Are cheap Fast-Chargers really that Bad?

[Katarn]

My phone (Samsung Galaxy A13) didn't come with a charger included, so I'm looking to buy a fast-charger for it. The problem is that Samsung chargers sell for more than I'd care to pay for the purpose. So I've been looking at some alternate choices, but I'm also reading bad things about third-party chargers, so I'm having second thoughts.

 

I've stumbled upon a very affordable Qualcomm QC 3.0 Fast Charger. Is it better than a knockoff "Samsung" charger (for the same price)? It's half the price of an actual Samsung charger, so... is it worth it? I've been reading stories about cheap fast-chargers damaging the device, voiding warranty for the device, and being a safety hazard. How much of this is true?

 

I don't see the point in paying double the price of most chargers just because Samsung told me to, considering Samsung are not known for how conscientious they are with their customers, so I thought it might a good idea to go for cheaper brand for a charger, but now I'm not so sure.

 

So, is it?

I haven't found any reviews on the device's performance in the long term.

This is not necessarily about the Qualcomm btw, I'm just interested to know if third-party chargers really are that dangerous and if they really void your warranty.

[shoutingsteve]

In my personal experience, I have had no problems with off brand chargers.  I have two fast chargers, and both have done no damage.  Oddly, the phone does not recognize them as fast chargers, but still they charge must quicker than the low end ones you might stumble upon.
If it were me; I would risk it.  I have already done so twice.

[BiotechBen]

Haven't used an OEM charger in quite a while. I have a couple of ravpower 20w type C blocks and they've been great.

[Katarn]

1 hour ago, shoutingsteve said:

If it were me; I would risk it.  I have already done so twice.

Any information if it actually voids warranty or if it is just a scare tactic?

It's not like Samsung products last very long anyway, but that's mostly a software issue *cough* bloatware *cough*

 

1 hour ago, shoutingsteve said:

Oddly, the phone does not recognize them as fast chargers, but still they charge must quicker than the low end ones you might stumble upon.

Define "much faster."

 

1 hour ago, BiotechBen said:

I have a couple of ravpower 20w type C blocks and they've been great.

Now that you mention it, I'm looking for a Type C, but I'm seeing a lot of Type A fast chargers. Will it make a difference if I buy a Type A charger if I have a cable?

[shoutingsteve]

1 hour ago, Katarn said:

Any information if it actually voids warranty or if it is just a scare tactic?

It's not like Samsung products last very long anyway, but that's mostly a software issue *cough* bloatware *cough*

 

Define "much faster."

 

Much faster is a full charge in about two hours.

And it is absolutely a scare tactic.  There is no way they can prove it was an off brand charger and not a malfunction of the one they shipped it with.

[BiotechBen]

2 hours ago, Katarn said:

Any information if it actually voids warranty or if it is just a scare tactic?

It's not like Samsung products last very long anyway, but that's mostly a software issue *cough* bloatware *cough*

4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of monthly security updates? I'd challenge you to find an oem android maker that offers better (apart from that one company that had a phone go from lollipop 4.4.4 to 10, whose name is escaping me). As for "bloatware, I've got an S22+, and apart from a few Samsung specific apps, not a ton of bloat. If you want a very stock android from a mainstream OEM, Pixel and moto phones are solid choices (have had many moto phones with effectively stock android, they pretty much just put "Motorola" over the Google logos with sticky tape.)

[TukangUsapEmenq]

It's totally fine if you want to use 3rd party charger and cable, as long as it's the reputable brand ones and it does have quality, especially with fast chargers above 5V 2A.

 

I killed an iPhone 6s because of a (way too) cheap 5V 2A charger brick. It gave me two lessons: don't go way too affordable, and don't f*ck with way too cheapo electronics.

 

I use Aukey's charger as my 3rd party option since 2019, Anker would've my choice too as I saw my relatives using it and it's indeed darn reliable too. For 3rd party brand, it's rather expensive in my opinion (because there's quality on it), but it's still way cheaper than Samsung's own brick.

 

6 hours ago, Katarn said:

It's not like Samsung products last very long anyway, but that's mostly a software issue *cough* bloatware *cough*

I specifically picked Samsung A34 instead of Redmi Note 12 Pro (near-same specs, even the Redmi have better camera) because of the software, even the A34 is indeed more expensive.

 

Samsung's One UI are actually the one top-notch 'manufacturer stock' Android that I would enjoy use for daily drive nowadays tbh.

[Katarn]

On 5/4/2023 at 2:22 AM, shoutingsteve said:

Much faster is a full charge in about two hours.

Shouldn't fast-chargers be much faster than that? My normal charger does ~2 hours already.

 

On 5/4/2023 at 3:46 AM, BiotechBen said:

4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of monthly security updates? I'd challenge you to find an oem android maker that offers better

That is only "in theory." You spend two out of those four years with a lagging system that is barely usable by the end.

I've had my A13 for about five months, and, other than lacking basic Android functions available to non-Samsung phones, it is already beginning to lag on DuoLingo and Discord.

Samsung relies mostly on its reputation these days. Their quality has gone down.

 

On 5/4/2023 at 7:12 AM, TukangUsapEmenq said:

For 3rd party brand, it's rather expensive in my opinion (because there's quality on it), but it's still way cheaper than Samsung's own brick.

From what I see in stores, they're about the same price. Would you recommend Anker over Samsung if the difference in price is marginal?

