(Last Updated On: June 4, 2018)

Car charging can actually be very useful if you’re someone that commutes a lot with driving a car. As you can have your smartphone or another device charging while you’re driving and by the time you reach your destination you have a full-powered device or an at least a device that has been charged up to a good point.

What can make car charging even better is the use of a fast charging technology such as Quick Charge or Power Delivery. That’s because, with fast charging technologies, it doesn’t matter too much of how long your commute is as Power Delivery and Quick Charge are able to charge compatible devices to a good amount of power within a short amount of time.

In this review, we’re taking a look at Anker’s first Power Delivery car charger known as their PowerDrive II. Coming from one of the top brands on the market when it comes to changing electronics, let’s take a look at what their Power Delivery car charger has to offer.

Power

Output Charging:

What makes Power Delivery charging so intriguing is that it’s more universal than Quick Charge. Quick Charge is only be used with select Andriod smartphones and not with many tablets on the market1.

However, the benefit of Power Delivery is that it’s being used with the new USB-C standard of charging and connectivity that’s now being used with nearly all new Android smartphones. Since Power Delivery tech is capable of very fast charging speeds, USB-C is now being used with many tablets and laptops on the market, such as Apple’s MacBook, Samsung Chromebooks, Dell laptops and many others on the market.

The use of USB-C Power Delivery charging has opened doors with the way that we charge our devices, because if you own a smartphone that uses USB-C and also own a USB-C Power Delivery laptop, then you can potentially use the same Power Delivery charger to charge both your smartphone and your laptop.

This Anker PowerDrive II car charger has a USB-C Power Delivery port with a 30W charging speed, and 30W is what you can expect from most USB-C Power Delivery chargers. That said, 30W of charging power isn’t the limits of PD charging, in fact, it can go all the way up to 100W.

That said, 30W of charging power is still very good and you’re able to charge all Power Delivery compatible smartphones at their max charging with this car charger such as the Google Pixel 2, Essential Phone, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9. Also, Power Delivery charging is so universal that the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 are PD compatible and can be charged with a USB-C port when you use a USB-C to Lightning charging cable.

The one other port with this car charger is a USB-A port that uses Anker’s PoweriQ 2.0 technology and that basically means that the USB-A port on this charger is capable of outputting 18W of charging power. So you can fast charge Quick Charge compatible smartphones with this port and also standard devices will also charge at a fast charging speed with the port, too.

Design

Size and Weight:

The size of this car charger is actually bulky in comparison to other car chargers on the market and that’s because of its use of two powerful charging technologies. You won’t be getting a very small flush-fit form factor on this car charger. That said, it’s not large to the point that it’ll be getting in the way or having it be an eye-sore.

It has a length of 2.6 inches and a width/thickness of 1.4 inches. The weight of the charger is 1.4 Ounces. So the charger will be sticking out of your 12Volt outlet but it still stays low-profile just like any car charger should.

Functional Components:

The two charging ports are on the same side, with the USB-C port being labeled as Power Delivery and the USB-A port has a “PoweriQ” logo as well. The car charger has a Blue LED light that goes around where the charging ports are, and it makes it a lot easier to see the car charger at night and isn’t so bright that it’s disruptive.

Build

Structure and Material:

The build quality of this car charger is very good and this is basically what you can expect from Anker products. Nearly the entirety of the car charger has a uni-body structure, with the portion with the charging ports being the only separate piece.

So you won’t have to worry about the car charger falling apart, no matter how many times you plug or unplug the car charger.

Tech:

On the tech side, this car charger can tend to get warm if you’re using the Power Delivery charging port for a long duration with a Power Delivery compatible device. As 30W of charging power is quite a lot for a car charger but the PowerDrive II Power Delivery car charger does manage the heat well, with it being able to slow the charging speed down and ultimately cooling down the car charger.

Reliability

If you have a USB-C Power Delivery compatible device, this Anker PoweDrive II car charger can be very useful to charge it at its max charging speed. That said, just remember that this car charger has a 30W PD output, that can charge all Power Delivery smartphones at their max charging speed, and a few laptops. Not all USB-C Power Delivery laptops on the market are able to charge with 30W of charging power as they require more, such as 45W or 60W of charging power.

Just take a look if your Power Delivery compatible laptop is able to charge with 30W of charging, and then you’re good to go.

Summary:

Power:

Charging power from this Anker PowerDrive II car charger is great with its use of a 30W Power Delivery port and a USB-A port that has an 18W charging rate. This car charger basically makes use of two fast charging technologies, with one being Power Delivery and the other is Quick Charge.

Design:

The design of the car charger is very straight-edged and its use of a Blue LED light around the charging ports is useful to see the car charger during nighttime.

Build:

The build is one of the best on the market when it comes to car chargers and that’s what you can expect from Anker as a brand.

Reliability:

The reliability of this car charger is quite good as it makes use of Power Delivery and Quick Charge, basically. That said, just make sure that if you plan to use this car charger to charge a Power Delivery compatible laptop that you know that it can charge using 30W of charging power. As some laptops such as the Dell XPS 13 and Dell XPS 15 laptops are Power Delivery compatible but the XPS 13 requires a 45W Power Delivery speed, and the XPS 15 requires 60W of charging power.

Specs of the Anker PowerDrive II Power Delivery Car Charger:

• Output:

USB-C Power Delivery Port: 30W

USB-A Port: 18W

• Input: DC 12-24V
• LED Power Indicator: Circular Blue LED Light
• Size: 2.6 x 1.4 x 1.4 inches
• Weight: 1.4 Ounces

Conclusion:

This Anker PowerDrive II Power Delivery car charger is definitely a great addition to the market of Power Delivery charging and more importantly to car chargers that use Power Delivery.

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