A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

It's off-topic, but I've been trying to figure it out for a while: I have a two-port "Gear4" USB charger with swappable plugs, so it's great for travelling. However, my new work BlackBerry won't accept a charge from it, complaining about it being too low powered - however, the Gear4 charger says it's 2A, the BB charger is 750mA.

Does anyone know what's the deal?

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#5

Post by bryogenic » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:07 PM UTC

mhb wrote: post #2

Would be nice to know how the adafruit charger does: http://adafruit.com/products/501

Also the 2A, 4 port monoprice one: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?p_id=8856

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#6

Post by macleodan » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:16 PM UTC

I have looked at some cheap car USB power supplies.

Griffin: http://mm0hai.net/blog/2012/09/30/Griffin-USB-Car-Charger.ht...

Unbranded, common on ebay. http://mm0hai.net/blog/2012/08/01/Message-to-an-ebay-seller....

They were both awful. I would be interested to know about a known good one.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#7

Post by rhizome » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:17 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #4

It's off-topic, but I've been trying to figure it out for a while: I have a two-port "Gear4" USB charger with swappable plugs, so it's great for travelling. However, my new work BlackBerry won't accept a charge from it, complaining about it being too low powered - however, the Gear4 charger says it's 2A, the BB charger is 750mA. Does anyone know what's the deal?

Given that the company now appears to deal mostly in iPhone cases with zero USB chargers listed on their site, their technical claims and/or QC may be suspect.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#8

Post by UnoriginalGuy » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:17 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #4

It's off-topic, but I've been trying to figure it out for a while: I have a two-port "Gear4" USB charger with swappable plugs, so it's great for travelling. However, my new work BlackBerry won't accept a charge from it, complaining about it being too low powered - however, the Gear4 charger says it's 2A, the BB charger is 750mA. Does anyone know what's the deal?

Everyone has decided it is a good idea to use non-standard USB chargers to deliver better than USB power to devices. So as a result the Asus charger won't charge an iPad above USB specs, and the reverse is also true.

You might have been caught by this same problem.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#9

Post by macleodan » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:18 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #4

It's off-topic, but I've been trying to figure it out for a while: I have a two-port "Gear4" USB charger with swappable plugs, so it's great for travelling. However, my new work BlackBerry won't accept a charge from it, complaining about it being too low powered - however, the Gear4 charger says it's 2A, the BB charger is 750mA. Does anyone know what's the deal?

They probably aren't up to their ratings.

Also, the USB cable may be too high resistance, causing a voltage drop.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#10

Post by jrockway » Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 7:20 PM UTC

rhplus wrote: post #3

This link just wouldn't have been quite as clickable: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: HP is the best .

Using the A word and "good" in an article title is guaranteed karma.