Review: Anker Atom PD 1

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The Anker Atom PD 1 is one of  the smallest laptop chargers (USB-C Charging) on the market and its the size of a small cell phone charger. But don’t judge this charger by it size. For such a little guy its powerful. It comes with 30 watts of power and Power Delivery and can charge an iPhone X in 30 minutes!

Anker Atom PD 1 – Features and Specs

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This little guy is a beast. It will charge almost any device with USB-C charging capability with ease and faster than the OEM charger. All you need to take advantage of this fast charging is a USB-C to USB-C cable. I would suggest Anker’s new cables or another reliable high quality cable company. OEM device cables may not be made as well as these premium cables. Below are the specs and features copied directly from the Anker Atom PD1 Amazon Sales Page.

• PowerPort Atom PD 1 – The Ultra-Compact Wall Charger for Phones, Laptops, and More
• Small Yet Mighty – Get rid of the enormous, slow stock chargers that came with your phone and laptop. Replace them with the one charger that provides full-speed power for all compatible devices, at a fraction of the size.
• PowerPort Atom PD 1 is – 40% smaller than the charger that came with your MacBook, but just as fast. 2.5× faster than an out-of-the-box iPhone charger, but just as compact. The age of the Atom has arrived.
  Ultra-Compact – About the size of a golf ball, designed to take up minimal space in any pack, pocket, power strip, or outlet. Just like a real Atom, this charger is minuscule but essential.
• High-Speed – Charge your flagship smartphone up to 50% in just 30 minutes, or give your USB-C-powered laptop a full-speed 30W charge.
  Greater with GaN – By being the first charging brand ever to swap out silicon for super-efficient gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, we’ve been able to take our signature technology and shrink it way down.
  Superior Safety – The exclusive MultiProtect safety system provides total protection for you and your devices.
  

Compatible Phones, Tablets, and Computers

• iPhone XS/Max/XR/iPhone X/8 Plus/8
  (Use a USB-C to Lightning cable for Power Delivery fast charging.)
  Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+/S8/S8+/Note 8/Note 7
  Nexus 5X/6P, LG G6/G5, Pixel C/3/2/XL, Moto Z
  
• Tablets
  iPad Pro 12.9”/iPad Pro 10.5”/iPad Pro 11”
  Note: Use a USB-C to Lightning cable for Power Delivery fast charging for iPad models earlier than 2018, and all compatible iPhones.
  
• Laptops
  MacBook Air 13”(2018)/MacBook 12”/ MacBook Pro 13”/MacBook Pro 15”
  and More

Specs
Total Wattage: 30W
Input: 100 – 240V ~ 1.2A 50 – 60Hz
Output: 5V ⎓ 3A/9V ⎓ 3A/15V ⎓ 2A/20V ⎓ 1.5A
Size: 1.61×1.37×1.50 in (main body)

• Small Yet Mighty – The laptop charger that’s the size of a phone charger. A 30W output delivers high-speed charging to Apple phones, tablets, laptops, and all USB-C devices.
• High-Speed – 2.5× faster than the 5W charger that comes with your iPhone. Charge iPhone 8 and later up to 50% in just 30 minutes.
• Ultra-Compact – 40% smaller than an out-of-the-box MacBook charger; about the size of a golf ball. Takes up minimal space in any pack or pocket (does not have a foldable plug).
• Powered by GaN – By swapping out silicon for gallium nitride (GaN), we’ve created a higher efficiency charger that generates less heat, allowing our charging technology to be shrunk smaller than ever.
• What You Get – PowerPort Atom PD 1 wall charger, welcome guide, our worry-free 18-month warranty, and friendly customer service.

Anker Atom PD 1 – The Review

Back in January Anker ran another one of their We Love Testing contests. When you win the contest they send you a product (in this case its the Anker Atom PD 1) to test and write a fair and unbiased review of the product. I was one of the lucky winners. Below is my fair and unbiased review.

Unboxing and First Impressions

The Anker Atom PD 1 comes in a small white and blue box. Once opened, the charger is nicely packaged with the paperwork hidden under the packaging. After taking the the wall charger out of the packaging I found charger to be nicely made and on the smaller side. It’s slightly larger than the older iPhone cube chargers and a lot smaller than Anker’s 2 port charger. Unlike many of Anker’s other wall chargers the power prongs do not fold in. They are fixed in an outward position. If Anker had made the prongs foldable then the unit would have to be bigger. From what I can tell there really isn’t a way to keep it size and be foldable.

Testing

Wall Chargers are one of those items that is simple to run real life tests on. You test using several different devices and check charge times and how hot the charger gets. For my testing, I used a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and an Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C using the OEM USB-C to USB-C cable that came with the PowerCore.

I ran a variety of tests ranging from 8% to 100% through partial charging testing. In each I ran the Anker Atom PD 1 never got hot. It was slightly warm like your average chargers might get.

I found that charging from 8% to 100% took an hour and thirty-six hour minutes to charge and charging from 30% to 100% took about an hour and fifteen minutes to charge. The average charge time on a standard high speed charger is about two to two and half hours for charging between 20% to 100% charges.

Charging times on my Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C takes forever to charge do to its large size. Using the Anker Atom PD 1 cut that time almost in half. (I’m still testing this.)

Things to Keep in Mind

As with many of the wall charger that Anker sells, it doesn’t ship with a charging cable. So you will need to provide your own cable. I would suggest getting an Anker USB-C to USB-C cable. If you have an Apple Iphone X or newer I would suggest using Anker’s USB-C to Lightning Cable. This is a new cable and will give you best charge for your phone.

For me its not a big deal but for others it may be. The outlet prongs don’t collapse. This means you will have to protect the prongs when traveling. You just can’t throw it in your gear bag and forget about it. You might want to get a small case to carry it and your charging cable in.

Final Thoughts

I am impressed with its small size and how fast it charges my devices. This new charger is going into my travel bag and eventually into my computer gear bag once I get my new USB-C powered notebook.

I highly recommend the Anker Atom PD 1 if you need high speed charger and only have one or two devices. If you have a handful of USB-C devices and need to charge them at the same time, take a look at Anker’s other PD chargers.