The Guide for picking the right charger
Picking the appropriate charger for your smartphone and other electronic gadgets is always a difficult task.
One of the most essential accessories that directly affect the life and quality of smartphones batteries is the charger.
A low-quality charger can damage the battery and cause other problems such as phone overheating.
Therefore, it is important to be aware of the features of a suitable charger and cable for the battery to get the best results when using it.
If you are looking for a guide to buying a good charger and cable, do not miss the rest of this article.
Choosing the right charger is not as easy as it seems. You need to know all the specifications of a charger for your device.
- Charging Port
When you pick a charger, you must consider whose port corresponds with your smartphone’s port.
As you know, the latest Android phones are equipped with USB-C ports, therefore, if you have an older model, you should note that these phones have a micro-USB port. On the other hand, Apple phones have the Lightning port.
It should be noted that you are able to charge Apple devices by adapters like the USB-C to Lightning adapter and cable.
- Smartphone Output (W)
To understand power output, If you want to purchase a charger, you need to check two things first:
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VOLTAGE (V)
The best charger should supply a voltage that your smartphone supports.
While most smartphones support 5V which is the standard for a long time, some smartphones benefit from new technologies like Qualcomm that provides conditions to charge your devices by 9 to 12V.
It should be noted that most chargers that support 9-12V can automatically recognize a smartphone that is non-Qualcomm and offer 5V for these smartphones.
That is to say that you can use a 9/12V charger for older smartphones that support 5V.
AMPERAGE (A)
A charger that offers more amperage can charge your device faster than a conventional charger.
Therefore, when you want to buy a charger for your phone, you should make sure that the charger has a voltage rating of at least 2A.
According to all explained matters, we deem it necessary to talk about power output (W).
First of all, to obtain the total power output, you must multiply the voltage by amperage, which means that if the charger offers more voltage and amperage, its power output will be higher.
Since the latest smartphones often support an output of 18W to 65W, you should be looking for a charger that is suitable for it.
Fast Charging Technology
As the name suggests, the fast-charging protocol can charge your devices faster than conventional chargers.
These days, most smartphones are equipped with either Power Delivery or Quick Charger protocols. It should be noted that there is another brand like OnePlus, that uses Warp Charge which offers fast charging.
When picking a charger, make sure the charger is compatible with your smartphone in terms of fast charging.
Undoubtedly, a charger that supports fast charging is the best choice for us. But it is most important that you need make sure whether your smartphone can support fast charging or not. So, before buying a fast charger, make sure:
Your smartphone can support fast chargers;
Your cable can support fast charging.
Maybe you know, Samsung company offers two model smartphones with two fast-charging protocols:
1) Adaptive Fast Charging, which this model is a modified version of Quick Charge, and 2) Super-Fast Charging, which this model is a modified version of Power Delivery.
All chargers that offer standard Quick Charge and Power Delivery protocols will compatible with Samsung smartphones.
If you have an iPhone 8 and above, you should buy a charger that benefits from Power Delivery because these smartphones are able to support extra fast charging.
These devices can support up to 18W output, which means that they can charge your battery to 50% in just 30 minutes.
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How can you test your device’s charging power?
If you’ve bought a charger and you are wondering whether or not you had bought the best charger, you can test the charger to ensure that it is the best or not. You have several ways to do this, some of them are free and some of them need specific hardware.
The simplest way is to use a special application that you can obtain accurate battery charging information.
Accubattery and Ampere are the best choices for you to check your battery and these applications can show the battery’s current and voltage while
charging.
If you want to get the power, you can multiply these numbers together. We can offer an Inware app for you, which can automatically calculate the amount of power.
As a matter of fact, these options are incapable to illustrate you the maximum power of your device, these applications can actually handle or list the charging protocol currently being used.
These proposed methods work based on the power level which is provided by software at the battery, and it should be noted that these methods may not be 100% accurate.
If you need the most accurate measurements, you will need to use an in-line USB-C power meter to read the real current and voltage.
Regardless of which way you want to use it, please remember that when the battery is closer to empty, typically below 40%, your battery uses the most power.
Besides, when your phone is charging with a battery capacity already above 75%, it is more likely that you will see much lower power readings.
If you encounter low power levels, remember that try a different cable, before purchasing a new charger.
The Bottom Line
Now, you have been learned what is important in a charger, therefore, you can pick one that compatible with your devices.
Regardless of your budget and smartphone’s specifications, considering the points stated here will ensure that you get value for your money.
Keep in your mind, that a low-quality charger can spoil your phone’s battery, and you have to spend a lot of money to compensate for it in the long run.
