Fake Phone Chargers – What They Are, What They Can Do To Your Phone, How To Spot Them, And Avoid Them

No matter how hard you try to avoid it or how far you try to run away from it, you will always come across fake products. I mean, it’s almost inevitable, especially when you’re dealing with electronics, and in this case, let’s talk about fake phone chargers.

So, what are fake phone chargers, why should you avoid them, what damages can they do to your phones, and how do you spot them the moment you see one, and how do you avoid buying them?

All these and more, are what we’re gonna be discussing today, so sit back, relax, grab a bottle of beer or a bow of popcorn, and let’s get started. #enjoy.

Read Also: 6 reasons why our phones tend to slow down with time and what can be done about them.

What are fake phone chargers?

Simple, fake phone chargers are chargers or charging accessories that are not manufactured by their original manufacturers, and as a result, have not passed through the rigorous testing and certification phases to ensure that they’re safe for use.

In most cases, they’re made to look and sometimes feel almost exactly like their original counterparts in order to lure unsuspecting buyers, and they’re mostly sold way cheaper than the original ones they are meant to imitate.

What are the dangers of using fake phone chargers and why should you avoid them at all cost?

Well, there are a dozen and one reasons why you should avoid buying anything fake at the first place, but I’ll just give you some and the most important reasons why you need to steer clear of fake phone chargers whenever you’re presented with one.

1. Fake phone chargers can kill you.

This one is not something you should argue about. Fake phone chargers can literally kill anyone by electrocution or even by causing fire havoc due to the poor components and also poor engineering methods that were used in making them.

2. Fake phone chargers can kill your phones too.

Aside from killing you and burning your house down to ashes, a fake phone charger can as well do its thing on your phone, which is damaging it, even faster than you thought it will do.

Like I said earlier, due to the poor components and wack engineering methods that were put together into making these things, a fake phone charger can be feeding your phone large streams of voltage that is way higher than it can take or recommended by your phone maker.

This often results to overheating, and can in turn roast the motherboard, or other crucial components of the phone such as the USB port, the screen, battery, etc.

3. Fake phone chargers will damage your phone’s battery.

If fake phone chargers doesn’t succeed in killing you or your phone, one way they will succeed is by damaging your battery.

One thing about these chargers is either they’re charging your phone way slower than it’s recommended, or so much faster than your phone can take.

Doing this repeatedly for a long time can actually render your phone’s battery useless in the sense that it will begin to discharge faster than it should when unplugged.

As a result, a battery that lasts you let’s say 10 hours+ on constant use on a very good day, won’t be able to cross the 5hr mark.

4. Fake phone chargers are just a means to extort your money.

One thing about fake products is; they don’t last. Due to the inferior and cheap materials that were used in making them, they will either crack open from a slight fall, or in the case of fake chargers, might easily get damaged by electricity, the socket pins can break, and a whole lot of other misfortunes.

Now when these things happen, you will be either forced to go back and buy the original this time, or better still go for another fake, thereby repeating the cycle.

Before you know it, you should have bought nothing less than two to three phone chargers in a month, add the amount for those chargers together, and you’ll realise that you’ve spent up to or even more than the amount for their original counterparts.

How do you spot fake phone chargers the moment you see one?

Check for weight and quality of material used.

This is probably the first thing to do that comes to most people’s mind when they suspect that a particular product is fake, and it actually works most time.

So check for the weight of the charger you’re buying, if possible, take the original counterpart from your home when going to buy a new charger, so the differences will be clear to you, instead of getting there and relying on your guessing abilities.

Now due to the cheap materials that are used in making fake chargers, they usually feel less heavier than their original counterparts, and they have a very high tendency to sound hollow when you knock them with your knuckles.

Check the logos and wordings on them.

Another way you can easily spot fake phone chargers is by trying to scratch the logo or the wordings written on them. The logos and wordings on fake phone chargers tend to scratch off whenever you do so due to the poor printing process used in designing them.

And also, in most cases, the logos and wordings on fake phone chargers tend to appear either too dull or too detailed when you look at them, while the ones on the original are always on a balanced scale between being too dull to the eyes or too sharp, and they don’t have the tendency to scratch off when you try to scratch them with your fingers.

Check for certification marks on them. E.g “CE” certification mark.

Another way you can spot if a phone charger is fake is by checking for the “CE” logo on them which is usually followed by some numbers.

• 

• 

Though you have to be careful on this one though, because most fake phone charger manufacturers will effortlessly duplicate this logo and stamp it right on top of their products, now this is where you should apply the tricks from step two above to check the quality of the logos and wordings written on them by trying to scratch them to see if they’re will fall off.

You can also check for other certification logos that you suspect should be on an electronic product and this is depending on your location, i.e your country, you know, different certification bodies for different countries.

Check for size, and the overall build of the charger.

One thing that gives fake phone chargers away is their build and size. Most times, they tend to be larger than their original counterparts, the pins that goes into the wall socket seems to be longer than usual, and even the USB-A port on it seems to be larger than normal.

Now having taken down these few points, what are some of the things one needs to do in order not to come in contact with fake phone chargers at the first place, and eventually end up not buying them?

Well, they’re simple.

• Buy your chargers and other phone accessories only from authorized stores, whether offline or online.
• Buy your chargers and phone accessories from offline stores whenever possible, so you can see, feel, and in some cases test them before purchasing them.
• Only buy and use chargers that are recommended by your phone manufacturer.
• Avoid products that sound too cheap to be true, especially when you know the prices of their original counterparts, except the store is running some sort of promo sales or something.
• Last but not the least, don’t go out there looking for cheap fake products to buy, hoping that you’ll be able to manage them properly and prevent them from getting damaged or broken. Remember, if the charger itself doesn’t get damaged, it will end up damaging your phone. It’s a two-way thing.

Alright guys. I guess that will be it for today on the topic of fake phone chargers, what they are, what they can do to your phone and yourself, how to spot them, and the best possible ways to avoid them.

So don’t forget to give this post a thumbs up by sharing it if you found it educating, and as always, I’ll see you all tomorrow, #Peace Out.

---

Read Also
▪ eSim – What is it, how does it work, and why you need one.