I'm in my 40's and I have a brain injury from cardiac arrest and I wanted to ask a question about 20w charging bricks and how to find "real" ones

AlaskanLost · October 7, 2023

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDXN99L1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I ordered these. I have two kids and a wife and all 4 of us have iPhones. We also have several pairs of Airpods and Airpod Max, iPads, etc.

So we're switching every charging brick in the house to a 20w or 30w usb-c. But reading the reviews, they seem fake. You cannot charge a 14 pro max in 7 minutes. So how do I get "real" charging bricks without paying $14 per brick; unless that is what I need to do then please, even if I don't like your answers doesn't mean the answers are wrong. I guess what I'm looking for is the "reality" of what i need to do.

I have "charging" stations in every bedroom so there is a total of 8 bricks we use daily. I keep a backup of 8 total bricks for travel, etc.

So what can I do? If I need to buy a usb meter can you guys link one that is known to be good? There is no reason for me to buy cheap crap that I will have to replace in 3 months because that doesn't save money.

I hope this didn't ramble on and I hope I stated myself clearly. My brain, the way it works after my coma, makes me question myself on anything I do and I'm working on that, so in the meantime I hope it is okay I reached out on here. I have a hard time scouring the internet for the info because it makes me get anxiety which I have now due to the lack of oxygen while my heart wasn't beating. Thank you for the help, or I'm sorry if this post is considered "low quality". Stay safe out there. Peace.

someb0dys · October 7, 2023

@AlaskanLost I may be wrong, but the current Iphone 15 supports up to 29 watt charging (Pro Max or whatever that isnt even the 14). You probably can't charge an iPhone in 7 minutes with 29 watt charging. Those charging bricks are probably legit though they can't charge the phone in 7 minutes.

Contreramanjaro · October 7, 2023

One thing to keep in mind is that phones don't charge at a constant speed. As the battery charges, especially with fast chargers, they can get hot and the speed will drop to keep it in a safe operating window. Furthermore, the first and last 15% or so will charge more slowly for similar reasons. With iPhone, leaving "optimized battery charging" and "clean energy charging" enabled in the battery settings will deliberately slow charge your phone to keep battery health high. Battery health is one of the reasons I purposefully slow charge my phone much of the time, but the importance of this really depends on how often you upgrade.

When it comes to cables and bricks, I really recommend sticking with known brands that have an image to keep up and some kind of accountability. Ugreen and Anker for example. I just saw too many dollar store lightning cables snapped off in the port back when I was a tech to take the risk.

When it comes to the 7 minute charging thing, someb0dys is right. That's not happening with any cable or brick. To get the best fast charging speeds, put your phone in a well-ventilated area so it can stay as cool as possible. iPhones also like to do some background work when they're plugged in and on Wi-Fi such as backing up your photos to iCloud, which can make even more heat. for the few minutes that takes. Disable "optimized battery charging" at night if you want fast charging around the clock, but personally, I think this is a clever iPhone feature.

It's also worth asking if any of your "charging stations" could be made more efficient by using a multi-port charger like this 40W Anker that can do 40W on a single port, or 2x 20W on dual ports. It's on sale for $19 which works out to $9 per device and takes up fewer outlets than two bricks. You can also keep old some old chargers in service for AirPods and Apple Watch since, if I'm remembering correctly, those max out at 2.5W anyways. Beside that, $14 per brick is about what these things cost right now and you're not going to do much better outside of sales. Also, Amazon Prime Day is coming up on Oct 10, so there might be some decent sales.

dkoudijs · October 9, 2023

On 10/7/2023 at 8:38 AM, AlaskanLost said:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDXN99L1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I ordered these. I have two kids and a wife and all 4 of us have iPhones. We also have several pairs of Airpods and Airpod Max, iPads, etc.

So we're switching every charging brick in the house to a 20w or 30w usb-c. But reading the reviews, they seem fake. You cannot charge a 14 pro max in 7 minutes. So how do I get "real" charging bricks without paying $14 per brick; unless that is what I need to do then please, even if I don't like your answers doesn't mean the answers are wrong. I guess what I'm looking for is the "reality" of what i need to do.

I have "charging" stations in every bedroom so there is a total of 8 bricks we use daily. I keep a backup of 8 total bricks for travel, etc.

So what can I do? If I need to buy a usb meter can you guys link one that is known to be good? There is no reason for me to buy cheap crap that I will have to replace in 3 months because that doesn't save money.

I hope this didn't ramble on and I hope I stated myself clearly. My brain, the way it works after my coma, makes me question myself on anything I do and I'm working on that, so in the meantime I hope it is okay I reached out on here. I have a hard time scouring the internet for the info because it makes me get anxiety which I have now due to the lack of oxygen while my heart wasn't beating. Thank you for the help, or I'm sorry if this post is considered "low quality". Stay safe out there. Peace.

Its not the brick that is the issue. All apple products will "slow" charge to maintain battery health. You can see this by measuring how long to charge to 80%, then how long to do that last 20% (15% will take the longest)

Saying that I use a 20 watt adapter to charge my watch, airpods, phone over night. By morning they are all charge up. Do I care it had taken multiple hours, nope as I'm asleep at the time. So you may want to see do you need to fast charge everything all at once?

seanondemand · October 10, 2023

There was a blog about 10 years ago from an electrical engineer breaking down a bunch of power adapters that really convinced me that paying a decent chunk of cash for an adapter is justified - $14 is too little for quality adapter to plug these $1000+ devices into imo.

give it a read: http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html?m=1

for me, I just make sure I buy from brands I’ve heard of or seen at retailers I trust (not amazon) - anker, ugreen, Belkin, first-party phone manufacturers - not to say any of these brands have never shipped a dud product, but they’re got reputations to maintain, you know?