Mobile Device Chargers

Mains, travel and in-car chargers for phones, tablets and USB-C laptops — single and multi-port, 20 W to 120 W, plus charging cradles for rugged scanners and mobile computers.

Buying guide ↓

Match the wattage to the device, not to the connector

USB-C Power Delivery negotiates, so a higher-rated charger will not harm a smaller device — a 65 W unit charges a phone perfectly well. The failure runs the other way. A 20 W or 30 W charger put on a USB-C laptop will charge it slowly, only while it sleeps, or not at all under load, and the laptop may warn that the supply is inadequate. Most business laptops want 45 W to 100 W; phones and tablets are happy from 20 W up.

On a multi-port charger, the headline figure is shared

A 65 W two-port charger is not 65 W per port. Plug in a second device and the controller reallocates, often dropping the first from 65 W to 45 W or less — which is why a laptop that charged fine yesterday charges slowly once someone adds a phone. Where per-port output matters, check the per-port rating rather than the total, and for desk or bench use a charging station that states both.

GaN, and why the cable counts as part of the rating

GaN chargers switch faster and waste less heat, so they deliver the same output in a noticeably smaller and cooler body. For travel kits and hot desks that is the whole argument. Whatever the charger, the lead has to carry the rating too: above 60 W a USB-C cable must be rated for 5 A and carry an e-marker chip. A 100 W charger on a 60 W cable delivers 60 W, silently, and is a common reason a new charger seems no faster than the old one.

Check the plug, and treat rugged cradles as device-specific

Some chargers ship with an EU plug rather than a UK one — worth confirming before ordering for a UK site. Charging cradles for barcode scanners, mobile computers and portable printers are built around a particular device family and are not interchangeable, so match them by model rather than by connector.

Brands

Sandberg, Belkin, Anker and Verbatim, alongside chargers from Apple, Samsung, Lindy, ALOGIC, eSTUFF and StarTech.com, and device cradles from Zebra and Honeywell.

Trade pricing and business accounts are available for UK organisations, and bulk orders are welcome — request a quote.