Your device’s battery life is only as good as the care you put into it. Bad charging habits are common, and while the manual that comes with your phone contains charging tips, you have to read it to understand them.
There are first and third-party apps for everything you can imagine. Some are great and do what you expect, while others perform poorly or are outright scams. Some apps claim to charge your phone faster. Is this fact or fiction? The answer isn’t so black and white. Tap or click here for the story behind these quick-charging apps.
Aside from matching up a charger to your phone’s port (primarily Lightning or USB-C nowadays), does it matter which one you use? Some chargers are faster, while others are more affordable. If you want to have a backup charger or replace the one that came with your phone, consider a few factors.
You can upgrade to a fast charger, but it has to support your phone to utilize its full potential. This is based on three measurements: voltage, amperage and wattage.
Let’s say you have a 5V/1A charger. You can get a 5V/2.1A charger or one measuring 9V/2A to get a faster charge, but there’s a limit. Modern smartphone batteries have a limit to how much wattage they can handle. Modern chargers are compatible with this smart charging tech.
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You won’t blow up your phone if you use a large tablet charger to charge your phone, but your tablet’s battery may charge faster, as it has a higher tolerance.
For example, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G supports up to 25 watts, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max supports up to 27 watts. Using a 40-watt charger won’t make them charge any faster. Neither of these phones comes with a wall adapter, so you’ll have to get your own. At least now you can make an informed decision.
The same can be said for plugging old phones into modern fast chargers. They will only charge as fast as that old battery allows.
RELATED: Tips for extending your battery life
Stay away from cheap, uncertified cables/adapters. They can overload your battery and shorten its life, and fire risks involved can lead to property damage or injury. They are poorly made and typically don’t support the smart and safety features of better chargers.
Tap or click here for our report on how to choose a safe and speedy charger for your iPhone.
While Apple and Samsung OEM chargers can be a little pricey, other brands have reliable options. When it comes to Apple, look for MFi certification for both charging adapters and cables. MFi certification stands for Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad and ensures Apple approved these third-party products.
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Companies like Samsung recommend you use its chargers, but you can look into reliable brands like Anker. Here are a couple of cable recommendations for both iPhone and Android phones:
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Generally speaking the wrong charger to the wrong phone can cause damage.
However in your case, I do not believe that there is much to worry about. The article below is a gizmodo article that explains in pretty good detail.
http://gizmodo.com/can-i-use-the-same-charger-for-multiple-devices-510829339
Basically the whole using the "wrong charger" was an issue back before the micro-usb standard. Now that there is an international standard for the micro-usb, the voltage is limited to 5V.
This used to be a much bigger issue on account of the wide variety of proprietary charging units and pin connectors that came with each device. Thankfully, the advent of USB changed all that and has provided an easy, standardized platform for charging devices. All USB cords carry the same 5V, regardless of if it's got a 30-pin head or a microUSB plug, whether it's first-party or third. That means DC chargers are now brand agnostic; if the volts, amps, and connectors are compatible, an Apple wall wart can charge an HTC just as easily as a Samsung. That if, though, is where people run into trouble.
In terms of the current, there can be issues that arise in the amounts of amperes that are flowing through Take for instance the iPAD can charge off of 2.1 amp. If the charge to it is only say 1 amp, then it won't charge as quickly.
Because they have consistent, standardized voltage, USB chargers need another means of putting more power (in terms of watts) into larger gadgets faster. To do so, the system will increase the current (measured in amps). Most USB cables designed exclusively for charging (as opposed to data transfer) limit the current to between 1 and 1.5 amps, although new iPad chargers can deliver 2.1amps, and a standard USB port on your laptop only puts out .5 amps. This is why a 1 amp charger isn't effective on a 2.1 amp iPad. The device consumes power at the same rate that it's added.
Gizmodo also discusses things such as chips in the battery that monitors the charge (why you can plug your phone in at night and go to bed).
Smart chargers are those that utilize a small CMOS chip to monitor and manage the state of charge (SoC) and state of health (SoH) of similarly-equipped batteries. This is a de facto feature on most every modern secondary battery on the market, and it's ubiquitous among Li-ion systems. This feature allows the batteries to be left unattended when charging without the fear of having them overheat and explode, and while maintaining 100-percent capacity over long periods via a trickle charge.
The author of the Gizmodo article, ANDREW TARANTOLA, does not think that you should use a different phone charger and that you should use the specific device's charger with the specific device.
Once you're sure that your device's needs line up with your charger's output, all that's left is ensuring your USB cords are equipped with the proper pin connector. The micro-USB to USB cord that came with your last phone works just as well with your new one and can plug into any suitable USB power brick, so why do you have multiples of it—each with its own brick?
Instead, just stash a single spare brick in your bag, bring only the cords you need, and stagger your device charging so that one is always plugged into a port on your computer.
Tl;dr? While you can use the same charger for multiple devices, you probably shouldn't. Not unless you want to ruin your gear, or wait a lifetime for it to recharge.
So if you do not want to take the risk or what not, then you can use the correct charger (specific charger for specific phone).
I'm currently using a motorola backflip usb cable with the iPhone wall charger to charge my Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. I have not noticed any issues at all.