Everyone owns a heap of chargers at this point—but what do you actually know about the devices that keep our smartphones, tablets, and laptops powered up? It turns out I had made some serious assumptions about chargers, but I’ve finally put those myths to bed.
5All Third-Party Chargers Will Damage Your Device
While many old third-party chargers would destroy battery life, newer versions are typically much better. For example, I use theNative Union 3-in-1charger and have noticed no difference in the battery duration of my phone, smartwatch, or wireless headphones.
You shouldn’t have issues if your charger is certified to work with your device (e.g., MagSafe for Apple). Besides battery preservation, there are otherreasons to consider third-party accessories; in some cases, they might be even better than the original.
When buying third-party chargers, avoid getting the cheapest possible option. Double-check that they’re approved as safe to work with your device, too.
4Any USB Charger Is Fine
Some chargers can be used with multiple devices. For example, my camera’s USB cable is also compatible with my wireless headphone case and rechargeable bicycle lights. However, you shouldn’t use any charger just because it fits into the port.
Different chargers have varying outputs, which might be too much for some gadgets. In these instances, you could cause irreparable damage.
One example is my LARQ bottle (which, by the way, is one ofmy best-ever tech purchases). The charger that came with the bottle could fit into all my non-Apple devices, but I should only use it with the bottle. Similarly, third-party options don’t seem to be as good at charging it.
3Your Battery Needs to Fully Drain
Many people think you need to let your battery drop to 0% before fully recharging it. However, this isn’t true.
Just as you shouldn’t keep devices on your charger all day, you also don’t need to wait until your battery drops to 0% to start charging. Doing so is also inconvenient; imagine not charging your phone before a long journey because your battery was 30% instead of fully drained.
Rather than fully draining your battery (or even charging fully), you might want toonly charge your devices to 80% instead. Doing so will prolong your device battery health by reducing the number of full battery cycles your device undergoes.
2You Always Need to Use a Wall Charger
Another prevalent myth is that charging your tablet or smartphone via your computer will damage their batteries. Again, though, this isn’t entirely true. You might have different charging outputs than a wall charger, but it’s still an effective way to charge your tech.
If needed, you can use wireless chargers in addition to computers. These include ones sometimes found in stores, restaurants, airport terminals, and so on. The quality of your plug or wireless charger will matter more than whether your gadgets are plugged into a wall. Make sure you get something that works well with your device.
Just bewary of juice-jacking attackswhen plugging your device into a public socket!
1You Shouldn’t Charge Your Battery Overnight
The idea ofnot charging your battery overnightstems from causing potential damage if you charge beyond 100%. However, this doesn’t apply to all devices.
These days, you can often activate optimized charging. For example,Samsung’s Protect Battery feature stops your smartphone chargingto protect its battery health.iPhone’s have a similar battery protection feature, as do many other Android devices. When enabled, your device won’t fully charge in one go. Instead, it cuts off at a certain level of charging to protect your device from overheating, excessive battery wear, and more.
If you have a newer phone, tablet, etc., you shouldn’t worry too much about charging your battery overnight. Use a method that makes more sense for you; if that means waiting until you get into the office, you can also do that.
