Is it correct to use your old phone charger to charge the new phone?

 

Many mobile phone companies have recently adopted a new method of shipping and selling their products to users, which is represented in the fact that the phone case, when sold to the consumer, does not contain additional phone accessories such as chargers and earphones. Apple was the first to adopt this policy in 2020 when it sold its first shipment of iPhone 12 phones without a charger, then some other phone companies began to follow suit, such as Samsung, which sold its phones without accessories, starting with the S22 phones.

 

Some companies claimed that this practice came in order to reduce environmental pollution with electronic and plastic waste, as the average life of many smartphones ranges between two and a half to three years, and therefore; The user may store it in his home for 10 years, for example, a number of phone chargers that he no longer actually uses. So; The new practice comes from phone companies to urge users to use the same chargers to charge their new phones instead of piling on more chargers.

 

The question that comes to mind now is whether charging new mobile phones using old chargers is a safe process, or may it cause damage to the new phone. Based on the following lines, we will answer this question.

 

How does a phone battery charger work?

 

In order to understand the subsequent parts of the article, we must first understand how phone chargers work. The phone charger usually consists of two parts, the first of which is an electrical adapter, and the other is a wire or cable that transmits energy and data “USB Cable”.

 

The charger adapter reduces the value of the electric current coming from the current socket to an appropriate value that does not exceed 3-5% of the value of the maximum current that the phone battery can withstand, which maintains its safety for the longest possible period based on what is known as Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, which states that if a connector is cut Lines of a changing magnetic field will create an induced electric voltage on the ends of this conductor in which an induced electric current is passed directly proportional to the rate of change in that magnetic field, and thus; When the two ends of the primary coil of the charger transformer are connected to an alternating current source, the passage of the changing current inside the coil is accompanied by a changing electromagnetic field.

 

The secondary coil of the transformer interrupts this electromagnetic field, generating a variable voltage at its terminals, which in turn leads to the passage of a current in the secondary coil proportional to the original current flowing in the primary coil of the transformer. This current eventually exits the charger adapter through the cable to charge the battery.

  

The charging process takes place by reversing the chemical reactions that took place inside the battery during the discharge process. For example, in a lithium-ion battery, the battery discharges its energy during operation through the transition of lithium ions from the negative end of the battery to the positive end of the battery, and thus; To recharge the battery, the lithium ions must be re-accumulated at the negative terminal of the battery.

 

Does an old phone charger harm the safety of the new phone?

 

Using an old phone charger to charge the new phone does not harm the safety of this new phone, as some chargers for older versions of smartphones are still compatible and work well with newer versions of these phones, as you can still, for example, charge even the latest iPhones using the same charger. The old Apple 5W USB-A was sold with the release of the iPhone 6, and the same applies to almost all other phones on the market. Although this practice is considered safe and does not directly harm the safety of the phone battery or any of its parts, it also has its drawbacks.

 

Disadvantages of charging a new phone using an old charger

 

The need to use additional accessories

 

Although charging using a charger of an old version of the phone is theoretically possible and undeniable as we mentioned, the first problem that you may encounter when trying to actually perform this process is the incompatibility of the cables of some old chargers with the charging port in the new phone, as it differs The design of the phone from one version to another, and this difference may include a change in the size of the charging port, the type of data carrier, and the power used.

 

This problem can sometimes be overcome by using some additional devices or cables, for example; Some older versions of Samsung phones contain a "Micro-USB" port, while newer versions of Samsung phones contain a "USB-C" port. In this case, it will not be possible to connect the phone to the charger through the cable directly, but this problem can be solved by using a USB-A to USB-C connection, the first end of which is the end of the USB cable type “A”, and its second end is the USB port Type "C".

 

Denial of fast charging benefits

 

Fast charging is a relatively recent feature that was not present in older versions of some phones, and this technology relies mainly on increasing the voltage used to charge the battery in order for the phone battery to be fully charged with energy in a shorter time. But when you charge your new phone using a charger intended for an old version of the phone, this may deprive you of some of the advantages of that new device, including the fast charging feature that is available in most modern versions of smartphones today.

 

By doing so, you will give up the advantage of quickly charging your phone's battery after you have already paid some money for this feature on your device. You will not be able, for example, to charge new versions of iPhone or Galaxy Ultra phones using an old 5-watt USB charger in a short time of no more than one hour, as the older types of chargers do not contain the appropriate devices to increase the charging rates of the phone battery with energy as well. It happens in fast charging technologies.

   

It can be said that using old chargers to charge phones will maintain the battery life and safety for a longer period due to the slow charging rates using these chargers, which leads to a decrease in the heat emitted from them during the charging process, which is directly proportional to the speed of the charging rates, so the faster the charging process increases, the higher the temperature the battery during this process.

 

The rise in temperature is the number one enemy of electronic devices and parts, especially batteries, because of its impact on the interactions that occur inside the battery, which harms the safety of the battery and reduces its life over time. However, phones that have fast charging technology take a special approach to protect against overheating to keep the battery healthy, so you don't have to worry about using fast charging technology. You can also get a better charging speed for your phone by replacing the old 5-watt chargers with relatively modern chargers with a higher capacity, such as using 20-watt chargers such as the Anker USB-C 20W charger, with which the charging time can be reduced by almost half.

 

When should you not use an old charger to charge your new phone?

 

The only case in which it is not recommended to use your old phone charger to charge your new phone is when this old charger is of the low-quality type, such as the cheap ones that do not carry any known brand. In this case, only, it is preferable to buy a new charger from a large company whose products enjoy good quality and high reliability in the market, such as Apple, Samsung, and Anker, and not to risk the safety of your new device, which cost you thousands of dollars.

 

In general, you may not need to change the phone charger that you use as long as it is still able to charge your phone battery by 50%, for example, or enough to allow you to leave the house and accomplish all your tasks outside without running out of your phone battery before you return home so that you can Charge it again, but if you are one of those people who use their phones all the time, and are very afraid of running out of the phone’s battery and waiting for long hours before being able to use it again, it is better to buy a new charger that allows you the fast charging feature from a company known for acceptable quality and at a reasonable price Instead of using an old charger to charge the new phone.

 

A 100W charger like this one from the famous Anker company is a good option in this case, as it provides enough power to charge your phone at a fast rate, and it can also be used to charge laptops and other electronic devices that use USB cables to charge them.