What makes for the best USB Charger? Since its official launch in 1996, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) has been widely used for communication and transmission between devices. Over time, it has evolved to what we know today and its uses has increased widely. One of its major uses is that it’s used to charge devices as a USB charger. Surely, more than one of you who are reading this article has owned and even collected USB chargers over the past few years. But are all USB chargers the same? Are others better than the rest? And what are the advantages and dangers of using one? In this article, we’ll be answering all those questions and even provide more information!
USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS) We will try to make this article easy to read and therefore try to avoid getting into too technical terms. We want to start by talking about the basics about USB so that the further context will be easier for you to understand. A USB has 4 connectors (5 in microUSB) and the cable has 4 wires inside which plays different roles:
1.
Pin 1: 5V voltage
2.
Pin 2: Data -
3.
Pin 3: Data +
4.
Pin 4: Mass
Thanks to all of these, it’s possible that a USB host where the data comes from can transmit information to another device such as a smartphone or camera. The electric current goes to pins 1 and 4 and the data goes to pins 2 and 3. The electricity that’s transmitted by a typical USB is 5V or 500 mAh. From this explanation, we can understand that a USB can be used both to charge a device and transmit information from one device to another.
USB CHARGERS
You can use USB chargers on any device that supports USB cable charging and there’s no danger in doing so. However, there are things that you need to consider when using one:
USB Charging Speed We’ve mentioned before that a USB charger or connector provides about 500 mAh of current but there are some USB chargers nowadays that provides more. The output current of a USB charger determines the amount of time it takes for a device to be fully charged. Therefore, a 1,000 mAh USB charger is better than a 500 mAh USB charger. One danger is that if your mobile phone came with a 500 mAh USB charger, you may overcharge or even burn if it you use a 1,000 mAh charger for it. Don’t worry though because this rarely happens since most USB chargers have a function that when the device is fully charged, it stops the flow of the current. To know the current that your USB charger can provide, you have to look at the sticker or engraving where it says ‘OUTPUT’ and look at the number before the letters ‘mAh’ or ‘A’.
Standard Voltage The standard voltage of a USB charger is 5V. It’s very rare to find anything above that but there are some chargers made for large devices that provides more than 5V of current. However, if you use a higher voltage USB charger for your phone, it may destroy your phone’s battery. Choosing a USB Charger If you want a good USB charger then we recommend one that has the right power output and that offers you the flexibility to charge multiple devices at once. If you can also find the best USB charger that also offers style in it’s design then you really will have the best charger for you.