dock > Laptop, 3 in 1 wireless charger, Ipad Mini (Not Shown)

Going into this experiment and based on other reviews, I was sure either the older Anker 100w A2343 or Anker 737 120w would be the winner. On paper, they provided dynamic power distribution, Power IQ 4.0, and better charging rates including 12v. In testing, this wasn’t always the case.

I was also quite sure the new Anker 100w A2688 would be the loser, because it’s fixed output with three ports 65W + 12W + 12W would not be enough to satisfy my power requirements. I was also wrong about this.

Conclusion:

The A2343 was the biggest loser. It’s heavy and stumpy. Its single port performance is great but the triple port performance down to 45W is a failure. It’s advertised as dynamic but has max ranges which means it’s not truly dynamic.

The A2148 is ok. It’s truly dynamic which means no matter how many ports were connected, it always prioritized the laptop. It’s heavy and long but width was ok. The biggest issue I had was it really hated the Vangreen dock and power negotiation with it connected was a constant failure. It does provide the most amount of power overall.

The A2688 turns out to be the winner. It’s the smallest and lightest. It’s fixed rate of 65W, although doesn’t allow the laptop to draw the max power it needs, also doesn’t cause it to deplete over time. It does output less power to the 3 in1 and iPad, but those are almost always overnight charges, so it’s less important.

Here are the results:

Weight/Size - Winner A2688

• Anker 100w A2343 - 6.47oz / 183.3g 1.73x1.54x2.38 in

• Anker 120w A2148 - 6.6oz/187.11g 1.69 × 1.26 × 3.15

• Anker 100w A2688 - 6oz/170.1g 1.71 x 1.14 x 2.67

Dell Bios Power Detect - Winner Tie between A2148 and A2688

• Anker 100w A2343

  • 90W (Max Detect) Single Port, 65W Dual Ports, 45W Triple Port

  • 85W Single Port, 60W Dual Ports, 45W Triple Port when connected to Dock

• Anker 120w A2148

  • 90W (Max Detect) Single Port, 60W Dual Ports, 60W Triple Port

  • 85W Single Port, 55W Dual Ports, 80W Triple Port when connected to Dock

• Anker 100w A2688

  • 90W (Max Detect) Single Port, 65W Dual Ports, 65W Triple Port

  • 85W Single Port, 50W Dual Ports, 50W Triple Port when connected to Dock

Power Output Rates - Winner A2148 edges out A2688 because it’s actually dynamic

• Anker 100w A2343

  • 1Port: 100W + 22.4W

  • 2 Ports: USB-C 1 + USB-C 2: 65W + 35W, USB-C 1 + USB-A: 76W + 22.5W

  • 3 Ports: USB-C 1 + USB-C 2 + USB-A 3: 45W + 30W + 22.5W

• Anker 120w A2148 - Fully Dynamic

• Anker 100w A2688

  • 1 Port: 100W + 22.5W

  • 2 Ports: USB-C 1 + USB-C 2: 65W + 35W, USB-C 1 + USB-A: 65 + 22.5W, USB-C 2 + USB-A: 12W + 12W

  • 3 Ports: USB-C 1 + USB-C 2 + USB-A 3: 65W + 12W + 12W

Power Negotiation - Winner, A2688

• Anker 100w A2343 - Without dock, no issues. With dock, Single to Dual or Triple, ok, Triple or Dual back to single, fail, must unplug fully and replug.

• Anker 120w A2148 - Without dock, no issues. With Dock Single to Dual or Triple, fail, Triple or Dual back to single, fail, must unplug fully and replug.

• Anker 100w A2688 - No issues

I hope this helps anyone looking to purchase these products.

Other reference reviews by other folks (not done by me):

Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger Review + Comparison Between A2688 vs A2343

Anker 737 GaNPrime Charger Review - 120W Power Delivery with 100W on a single port

Anker Prime 2024 100W and 240W USB C Chargers Reviewed and Tested

August 6, 2023 -

Hey guys, saw there aren’t any posts made about this charger from Anker, so I wanted to ask if anyone has any opinion? It’s called the “Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (3 Ports)” and seems to be pretty new to the scene from what I could tell, so, would this be a good charger to use on the 2023 g14? Alongside the laptop this would be used to charge my phone and other headphones.

November 4, 2024 -

I bought a Anker Nano 100W charger.

It has a single usb-c port.

I set it up to charge my almost completely depleted Iniu 27500Mah 140W battery pack. This Iniu has a digital display where it shows the wattage it is receiving.

The Anker was able to consistently deliver 94.1 watts, which I consider great....it didn't reduce the wattage until the Iniu got close to being full...which of course is the expected behavior.

Many reviews on Amazon said it couldn't consistently deliver 100W, but would overheat and reduce the wattage. I didn't see the wattage reduction from overheating...and I assume that 6 watts or so lost to the cable is normal for all 100W chargers.

But boy did I see a lot of heat. I used a laser thermometer and the charger got to and maintained a temperature of 150.1 Fahrenheit (66 Celsius).

Is this too hot? Should I return it?

What temperature should I expect when pulling 100 watts from an Anker prime 3 port wall charger? Will it get this hot or will it max out at something more reasonable?

I should point out that the chager was not behind a nightstand or anything. It was plugged in out in the open with lots of space around each side. Also the room was only 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 celsius). This makes me nervous about the behavior of the charger should I charge in 90 degree weather (32 celsius).