I purchased a $3 dollar wall charger from eBay, and was shipped to me from Hong Kong. The charger arrived and it looked great for its low price. I plugged in my iPhone 4S and it charged fine. But my friends told me that I should not use that wall charger because it could damage my iPhone and fry it. I really do not want that to happen. Is it true that this could happen? Is this wall charger not safe to use?
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Safe USB wall charger?
- Thread starter BahaaZ
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I wouldn't trust or recommend any charger that didn't come from Apple. I can't speak for iPhones, but I've seen dozens of threads where people had problems from using "knockoff" chargers for their Macs. It's not worth risking your Mac or iPhone for the sake of saving a few bucks on a charger.
I have personally ordered look-alike or generic brand ebay chargers and had them make buzzing noises and fry an ipod mini. I've tested them with multi-meters and the ones I ordered did not output correct voltage.
If you want an inexpensive charger (even though it may not be pretty like apple) that is functional, try monoprice.com or amazon
If you want an inexpensive charger (even though it may not be pretty like apple) that is functional, try monoprice.com or amazon
If you want a cheap SAFE charger, get a USB charger made by another reputable company that sells devices that power off USB as well. Practically every smartphone out there uses a USB charger, some are nice chargers too.
Something like this perhaps?
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Charge...0DER&s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329885592&sr=1-5
Something like this perhaps?
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Charge...0DER&s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329885592&sr=1-5
I use no-name chargers, but I buy them from places I trust (i.e. monoprice.com) where there are hundreds of reviews. I would not buy any cheap crap off of ebay from China. I know I know, probably all of our cell phone chargers come from China, but unless they are being reviewed/backed by a company I trust in the States I'm not buying.
Like I said, any major phone manufacturer's USB chargers should be fine provided you're getting the real product (and sometimes those are as expensive as the apple ones - look for ones on clearance). There was a point where you could get HP Touchpad power bricks for about $5 shipped and while the microUSB cord that comes with them sucks, the adaptor is pretty solid.
But I read feedback of people who bought the Wall Charger from the China seller. They all seemed pretty legit, and I heard alot of good things about the charger. I only saw about 2 negative comments and they were only complaining about either not receiving the charger in mail, or how long it took for them to receive it.
If you bought a cheap $3 charger from china then it is a cheap knock-off. Never buy that crap, why do you think it is $3 ??????????? Just because it works now does not mean it will work tomorrow. And yes, that cheap crap can mess up your stuff.
Lets do the math. Say charging an iPhone & Applecare +.
Apple charger $35 (guess from above) from Apple.
If it fails, take phone & charger back to Apple & they will replace. $0
Lowcost charger $4 - Savings of $31.
If it fails & takes out iPhone. & honesty assumed ;^). Apple care will charge $50 to replace phone. Plus you need a charger, so Apple @ $35
Total cost = $89 ($4+$50+$35) for off brand
Total cost = $35 for Apple.
Odds of failure ... higher with off brand.
No brainer for me.
Apple charger $35 (guess from above) from Apple.
If it fails, take phone & charger back to Apple & they will replace. $0
Lowcost charger $4 - Savings of $31.
If it fails & takes out iPhone. & honesty assumed ;^). Apple care will charge $50 to replace phone. Plus you need a charger, so Apple @ $35
Total cost = $89 ($4+$50+$35) for off brand
Total cost = $35 for Apple.
Odds of failure ... higher with off brand.
No brainer for me.
I've opened up to cheap adapters
I bought 2 cheap USB adapters:
$1,99
1st: 500mA USB plug shaped made in china. It didn't work at al because of a loose contact. In the inside was a very cheaply made switch mode power supply without control chip, this means overcharging or killing a battery is possible.
$5,something
2'nd: 2100mA USB "ipad usb charger". When I initially plugged it in it actually "worked". The output voltage however had a large middle frequency AC component, no clean DC at all. This can be harmful to your connected devices. I also dismantled this device, it had somwhat af a controller unknown to me but overall not a good design.
TIP: go for known brands. spend the extra $7 or so.
I bought 2 cheap USB adapters:
$1,99
1st: 500mA USB plug shaped made in china. It didn't work at al because of a loose contact. In the inside was a very cheaply made switch mode power supply without control chip, this means overcharging or killing a battery is possible.
$5,something
2'nd: 2100mA USB "ipad usb charger". When I initially plugged it in it actually "worked". The output voltage however had a large middle frequency AC component, no clean DC at all. This can be harmful to your connected devices. I also dismantled this device, it had somwhat af a controller unknown to me but overall not a good design.
TIP: go for known brands. spend the extra $7 or so.
$35 for the charger.
Someone loves paying Apple tax. You can't go wrong with this:
http://www.amazon.com/PowerGen-Dual...=UTF8&qid=1368570340&sr=8-13&keywords=charger
I've bought non-Apple chargers, and use them along with our Apple chargers that come with the devices. They all work fine-never had an issue. These are USB charging systems, and pretty mature technology. Use what your comfortable with. In our house everyone loves to use the Apple iPad charger (faster), but other than that we just grab the nearest cord that works. Never had an issue with any of them, but maybe we're just lucky.
I regularly buy from monoprice, which I've found has good prices and good quality, for a lot less. I've purchased from cellphoneshop, too. Cheaper prices/quality.
I regularly buy from monoprice, which I've found has good prices and good quality, for a lot less. I've purchased from cellphoneshop, too. Cheaper prices/quality.
The engineering behind Apple iPhone charger:
http://obamapacman.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-engineering/
None of the third party chargers contain that much technology.
http://obamapacman.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-engineering/
None of the third party chargers contain that much technology.