 

On 5/4/2023 at 7:12 AM, TukangUsapEmenq said:

Samsung's One UI are actually the one top-notch 'manufacturer stock' Android that I would enjoy use for daily drive nowadays tbh.

I liked the phone I had in 2018, but as of 2021 I've been mostly disappointed in their products, and a big part of that is their software. Although I do agree with your decision not to go with Redmi - I wouldn't use Redmi either.

Very cute profile picture, btw.

[BiotechBen]

6 hours ago, Katarn said:

That is only "in theory." You spend two out of those four years with a lagging system that is barely usable by the end.

I've had my A13 for about five months, and, other than lacking basic Android functions available to non-Samsung phones, it is already beginning to lag on DuoLingo and Discord.

Samsung relies mostly on its reputation these days. Their quality has gone down

The A13 started as a low spec phone to begin with, I wouldn't expect it to be feeling like a speedy new phone after 2 years. Buying a well specced phone is not the same as software support being good. The only galaxy x3 phone specced lower than the A13 is the A03 which is borderline manufactured ewaste. The 0 and 1 tiers are ultra budget options from Samsung.

[TukangUsapEmenq]

14 hours ago, Katarn said:

From what I see in stores, they're about the same price. Would you recommend Anker over Samsung if the difference in price is marginal?

If the price's nearly the same then it's your pick whether you want OEM or third-party. But in my friend's experience of using an Anker fast charger, it still reliably works after 5 years on his S10. Really doesn't too matter actually, as the A13 would only charge on 15W anyway.

 

The point is, don't get cheap on things you use daily, especially with electronics like charger. The hazard of 'saving' by using cheap charger really outweighs the risk of another medical bill.

 

14 hours ago, Katarn said:

That is only "in theory." You spend two out of those four years with a lagging system that is barely usable by the end.

I've had my A13 for about five months, and, other than lacking basic Android functions available to non-Samsung phones, it is already beginning to lag on DuoLingo and Discord.

Samsung relies mostly on its reputation these days. Their quality has gone down.

Agreed with @BiotechBen. You can't really expect a device will run smoothly if the hardware itself sucks, even with good OS. Samsung lower-range segment isn't something you would compare against another brands unfortunately, and phones at the price point would've only 'usable' for 2-3 years anyway.

 

It's comparison between Galaxy A13 vs Redmi Note 11, which priced close enough for me to compare, and technically (from their synthetic benchmark) it's nearly twice the performance. 

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11402&idPhone2=11336

 

Unfortunately, you don't get Samsung for their lower-end products, they're darn sucks. But for their middle-end to flagship segment, it's indeed a consideration.

 

 

14 hours ago, Katarn said:

Very cute profile picture, btw.

Thanks lol

[Katarn]

On 5/7/2023 at 4:10 AM, BiotechBen said:

I wouldn't expect it to be feeling like a speedy new phone after 2 years.

I didn't say I expected it to be like a "speedy new phone" nor have I owned it for over two years. We are talking about their product dropping in performance in less than half a year - and I am not playing Warzone 2 on it; it's for things like DuoLingo and Discord.

And, on top of that, to add to the topic, they suggest only using their brand of chargers and threaten to (allegedly) void warranty if one does not.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 4:10 AM, BiotechBen said:

The only galaxy x3 phone specced lower than the A13 is the A03 which is borderline manufactured ewaste. The 0 and 1 tiers are ultra budget options from Samsung.

These were the most frequently bought models at the store. If the most common representative of a brand is considered borderline ewaste, it doesn't make much sense to argue that the brand is "exceptionally good actually, with the exception of most of what they make."

Considering they are the only available models that do not have 5G, those of us who do not have a 5G deal with our ISPs and consequently don't want to pay for a feature we won't use, the A03 and the A13 are the only Samsung models we care about, and so, they represent 100% of Samsung's output for a lot of people.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 4:10 AM, BiotechBen said:

Buying a well specced phone is not the same as software support being good.

And how does this change what I said? It only alters the part where I talk about bloatware to an admission that they are indeed bad, but only in every other regard, not necessarily software.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 12:21 PM, TukangUsapEmenq said:

You can't really expect a device will run smoothly if the hardware itself sucks, even with good OS. Samsung lower-range segment isn't something you would compare against another brands unfortunately,

And that is the problem. Their specs are the same (if not better) than other available models in the price-range (like the Moto G31), and yet they perform worse in practice. This wouldn't be as annoying if there were many other models from which to choose, but other models (like the Moto G31) were very hard to come by when I was looking for a new phone (and maybe they still are). Samsung is like a low quality corporate beer they serve everywhere, often at the expense of other brands. The irony is that it was in the same price-range as my previous phone (Galaxy J5), and, while that phone began to break down after about a year and a half, that was much longer than five months, and its performance was solid in the meantime - so the quality of the same tier has clearly deteriorated.

And this is on top of the A13 lacking functions that other Android phones (and even my old Windows Phone) have, like a scrollable background.

 

I would not use a Xiaomi phone though.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 12:21 PM, TukangUsapEmenq said:

But in my friend's experience of using an Anker fast charger, it still reliably works after 5 years on his S10.

Anker might be the Logitech of portable electronics. I've been hearing good things about their bluetooth speakers too. I should look into their products, including their chargers.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 12:21 PM, TukangUsapEmenq said:

Really doesn't too matter actually, as the A13 would only charge on 15W anyway.

Could you please explain the implications of this concerning the type of charger I should buy? What specs am I looking for exactly?