One charger for laptop, phone, headphones and camera: what actually works and what melts?

The part people get wrong after buying a good charger: the cable decides what you actually get.

Cables that look identical are not. Two things vary independently:

Power capacity. Many cheap cables are rated for far less than a laptop needs. Plug your laptop in with one and it charges very slowly or not at all, and the charger gets blamed.

Data speed. Completely separate. A cable can carry full power and almost no data, which is why a cable that charges fine will not drive a monitor or transfer photos at any speed.

So:

Buy cables rated for the power you need, and check the rating rather than the price.

Keep one cable that does both power and high-speed data for the monitor or camera, and label it. The others can be power-only.

Take a spare short one. Cables fail more often than chargers and a short one is better for a plug behind a hotel bed.

A quick diagnostic when something charges slowly: swap the cable before suspecting the charger. It is the cable most of the time, and it is the cheapest thing to test.

One charger is completely achievable now. Two numbers matter and the box usually hides the second one.

Total output. Look at what your laptop's original charger says and take that as your floor. Add roughly twenty for a phone charging at the same time.

Per-port output when several ports are in use. This is the one that catches people. A charger advertised at a large total figure often splits it badly, plug in a second device and the laptop port drops to a fraction of what it was. The specification you want is the table showing what each port delivers in each combination, and reputable makers print it.

What that means in practice: a charger whose headline number is only just enough for your laptop will not charge your laptop and your phone. Buy with headroom.

Look for the gallium nitride type if size matters. Considerably smaller and cooler for the same output, and it is the reason one charger is now a realistic plan.

Buy from a known brand. This is the one place I would not save money. A cheap high-wattage charger is the item on your packing list most capable of destroying everything else on it, and the internals are not something you can inspect.

One charger, three cables, one adapter, done.

On the plug side, the distinction that costs people money and occasionally equipment.

An adapter changes the shape of the plug. That is all it does. This is what you need in almost every case, because nearly all modern chargers, laptops and phone bricks accept a wide input range: check the small print on yours and it will say something covering both common mains voltages. If it does, an adapter is sufficient anywhere.

A converter changes the voltage. Bulky, heavy, and only needed for things with a heating element or a motor that are built for one voltage: a travel kettle, a hairdryer, some shavers. Using one on a modern charger is unnecessary and some converters are actively bad for electronics.

So the airport purchase to avoid is the heavy universal converter. Buy a small adapter, or a set if you travel widely.

Two practical notes:

Get an adapter that grips. The cheap universal ones are loose and a heavy charger falls out of the socket, which is how people lose them in hotel rooms.

Check whether it carries earth. Some laptop chargers have a three-pin plug for a reason and a two-pin adapter defeats it. Not a safety catastrophe for a double-insulated charger, and worth knowing which you have.