Anker’s new Nano charger has a clever plug, but loses its biggest feature on Android [Gallery]

Ben Schoon | Jan 9 2026 - 5:05 am PT

Anker launched a new Nano 45W USB-C charger at CES 2026 that has a couple of clever new features but, sadly, loses one of its best when connected to an Android phone.

The latest generation of the Anker Nano 45W charger is, as per usual, a tiny little 45W USB-C brick that delivers plenty of power for any smartphone, all while taking up hardly any room in a backpack, or on the outlet itself. These little chargers are great, but Anker decided to make some big upgrades this year with its latest generation.

The biggest change this time around is the addition of a display. This can show charging speed as well as a cute little emoji, but it does a lot more depending on what device you connect to it. If you have a recent iPhone, the display shows what device you’re using as well as the current battery percentage. The charger then intelligently adjusts the speed of charging to help protect your battery health.

That’s really cool! It just doesn’t work with Android. Anker told NewGeekGuide during a demo that it hopes to bring this functionality to Android at some point, but it doesn’t work today, and plugging in an Android phone doesn’t trigger any of the same features at this time, at least when we tested it briefly with a Pixel 10.

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Personally, though, I’m not all that sour on losing that feature.

What makes this new Anker Nano 45W charger stand out is the actual plug itself. Anker mounted the outlet plug on a clever 180-degree swivel that allows you to flip the outlet out directly “behind” the screen, or to the “bottom” of the charger. This just means it’s a bit more flexible in terms of where you plug it in. Instead of being limited to a single orientation, you can swap between having the plug going straight out from the outlet or facing down/horizontally.

This is a minor thing, especially on such a small charging brick, but it’s a nice little quality-of-life perk.