We may sometimes just leave our USB charger at home when we are out for a trip, say, 600 miles away. Then it’s time to get a new charger. Get a cheaper charger from the electronics store that is just near the hotel you live in. What happens next? For full charging, we need to wait for 10 hours while the normal charging time is 3 hours.
Actually, not all the USB chargers or connectors are born equal, though they look almost the same. Some wall chargers are stronger than others. One USB socket on a laptop is seemingly more powerful than the other. On some desktop PCs, even when they’re turned off, we can charge our phone via a USB socket. Sound a bit complex? Let’s just have a look at how the USB power works briefly.
In the current market, there are three main USB charger specifications — USB 1.0, 2.0, and USB 3.0. For any USB network, there is one host and one device, with the power flowing from the host to the device, yet data just transferring in both directions.. Our PC is the host, and the smartphone or tablet is often the device. There are three kinds of USB port dictated by the current specs: a standard downstream port, a charging downstream port, and a dedicated charging port. The first two can be found on computer and the third kind applies to wall chargers.The USB spec allows for a “sleep-and-charge” port, which is where the USB ports on a powered-down computer remain active. On the desktop PC, there is some power flowing through the motherboard, but some laptops are also capable of sleep-and-charge.
We hear often that some iphone just blow up during the charging time. So why does that happen? If we take a smartphone which came with a 900mA wall charger, and plug it into a 2100mA iPad charger, will it blow up? No. Using a more powerful charger should speed up battery charging. For modern USB device, we can plug it into a high-amperage USB port and enjoy faster charging. Yet for those older devices, maybe the USB 1.0 and 2.0 PC ports are safe.
Then what to look for when we try to buy the chargers?
First, some background. Charging power is based on three things: power, current and voltage. Power is the product of current multiplied by voltage. Because larger devices like tablets have substantially bigger batteries than smartphones, the chargers will deliver energy at a higher rate. We could use a Lightning connector plugged into a computer, an iPhone charger connected to a wall socket, or an iPad charger connected to a wall socket. A PC USB charger delivers 2.5 Watts of power. An iPhone charger delivers 5 Watts. The charging speed is always decided by the amperage. For quicker charging, just try a wall charger or car charger. Before we buy the charger, just make sure the logo that identifies compliance with international standards.
Now there are a variety of chargers in the market, from multiple ports USB chargers to some chargers with trendsetting patterns. Just make sure the charges can go well with your electronic devices for safe charging.