99% of Unofficial Chargers Are Unsafe for Your Devices

It is rather common in our part of the world to replace the original chargers with fake copies as soon as they stop working, but a new report sheds light on why that might not be such a good idea.

According to highly-comprehensive tests commissioned by Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) in the UK, comprising testing of 400 counterfeit iPhone chargers, it was revealed the overwhelming majority to be potentially dangerous.

Out of all the adapters, only three managed to pass a basic security test. The damning report concluded that if in an unfortunate event your home is hit by a power surge, it’ll likely spell the end of the phone and in cases even result in a fire.

It wasn’t revealed who were the three chargers that earned that honor. The chargers were obtained from eight countries, so you don’t get to blame Chinese copies only. Most of them either had either lax insulation or counterfeit plugs.

Apple has been pretty vocal regarding the durability of fake chargers so commonly-found in the market, finding 90-percent of the certified ones on Amazon to be fake. The report all but confirms this and suggests you rather buy a new charger to go along with your new flagship.

Also, those of us who have been used to buying our accessories in second-hand, the study also conducted a test on 3,000 used chargers. The results were not as damning but nonetheless, around 15-percent of these failed basic safety tests, too.

To avoid this, you can look for the MFi (Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad) logo which is found in official accessories. Apple goes to a further length with a proper list, as it is only too easy to add a fake logo.


  • I think it is true because i have also personal experience that i had been using charger of another company. very soon my mobile got the issue and now it is beyond to repair…. i think original charger with original set should be used….

  • I bought three chargers 6 months ago, 1 for iPhone, 1 for Android and 1 for Nokia (thin pin). You won’t believe it.. one after the other last week all of them stopped working. Android charger started having issues since 5th month as i have to bend its cable to charge the phone, then iPhone charger suddenly stopped working and now Nokia charger which also has a small blue light turns on however there is no actual power output from it.

    Similar happenings took place with my handsfree and data cables. In conclusion these accessories do not last more than 6 to 8 months. Thats what i have been observing since past couple of years.


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