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Anker A2633 PowerPort 3 Nano Review 20W Charger With Low Profile Plug

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Small but mighty, the Anker A2633 PowerPort 3 Nano 20 watt charger is designed for power hungry users, specially Apple customers who own the new iPhone 12, which ships with no brick charger! The low profile footprint of PowerPort 3 Nano is not only convenient when traveling light but, it's also handy if you have narrow access to main sockets. The front of the PowerPort 3 Nano has a glossy bubble finish with the word Anker etched inside it. The rest of the plug is made of matte hard plastic.
Being a wall charger, the Anker A2633 PowerPort 3 Nano works with most electronics, specially ones that support fast charge. It will charge a Nintendo Switch but does not support Charge-and-Play in TV mode; hence you cannot charge a Nintendo Switch in docked mode while playing on a TV. This is due to the Nintendo Switch charging protocol (5V at 2A/ 2.5A/3A).
The Nintendo Switch is sensitive to unexpected voltage changes, which can brick the Switch. The safest way to prevent bricking the Switch is by using the original 15V Nintendo Switch charger. If you prefer to use a third party option, you should get a 56k Ohm resistor USB cable (i.e. Powerline Plus)or use an intelligent powerbank like the PowerCore+ 26800 PD to prevent current overdraw.
The Anker A2633 PowerPort 3 Nano is able to pack that much power in such a small plug, thanks to using the new GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology, which can be found in other wall chargers such as the PowerPort Atom PD 1. The PowerPort Atom PD 1 is capable of 30W but it's twice the size, making the Anker A2633 PowerPort 3 a small powerhouse. There is also the 18W PowerPort 3 Nano (9V/2A) version (model A2616), which came out a few months ago in June and, it's still being sold.
The upgraded 20W PowerPort 3 Nano charger power bump makes it around 10% faster than the 18W charger, which translates to only 3-5 minutes faster charging time. Other than that, both chargers have the same non-folding pin design, which means no moving parts but, it also means no US plug support like you get with the PowerPort 4 Lite charger.
The Nano 20W charger also integrates PowerIQ 3.0 (PIQ 3.0), which is Anker's proprietary fast charging technology that combines USB PD and PowerIQ 2.0 into a single USB-C port. It works a bit like Quick Charge 3.0; hence you can use the PowerPort 3 Nano 20W charger with devices that support Quick Charge, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging, and Motorola TurboPower.
The Anker PowerPort 3 Nano 20W charger is also compatible with Anker's USB-C wireless chargers such as the PowerWave. The 20W Nano charger also supports 5V/3A (15W) for fast charging devices that only use the 5V protocol. For standard, non-fast charging devices (i.e. 5V/1A) the 20W Nano charger will also work.
Safety-wise, the PowerPort 3 Nano 20W charger does not automatically shut off when it reaches 100% but, it's equipped with overcharging protection and temperature control, which sends the charger into standby mode, consuming very little power.
Compared to the 20W Apple charger, Anker's Nano 20W charger does the same thing, although it does not trigger the "ding" sound alert when charging iPhones. Anker's Nano 20W charger can maintain charge in a mac-book, iPad 12.9 and Samsung's Note 10 / Note 10+ smartphones. 
The Nano 20W charger has a maximum output of 9V/2.2A; hence it cannot charge the Note 10 / Note 10+ at full fast charging speed though, due to these phones requiring a 45W charger. You can buy the Anker PowerPort 3 Nano 20W charger from amazon. There is no cable included so, you will need to have a USB-C to USB-C cable or USB-C to Lightning cable (for iPhones).

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