With so many new phones no longer shipping with power adapters, the easiest option can be using whatever power brick came with an older phone. But that’s also likely to be your slowest-charging option: The tiny white AC adapter that Apple shipped with iPhones for years delivers only 5 watts of power, ensuring that charging will be a leisurely experience.
The industry-wide switch to USB-C charging on phones, even Apple’s, and laptops — given a shove by European Union regulations mandating that standard — means you should instead use whatever charger came with your tablet or laptop. Those power-hungrier devices ship with more-powerful chargers: Apple’s new iPad Mini, for example, includes a 20 watt power brick, and the company’s laptops ship with charges ranging from 20 watts for the MacBook Neo to 140 watts for the largest MacBook Pro models.
(The newest iPhones, meanwhile, don’t ship with power adapters at all.)
Conversely, if you forget your laptop’s power adapter, a phone charger may be able to trickle-charge your laptop, as well. Plug it in and leave it for a while. The laptop’s charging light may stay off, but check its battery meter after an hour — it may just have enough charge.
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