How safe are third party iPhone chargers?

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dclegg

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#175703 9-Jul-2015 09:49

My daughter purchased a refurbished iPhone 5c off TradeMe, and this came with a third party charger and lightening cable. Are these safe to use?

This charger has the following listed on it:-

Input: 100-240V 50-60Hz 0.3A
Output: 5V 1200mA

The official charger states an output of 5V 1A.

lxsw20

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#1339720 9-Jul-2015 09:54

The specs are fine, the worry is really the quality of the charger they provide.

graemeh

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#1339721 9-Jul-2015 09:57

Does the third party charger have any recognisable brand one it?

A lot of the cheap ones coming out of China have potentially deadly design flaws.

dclegg

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#1339730 9-Jul-2015 10:07

graemeh: Does the third party charger have any recognisable brand one it?

A lot of the cheap ones coming out of China have potentially deadly design flaws.

It says 'KCS Power Supply'. It looks cheap. The lightening cable says PISEN.

dclegg

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#1339752 9-Jul-2015 10:19

Hmmm... I have a HTC charger from my One X with same output specs as the official iPhone charger. Would it be safer to use that? And will the third party lightening cable pose any risks, or are all risks associated with the charger itself?

She also has her old Nokia charger, although that has higher amperage at 1.3A. Is that another possible contender?

lxsw20

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#1339757 9-Jul-2015 10:29

Honestly, stop worrying about the output specs, the phone will only draw as much current as is safe. I charge my iPhone with a Anker charger that can put out a lot more than 1.2A. The reason you would use the HTC charger is because it will be of a better build quality.

dclegg

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#1339761 9-Jul-2015 10:33

lxsw20: Honestly, stop worrying about the output specs, the phone will only draw as much current as is safe. I charge my iPhone with a Anker charger that can put out a lot more than 1.2A. The reason you would use the HTC charger is because it will be of a better build quality.

I'm worrying about output specs due to reports such as this one, stating that third party chargers may be damaging iPhones. And because I'm not knowledgable with electronics, I thought I'd defer to the experts here WRT power output.

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Lias

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#1339762 9-Jul-2015 10:35

Higher amperage isn't an issue, only higher voltage or lower amperage.

In theory there could be risks with a bad cable, but in reality your main concern is likely to be the charger quality.

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dclegg

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#1339764 9-Jul-2015 10:37

Lias: Higher amperage isn't an issue, only higher voltage or lower amperage.

In theory there could be risks with a bad cable, but in reality your main concern is likely to be the charger quality.

Thanks. I think for now I'll advise her to use her old Nokia charger with the cheap lightening cable.

Lias

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#1339766 9-Jul-2015 10:39

dclegg:
lxsw20: Honestly, stop worrying about the output specs, the phone will only draw as much current as is safe. I charge my iPhone with a Anker charger that can put out a lot more than 1.2A. The reason you would use the HTC charger is because it will be of a better build quality.

I'm worrying about output specs due to reports such as this one, stating that third party chargers may be damaging iPhones. And because I'm not knowledgable with electronics, I thought I'd defer to the experts here WRT power output.

3rd party is always a gamble, albeit not a huge one. If your worried, buy an official apple charger/cable.

dclegg

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#1339768 9-Jul-2015 10:43

Lias:
3rd party is always a gamble, albeit not a huge one. If your worried, buy an official apple charger/cable.

That's definitely the safest option, but we're talking about a teenager here with limited budget. If I can get away with a safe enough option without doing that, that's the preferred route :-)

trig42

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#1339821 9-Jul-2015 11:25

I'd use the Nokia charger with the cable she got. Chuck the cheap Chinese one in the bin.

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Nate001

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#1339852 9-Jul-2015 11:31

Honestly if you are that worried about it, you should go buy her a new charger (and maybe cable). Like the others say, I'd be worried about the safety of the charger, not the possible damage to the phone. You can't put a price on her safety, and it would be terrible if anything happened because she was the one who couldn't afford to buy something of decent quality.

A new apple charger is $30, I'm sure you could find a well known branded one for even less.

sahilchraya

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#1353656 28-Jul-2015 18:51

It is safe to use don't worry about the specs on charger.