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How do I know what I'm buying is safe? I've sworn by the Nexus chargers in their various incarnations and http://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charging-Station-Micro-US
by voltagex_ 11y ago
How do I know what I'm buying is safe? I've sworn by the Nexus chargers in their various incarnations and http://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charging-Station-Micro-USB-Samsung/dp/B01BBYJQ5I/ http://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charging-Station-Micro-USB-Sams... (I have a Tronsmart and an Aukey vertsion)
- yoodenvranx 11y agoI play Ingress a lot (a GPS based mobile game where you run around a lot in the real world so most players use external batteries) and at least 60-70% of the whole community uses Anker products. I personally know at a dozen people who use Anker wall plugs and all of them (including me, 1 wallplug and 2 battery packs) are very happy.
- mmanfrin 11y agoAnker and recently Aukey. And iOrange for cables. The problem is that smaller brands hit the Amazon lottery and get a lot of early 5-star reviews, then swap out their product with one made of cheaper components. I think for Anker, their brand has become a bit bigger than is gamble-able on a bait and switch, so I'm continuing to use their products.
- Someone1234 11y agoJust want to add: With Anker make sure you're buying through an authorised channel. Fake Anker products DO exist.
- voltagex_ 11y agoUnfortunately there doesn't seem to be an authorised reseller in Australia
- blakes 11y agoI pretty much only get Anker products now and recommend them to anyone, super high quality and very affordable. Pretty good customer service as well.
- gruturo 11y agoBeware: Anker became so successful that now Anker knock-offs are a thing.
- farnsworth 11y agoAnker is fantastic. With one weird exception - when I use my Anker USB to Ethernet adapter, my (Microsoft brand) wireless mouse stops working unless it put it right next to the USB receiver. I bought a much crappier-looking Ethernet adapter and had no issues.
- rcthompson 11y agoI believe many USB3 devices emit noise in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, jamming nearby WiFi and Bluetooth.
- duskwuff 11y agoYep. This is a known issue, and there are ways hardware manufacturers can mitigate it: http://www.usb.org/developers/whitepapers/327216.pdf http://www.usb.org/developers/whitepapers/327216.pdf
- stordoff 11y agoDoes anyone know if the RAVPower products are any good? I have a few (4-port USB charger, 6-port USB charger, and a battery pack) and have been impressed with their performance (they are the only chargers I have found that my Vita will recognise, for example), but can't find any teardowns etc. discussing build quality.
- Buttons840 11y agoI'm happy with the one product of theirs I have. They have multiple products on Amazon with several thousand positive reviews each. I don't know if that means they will be reliable in the long term, but they seem to have one of the best names on Amazon to me.
- voltagex_ 11y agoI have this funny feeling that Tronsmart, RAVPower, Aukey and Anker are using the same factory for these - very similar specs and features for all of these chargers. If I had the cash to get 5x ~$50 devices tested by someone like Clive, I'd definitely do it. I do worry about the internals of the device being swapped out silently by the manufacturers, though.
- Tepix 11y agoWhen talking about Ingress, I suppose you primarily talk about USB power packs. These are not as dangerous as power supplies that are connected to 110V or 220V (although they can catch fire). Instead of trusting a particular brand, I think it makes more sense to trust the various security certifications that were created for this purpose. The ones I am aware of are: * TÜV Nord, TÜV Süd, TÜV Rheinland (TUV, Germany) * GS (Geprüfte Sicherheit, Germany) * UL (Underwriter Laboratories, US) * CCC (China Compulsory Certification, China) There are probably more that are trustworthy and that actually check the safety of the devices.
- yoodenvranx 11y ago> I suppose you primarily talk about USB power packs No, somehow we have to charge all those batteries ;) A lot of people use Anker products for this as well.
- digi_owl 11y agoNothing is 100%, but the chance should be sharply reduced via certain tests. Supposedly the CE marking in Europe should be a good indicator, but sadly there are various ways that a company can self-certify products. I think the biggest problem is that Amazon allows anyone and anything to use them as an outlet by default. Thus many fly by night resellers can used Amazon's brand as a cover.
- pjc50 11y agoAll CE certification is self-certification. The manufacturer/importer is supposed to keep and present on demand a "technical file" detailing compliance to various standards, which is supposed to include particular tests, but there's no real guarantee that they've been done. On the other hand, this is a major barrier to entry to small-run products, as is WEEE.
- femto 11y agoI can answer from an Australian perspective. Here's how it's supposed to work: Suppliers register and prove that their products comply with Australian standards, and are awarded a compliance number. That number is the consumer's indicator that a product is safe. Any interested party can check that the certification is genuine by looking up the compliance number in an online database. Here's how it works in practise: you're screwed. The relevant government department took the database off line years ago, and there still isn't a replacement. When you go to do a search, you arrive at a page that talks about the database in the future tense [1]: "The national database will list all the equipment registered by the responsible supplier". A supplier can put a fake mark on a product, and there is no easy way for a consumer to know if is genuine, making the marks virtually useless. The result is electrocution whilst listening to a plugged in music player with headphones [2]. [1] http://www.erac.gov.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127&Itemid=575 http://www.erac.gov.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=art... [2] http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/warning-over-usb-chargers-after-woman-dies-from-apparent-electrocution-20140626-zsngd.html http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/warning-over-usb-chargers-after-wo... --- Edit: spelling
- voltagex_ 11y agoI wonder what the hell's gone wrong in that department to not have a replacement after all that time.
- rs999gti 11y ago> How do I know what I'm buying is safe? I think I answered my own comment a few sections above. But for safety you should look for the UL mark: http://www.ul.com/code-authorities/resources/faqs-for-code-authorities/ http://www.ul.com/code-authorities/resources/faqs-for-code-a... The CE mark is the manufacturer's self declaration of compliance with EU law, sometimes including safety. Whereas the UL mark can only be put on products that Underwriters Laboratories have authorized themselves.
- zimpenfish 11y agoAlthough counterfeiters aren't above putting it on unsafe products - e.g. http://www.righto.com/2016/03/counterfeit-macbook-charger-teardown.html http://www.righto.com/2016/03/counterfeit-macbook-charger-te... "The photo below shows the safety certifications that the charger claims to have. Again, it looks genuine, with no typos or ugly fonts." Or http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pr... "The counterfeit charger displays a bunch of certifications (such as UL) that it doesn't actually have. As you will see below, there is no way it could pass safety testing."