March 15, 2019
A Guide to Choosing the Right Charger
We get it, you think you’re saving money….
Most of us are guilty of purchasing a cheap phone charger at a gas station or an airport when we are in a pinch. What you might not know is that it’s actually destroying your technology.
Same goes for your other devices (laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, etc.). Yes, you save money in the short term, but in the long run, you may find that you will need to refresh your technology more frequently.
Cheap imitation charging cables don’t provide the proper protection for your devices or their batteries. In fact, most imitation charging cables lack a series of chipsets designed to protect your device from the day-to-day grind, because they don’t communicate to the portion of the device that dumps surges from electrical outlets.
Symptoms to look out for that tell your charging cable isn’t compatible with your device:
- Charger not recognized
- Your device says “accessory not supported” even when using a known-good charger and cable
- Fake charging: your device claims to be charging when it obviously isn’t.
- Your device’s battery life decreases faster than expected.
- Battery stops charging after reaching a certain percentage
- Phone switches off after battery drops below a certain point
- USB connection to the computer is flakey
For Apple users:
Your charging cable should be MFI certified, which lets you know that the cable you’re using has been authorized by Apple to charge your IOS device. To ensure your charging cable is MFI certified, there should be an MFI badge on the packaging of your charger. Another way to ensure your charger is MFI certified is to look it up on [https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getAPS] by the model, brand, or UPC/EAN.
Failed Chipset:
If you continue to use cheap chargers, then eventually, the cable will wear down itself and your device due to continual power surge abuse. Fixing a failed chipset that’ll no longer charge or draw power from a battery isn’t an easy fix and you’re going to most-likely have to replace the device.
Devices that are affected the most by imitation cables include:
- iPhone 5
- iPad 4
- iPad mini 1
- iPhone 5C/5S
- iPad Air
- iPad Mini 2/3/4
- iPhone 6/6+
- iPad Air 2
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 6S/6S+
- iPhone 7/7+
- iPad Pro 9.7”/10.5”/12.9”
- iPad 5th Gen (The new iPad)
- iPhone 8/8+
- iPhone X/Xs/Xr
- iPhone 11
Conclusion
Give your devices the life they deserve and invest in high quality charging cables. You may find that you can keep your technology working for longer than you expected!