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Ok so here’s a slightly odd one. I’m gonna review an international power adapter. Talk about a potentially dry subject. But like I like to do... let’s go deep on this tiny box of tech. In short, it’s a small box with big energy.

Travel adapters are one of those things nobody ever talks about until you're stuck in a hotel room staring at a dead phone and a socket that looks like alien tech. Electricity is essential, especially if you want to post a photo of your pad thai or FaceTime your kid before bed. Unfortunately, global power standards are a chaotic mess. More on that in a sec. But first, a word about brands.

When it comes to electricity, I’m picky. I don’t do no-name plastic bricks from airport kiosks. I’ve used Anker gear for years - cables, chargers, hubs, all of it. If you've bought a phone in the last decade, odds are something in your house is quietly running off an Anker product right now.

So what is this thing exactly?

The Anker Nano Travel Adapter is basically the Swiss Army knife of power adapters. It’s built to work in over 150 countries thanks to four major plug types — Type A (U.S.), Type I (Australia and China), Type G (UK), and Type C (pretty much the rest of Europe). Turns out there are about 15 different plug types in use around the world. Because of course there are. This one little device handles most of the big ones without making a fuss.

What’s extra useful is that it doesn’t just adapt power - it shares it. You get one AC outlet, two USB-A ports, and two USB-C ports. One of those USB-C ports supports 20W fast charging, which is solid. That means you can charge up to five devices at once - and according to the specs, it can take something like an iPhone 16 from 0% to 50% in just under half an hour. Not bad for something you can forget in a side pocket.

Portability without the brick vibes

This adapter is about 43 percent smaller than the clunky multi-prong dinosaurs I’ve used in the past. It’s flat enough that it doesn’t pull itself out of the wall with its own weight - which, if you’ve stayed in any hotel built before the 2010s, you know is a real issue. The retractable pins slide (or fold) in and out cleanly, and the whole thing feels solid. Not bulletproof, but definitely not flimsy. I’ve used adapters that felt like they were made from recycled clothes hangers. This one actually feels engineered.

Safety: the invisible feature that matters

Let’s be real - travel plugs can feel sketchy. You’re jamming a plastic box into foreign voltage and hoping for the best. Anker clearly gets that. They’ve built in a self-resetting fuse that cuts power in an overload and restores it automatically when things settle down. They also used fire-resistant materials throughout, which I really appreciate …even if I hope I never need to.

This is the kind of thing you forget about until you’re three countries in and running everything off one outlet. When that happens, it’s nice to know somebody thought through the worst-case scenarios.

The not-quite-universal standard

The closest thing we have to a universal plug these days is USB-C - and this thing comes with two. Add the two USB-A ports and a regular AC socket (useful to use as a pass-through even if you’re still Stateside) and you’ve got more than enough to charge your phone, tablet, headphones, and probably your buddy’s stuff too. It also works great as a plain fast charger when you’re not traveling, which means it earns a spot in your go-bag all year round.

Bottom line: It’s a power adapter that actually feels like a finished product. Compact, capable, and well-designed: It’s not something from a white-label drop-shipper that someone has just slapped a logo on. If you’ve got international travel coming up, or just want a reliable backup in your bag - this one does the job. No drama. No melting. Just juice.

Available via Amazon