Anker has just unveiled the next generation of Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology with a series of powerful new chargers that can keep up with even your most power-hungry mobile devices on the go while still letting you travel light.
The company’s new lineup of GaNPrime chargers offers power levels from 65 watts to 150 watts while coming in at up to 53% smaller than most other chargers. And thanks to the new PowerIQ 4.0 feature enabled by the latest advancements in GaN technology, Anker’s multiport GaNPrime chargers can dynamically adjust the power output on the fly to ensure that every connected device gets the current it needs for the fastest and most efficient charging.
Dynamic power allocation
Among the most innovative features of Anker’s new lineup of GaNPrime chargers is the ability to intelligently detect and prioritize the device that has the lowest battery level, rather than simply focusing on the highest-capacity device. This not only ensures that the charging power goes to the devices that need it the most but it also maximizes charging efficiency by allocating power more effectively.
The majority of modern electronic devices use lithium-ion batteries. Because of the chemistry of these cells, charging normally slows down as the batteries approach full capacity. A charger that prioritizes a large laptop battery that’s already at 80% will waste considerable time trying to top up that battery when that time could be more efficiently used to fast-charge a nearly depleted smartphone or tablet. Anker’s PowerIQ 4.0 guarantees the best use of your charging time by focusing on fast-charging devices with lower power levels.
PowerIQ 4.0 can also check and dynamically adjust that power distribution every three minutes, which not only ensures that power always goes to those devices that most need it but that it actually works to reduce charging times overall. For instance, Anker notes that a GaNPrime charger can simultaneously power a pair of 67W 14-inch MacBook Pro laptops while reducing the overall charging time by 62 minutes.
The good news is that your laptops, smartphones, and tablets don’t require any special features to support PowerIQ 4.0. Anker promises its new GaNPrime chargers will be compatible with over 1,000 devices right out of the box.
A positive environmental impact
With their smaller sizes and increased power efficiency, GaN chargers are also great for the environment. They cost fewer resources to build and ship, and they waste less energy in transforming power from your wall outlet to your electronic devices.
Anker says its new GaNPrime chargers improve the overall efficiency of this conversion by 2% compared to its previous chargers, which were already ahead of the curve in power efficiency. By using the latest GaN semiconductors instead of traditional charging circuitry, Anker’s chargers promise to cut carbon emissions by 30%.
“GaN is allowing us to completely change the way we charge our electronics by delivering better power transfer efficiency, faster charging speeds, and smaller, more portable chargers,” said Steven Yang, CEO of Anker Innovations, in the company’s press release. “Our partners provided exclusive access to cutting-edge GaN technology that empowered us to create chargers that last longer and are more sustainable.”
Anker’s GaNPrime lineup
Anker is offering six new GaNPrime chargers for a variety of uses, with the Anker 747 GaNPrime 150W charger ($110) as the flagship of the lineup. The Anker 747 offers a total of 150 watts of charging power across three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, in a size not much larger than an AirPods Pro charging case. It’s also 38% smaller than Apple’s 140W MacBook Pro charger. It doesn’t support the just-ratified USB-C 2.1 spec, so you’ll still only get a maximum of 100 watts on each USB-C port (and 22.5 watts on the USB-A port), but that’s more than sufficient to charge all but the most power-hungry laptops at maximum speeds, with enough left over to charge a smartphone and wearable at the same time.
For those with more modest needs, Anker’s 737 GaNPrime 120W ($95) and 735 GaNPrime 65W chargers ($60) offer two USB-C ports and one USB-A port in more compact sizes. Anker is also offering the 733 GaNPrime PowerCore 65W power bank ($100), which can charge up to three devices from a wall outlet at 65 watts or from a built-in battery at 30 watts.
For mobile offices, the Anker 727 GaNPrime 100W Charging Station ($95) offers two AC power ports in addition to a pair of USB-C and USB-A ports, while the Anker 613 GaNPrime 65W USB Power Strip ($70) drops a single USB-A port, providing a more affordable solution for those who don’t need the fastest 100-watt charging speeds.
