Warning : Avoid Cheap iPhone Chargers
One of my friends has just posted some photos and it shows the dangers of buying cheap knock-off iPhone chargers from eBay.
A Cautionary Tale
We’ve all been there. Our Samsung/HTC/iPhone charger has broken, or the kids have stolen it, or you’ve left it when you went away for a weekend. Your phone is running low on juice and you need a way to charge it up. You check the Apple website and you can’t believe that they charge £20 for a new charger! What a rip off! What you do next is head to eBay as you’ve got some PayPal credit that you can spend.
eBay iPhone Chargers
You see on eBay loads of Apple chargers. All New. All saying, “official Apple”. But more importantly, all showing as less than £5 delivered. You order it and in a day or two it arrives. It looks just like the old iPhone charger and it does charge your phone. You think everything is fine.
BANG!
You notice a burning smell and then bang!
The electrics in the place trips and you realise that your phone charger has literally just gone up in smoke. Thankfully you were at home and thankfully you don’t leave your charges plugged all the time. A bit of carelessness on your part could have made this a much worse situation but luckily no-one was hurt or injured
What iPhone Charger Should You Get?
Its always good to get one from the manufacturer of your device. Sometimes this can be a bit cost prohibitive and for people looking for a cheaper option I really do suggest you avoid eBay. My recommendation is to head over to Amazon, even for an iPhone charger. I would make sure it is being sold by Amazon and not a 3rd party seller as that way you know you are getting an original item, not a cheap knock off, and you will deal with Amazon directly if you have any issues at all.
I have a couple of 3rd party chargers from reputable companies and they are doing a sterling job at keeping all my devices charged.
I’ve got a few of these *RavPower chargers. They have the correct power for iPhones/Apple devices and have 3 USB sockets for you to plug your cables in.
It does look like you can also get a 4 port version (which I also have) which is currently for sale for £15.99
The Reverend’s Final Thought
Whatever you do, don’t gamble with electronics. If you buy a cheap knock off then at best you will have an under-powered device that takes forever to charge your lovely phone. At worst you have a fire-risk just waiting to happen. In a household that needs multiple chargers then a Ravpower charger like I own will help you charge 3 items but only use 1 plug socket. I also have mine plugged into a smart-socket so I can turn it on and off as needed. You can also read more about my ace iPhone!
Look after yourself and your family. Or even, just remember you spent £1000 on a new phone, why use a 99p fake iPhone charger on it?
Yikes!! Good job nobody was hurt and it wasn’t any worse than it was, but it’s definitely a good time for the warning. I never buy or use anything with my phone, laptop or tablet other than the genuine articles. Precisely because of horror stories like this! x
Wow, that’s shocking! It’s a good thing nobody got hurt by it, chargers are so flimsy as well that it’s really tempting to buy cheap versions, but I guess if you buy cheap, you buy twice. Great post and probably not something most people even think about when trying to get a new charger.