This Is the $20 Charger You Need for Fast Charging (and to Avoid Incinerating Your House)
Why the Anker Nano is a decent third-party choice
I always thought that charging a phone, iPad, or Chromebook was straightforward, like fueling up a car. Pump in juice and you’re good to go. It turns out that chargers are much more complex than I thought. Choosing the wrong one could put you at a big productivity disadvantage, fry your phone, or even put your life at risk.
Most devices today use either some variant on a USB port or Apple’s lightning cable. By default, USB supplies five volts of power at .5 amps. That’s what you’ll get if you plug your phone into an ancient charger you found in your junk drawer or the USB ports on many laptops. That’s enough power to charge your phone, albeit very, very slowly. Apple’s lightning ports, by default, supply only a little more.
Poorly made chargers can damage your device, or overheat and fail catastrophically.
If you plug your compatible device into a fast charger, though, something entirely different happens. The charger supplies power. But it also talks to your device electronically. In a process called a “voltage negotiation,” the charger and device work together to determine the…
