Anker 323 52.5W USB C Car Charger with 30W PowerIQ 3.0 Fast Charging

Why it's worth it

The Anker 323 puts 30W of USB-C power and 22.5W of USB-A in a single 12V socket, so a phone and a tablet charge quickly at the same time. It's small enough to sit nearly flush and it doesn't wiggle loose.

Most factory USB ports in cars are slow. They were specced years before your phone was, and plugging into one on a two-hour drive can mean arriving with less battery than you left with. This charger's USB-C port takes an iPhone from empty to half in about 25 minutes per Anker's specifications. That's the difference between a topped-up phone and a dead one at the trailhead.

Two ports, two charging standards, one socket. Households rarely standardize on one cable. Somebody's still on Lightning, somebody's on USB-C, and the kid's tablet is a third thing. Both ports here run at full speed simultaneously, which ends the negotiation over who gets to charge. Anker's ActiveShield monitoring throttles output if it gets hot.

From our review of 8 car organization gadgets, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Most factory USB ports in cars are slow
• +Two ports, two charging standards, one socket
• +A boring virtue worth naming: it stays plugged in

What to know

• –It's 52.5W total, not enough to run a full-size laptop at speed
• –Compatibility isn't perfect