5 Anker gadgets under $25 to add to your kit

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When it comes to tech accessories, few brands stand out like Anker. Anker is a Chinese consumer electronics company known for its high-quality charging accessories. Some of its popular products include the Anker Prime Power Bank, a 26,500 mAh power bank with two USB-C ports that can output a maximum of 140W each and can charge two MacBook Pros at once. Unfortunately, it costs $229.99. Another popular Anker gadget is the Anker Prime Wireless Charging Station (3-in-1), which offers 25W of super-fast MagSafe wireless charging for iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, but it costs $149.99. If you’re looking for something cheaper to add to your kit, Anker has more affordable gadgets.

When creating a tech kit, you don’t need to splurge on expensive gadgets. For example, Anker offers inexpensive USB adapters that help you bring Gigabit Ethernet to devices without Ethernet ports or plug USB-A cables and devices into USB-C ports. It also has gadgets that let you add more USB ports to your computer, charging cables that can deliver exceptionally high charging currents, and even power strips that protect your delicate or expensive devices from sudden power surges. These are small but functional devices that cost less than $25.

For the longest time, Ethernet’s biggest advantage over Wi-Fi was speed. However, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 can exceed speeds of 1Gbps in ideal short-range scenarios. What you want when you physically connect your device to the router via an Ethernet cable is the reliability that Ethernet over Wi-Fi offers. It is less prone to signal losses and interference, at the cost of a loss of convenience and mobility. However, some devices do not have Ethernet ports, including ultrabooks, phones, and tablets. You can bring Ethernet to them with the Anker USB-C to Ethernet Adapter for $16.99.

The Anker USB-C to Ethernet adapter has an Ethernet port that supports Gigabit Internet. The modern MacBook Pro is an example of popular devices that lack an Ethernet port. You can simply plug it into the MacBook and instantly get a stable internet connection that only Ethernet can provide. You can even use it with phones, such as iPhones (iPhone 15 and newer) and Samsung Galaxy phones. It’s best used for activities that experience significant lag when too many devices congest the network, such as competitive online gaming, downloading large files, and streaming 4K or 8K video.

If you have existing devices that still use a Type A connector, such as older flash drives, receivers, dongles, mice, keyboards, and gamepads, the Anker USB-A to USB-C adapter can help you connect them to newer devices. Modern MacBook Pros, the Microsoft Surface Pro and the Dell XPS, for example, do not have a built-in USB-A connector (only USB-C). It’s also convenient when you have a USB-C wall adapter, like the Anker Nano Phone 30W Fast Charger which costs $15.99, and a USB-C to USB-A charging cable.

Plus, for $12.99 you get two. Just make sure you find a safe place to store them in your kit, as they are small and easy to misplace. What may also be useful for your kit is the opposite of the Anker USB-A to USB-C adapter – a USB-C to USB-A adapter. This can allow you to connect new gadgets to existing devices and chargers like the Anker 12W 2-Pack USB Charger that don’t have USB-C ports. Unfortunately, Anker doesn’t have this type of adapter, but it’s worth getting one from another brand that does.

The Anker 5-in-1 USB-C Hub is another useful accessory if you have several existing USB-A devices that you want to connect to a laptop with few or no USB-A ports. It costs $19.99 and features two USB-A 2.0 ports and one USB-A 3.0 port. One of the biggest differences between the two is that the USB 2.0 ports have a data transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps and a maximum output power of 2.5W, making it fast enough for most data transfers from USB drives and charging low-power devices.

USB 3.0 ports have transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps and output power of up to 4.5 W. They are suitable for devices that consume more power, such as external hard drives, HD cameras and phones (although charging will be slow). Depending on the situation, you may want to use a USB 2 port over USB 3 and vice versa.

The USB hub has a USB-C port and it is a 90W passthrough port intended only for charging laptops. It can’t transfer data, power devices, or charge your phone. It also has an HDMI port, bringing the total number of ports to five, which supports 4K video at 30 FPS. This is a big help for ultrabooks since they usually don’t have an HDMI port, and you can even use it with a MacBook Air if you have an HDMI cable instead of a Thunderbolt cable.

Just because you have a fast charger that can produce 30W doesn’t mean the USB cable you’re using is designed to deliver it. That’s where the Anker USB-C 240W Charging Cable comes in, and it costs $22.99 for the 6-foot-long cable. Anker claims it can charge an iPhone 16 from zero to 50% in 30 minutes using a 30W charger. If you have a charger rated at 40W or more, it can charge an iPhone 17 to 50% in 20 minutes, as long as it supports USB Power Delivery (USB-PD), like the Anker 40W 2-Port PIQ 3.0 USB-C Charger. If you have a charger that can deliver up to 120W, this cable is ideal for charging something like a 14-inch MacBook Pro M1 or later.

One of the best features of this Anker USB-C cable is that it is made of nylon braiding. This makes the USB cable more resistant to fraying than the typical material of most cables. Bio-based braiding is made from plant-derived materials, making it eco-friendly and has a lifespan of 10,000 bends. And with a length of 6 feet, you can comfortably plug it into an outlet across the room without worrying about losing power like you would with longer cables.

Anyone who uses a lot of technology at once, including a desktop computer, monitor, phone, and audio equipment, may be severely limited by a single outlet. With the Anker 10-in-1 Power Strip with Surge Protector, which costs $19.99, you can plug in all your devices. It has six power outlets and four USB ports: two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. Only the first USB-C port supports USB-PD fast charging, with a maximum power of 20W that can charge an iPhone 15 to 50% in 30 minutes. The other USB-C port supports 15W, but when using both ports, fast charging is not available. The two USB-A ports have a maximum power of 12 W.

But you don’t buy a power strip just for the extra outlets and charging ports. You buy it for the protection it offers your devices against sudden power surges that can damage expensive electronics. This power strip can protect against a surge of up to 300 J of electrical energy. In addition to this, it also protects against overvoltage, overcurrent, overheating and short circuit, while providing grounding protection and fire resistance. Additionally, if the power strip malfunctions and damages your device, Anker will cover damages up to $200,000.

When choosing devices, we decided to ignore the obvious choices like faster chargers and power banks. These are things that most techs already know they need and may have already added to their kit. Unfortunately, Anker doesn’t offer USB-C power banks under $25. The closest is the Anker 10,000 mAh Portable Power Bank which costs $25.99, which is just outside the $25 range, but still affordable. The goal here was to help you find gadgets you might otherwise overlook by beefing up your tech kit. However, one thing these gadgets absolutely needed was a good user rating from verified purchases on Amazon. We specifically chose products rated four stars or higher, with thousands of user reviews. This indicates that it is a solid product.