Anker 511 Charger (Nano 3) 30W USB-C

Full-speed charging that disappears into your bag.

Short answer: yes — for phone-and-tablet charging, the Anker 511 Charger (Nano 3) is the easiest wall charger to recommend. It delivers a full 30W over USB-C from a GaN body roughly 70% smaller than the stock 30W brick, and the plug folds flat so it doesn't shred the inside of your bag. The catches are simple and worth knowing up front: one port, and no cable in the box.

What is the Anker 511 Charger (Nano 3)?

The Anker 511 — sold as the "Nano 3" — is a single-port 30W USB-C wall charger built on GaN (gallium nitride) instead of the silicon used in older power bricks. GaN switches more efficiently and throws off less waste heat, which is why Anker can shrink a 30-watt adapter down to something closer to the size of a stock 5W cube. It uses Anker's PowerIQ 3.0 to negotiate the right voltage with whatever you plug in, and ActiveShield 2.0, which monitors temperature in the background and throttles if things get warm.

The practical headline is the plug: it folds into the body. That sounds trivial until you've had a rigid-pronged charger snag a cable or gouge a laptop lid in a packed bag. It's the difference between a charger you tolerate and one you forget is in there.

Anker 511 Nano 3 specs

How fast is 30W, really?

This is where most spec sheets stop being useful. Thirty watts is not "three times faster" than a 10W charger — charging speed is capped by what the device is willing to draw, not by what the charger can offer. Modern iPhones pull somewhere in the region of 20–27W at peak depending on the model, and only for the first stretch of the charge before the rate tapers to protect the battery. So 30W comfortably covers full-speed iPhone charging with headroom to spare.

That headroom is the actual argument for the 511 over a 20W adapter. The extra watts don't make your phone charge dramatically faster — they mean the same charger also has enough in reserve to fast-charge an iPad or a small tablet, which a 20W unit will do more slowly. You're buying flexibility, not phone speed.

What 30W won't do is fast-charge a full-size USB-C laptop. If you want one brick for a MacBook and a phone, this isn't it — you want a higher-wattage multi-port charger. Be honest with yourself about which of those two people you are before buying.

Anker 511 Nano 3 vs the Apple 20W USB-C adapter

This is the comparison most people are actually making, since both are the obvious "small charger for an iPhone" pick. Here's the straight version:

Both fast-charge an iPhone, and neither includes a cable. The Anker wins on travel — more wattage, smaller body, and a plug that folds away. The Apple 20W USB-C Power Adapter wins if first-party matters to you: it's Apple's own part, with Apple's compatibility and safety guarantees, which is genuinely reassuring if you'd rather not think about it. Its US version has fixed prongs, though, which makes it the clumsier one to pack.

Our take: if the charger lives in a bag, take the 511. If it lives in a wall socket behind your nightstand and you value the Apple logo on it, the 20W is perfectly good. Prices move constantly on both, so check the current price on each before deciding — the gap between them is often small enough that wattage, not cost, should be the tiebreaker.

Pros and cons of the Anker 511

Who is the Anker 511 best for?

Travelers, commuters, and anyone who wants a second charger that disappears into a bag. It's also the sensible upgrade if you're still carrying the bulky adapter that shipped with an older device. If you own an iPhone and occasionally an iPad, a single 30W GaN unit covers both without you owning two bricks.

It's the wrong buy if you need to charge multiple devices simultaneously, or if you're hunting for one charger to run a laptop and a phone together. For topping up on the move, you may also want a battery — see our take on the Anker 313 PowerCore 10K — or browse the rest of our tech accessories and the tech accessories buying guide.

Should you buy the Anker 511 Nano 3?

For most people, yes. The thing the spec sheet undersells is that folding plug — it matters more day to day than the size does. A rigid charger snags on everything in a bag; this one tucks flat and stays out of the way. Pair it with a decent braided USB-C cable and you have a tidy, reliable kit that handles a phone and a tablet.

Buy it if you want one small, fast, well-protected charger for a bag or a second room. Skip it if you need multiple ports or laptop-class wattage. With a 4.7-star buyer average, it's a low-risk purchase — just check the current price before you commit, since it moves often.

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