USB-Power Delivery (PD) fast chargers have become extremely popular over the years as they allow you to top up your devices with some power quickly. USB-PD is essentially a specification used by manufacturers to deliver higher power over USB to compatible devices. USB PD was originally introduced back in 2012 and has since been revised multiple times. The latest revision — USB Power Delivery Specification Revision 3.1 — was announced in May 2021, and it supports the delivery of up to 240W of power over USB Type-C. Most modern devices -- including many of the best laptops and top smartphones -- support USB-PD, meaning you can use a single charger to power your computing devices.

Some manufacturers still bundle their devices with a compatible fast charger in the box, but many of them have stopped including even a basic charger, let alone a USB-PD-compatible fast charger. Thankfully, USB-PD chargers are readily available, and you can easily grab one that works with both your smartphones and laptops. If you're in the market to buy one, then you've come to the right place because I am going to highlight some of the best USB-PD fast chargers in this article. Let's dive in!

How to choose the right charger?

Choosing the right charger for your smartphone or laptop can be a struggle due to the presence of various charging protocols, power requirements, and more. Let's take a quick look at some of the most important things you need to consider while picking the right charger for your device:

• Supported charging protocol: This is an important factor to consider mainly because not all smartphones and laptops support the universal charging protocol, such as USB Power Delivery. OnePlus smartphones, for instance, use OnePlus' proprietary Warp charge tech, thereby forcing you to opt out of third-party options. So, figure out what charging protocol your smartphone supports. Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones, and Google Pixels all support USB Power Delivery, albeit at lower wattages only.
• Power requirement of your device: The next step is to make sure how much your device needs in watts (W). Apple's new iPhone 14 Pro Max requires 27W, so you'll need a charger that supports at least 27W or higher to charge this phone at its maximum supported speed. Typically, most smartphones vary between 18-80W, whereas laptops can easily go up to 140W.
• Chargers with multiple USB ports: You may come across a lot of chargers with multiple USB-C or USB-A ports. While these are great for charging multiple devices, they may not provide the fastest speeds when all ports are used simultaneously due to power-sharing. So it's important to understand how much power a particular charger can deliver through each of its ports individually and simultaneously and figure out if you need all ports to be working at maximum speed all through the day. For instance, a port usually reserved for charging a smartwatch or earbuds will only be active for a couple of hours in a day, allowing you to get away with a lower-powered multi-port charger.
• GaN chargers: Simply put, Gallium Nitride, a.k.a GaN chargers, are physically smaller and are efficient at transferring current as they lose less energy to heat. The pricing for them is a bit on the higher side as the technology is fairly new. I recommend picking up GaN chargers over others if your budget allows for it.
• Cross-compatibility: Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 4.0, 4+, and 5 are compatible with the USB PD specification. Similarly, Huawei and Samsung’s fast charging standards also work with USB PD. So if you have a device with QuickCharge 4 or Huawei SuperCharge support, it can be charged faster with USB PD chargers as well. Notably, some of Samsung’s devices use Programmable Power Supply (PPS), so unless your USB PD charger also supports PPS, you won’t get the top charging speed. Your device will still charge faster than normal, though. If you want to know more about various fast-charging standards and fast charging in general, make sure to read our detailed explainer on fast charging.

With all these factors in mind, a typical purchase decision will count the number of devices you need to charge simultaneously and how quickly you need the charger to be. For example, if you have a Macbook Air and an iPhone charging for most parts of the day, you can get away with a 65W USB Power Delivery charger with two ports. But if you have a more power-hungry laptop and more devices to charge simultaneously, you may need to look at 100W multi-port chargers. If you just have an iPhone to charge, you can get by with a single-port 18W or 30W charger, depending on how recent your phone is.

Best USB PD fast chargers for phones and laptops in 2023: Final say

There are plenty of options on the market with different wattages and port selections, so it comes down to your device compatibility and preferences. But if I were to pick one, then I'd go with the Baseus 65W 3-port GaN charger. It's one of the best options out there that supports USB PD 3.0 and PPS technologies. It comes with three ports and can also deliver up to 65W of power which is more than enough to charge your phone alongside your tablet or a laptop. I'll continue to update this post with newer and better chargers in the future, so be sure to check this list in the future for those options too.

I've also some other options, including both premium and compact options like the UGREEN 140W Nexode GaN and the Spigen 40W ArcStation Pro chargers, respectively. Many of these chargers don't come with a USB cable, so you might want to stop by our collection of the best USB cables to pick up a new one.