Why you shouldn’t use your car’s USB ports if you want fast charging

If you’re the owner of a somewhat newer vehicle, it probably has a USB port in the dashboard, glove box, or center console. But you may want to think twice before you use it to charge your devices. If you’re looking for fast charging, the built-in ports don’t suffice.

The ports in vehicles are subpar when it comes to amperage. The lower the amperage, the longer it takes a device to charge and maintain a full battery. The higher the amperage, the faster you can charge your device and keep it topped off while using it.

Built-in automotive parts do not deliver enough power to keep modern phones, tablets, and devices on and charging. Out of a handful of vehicles measured with a USB voltage/amperage meter, it was discovered that the majority of ports offer a rather weak 0.5-A output. While it may be enough to power up your USB drive full of MP3s, it’s not enough to adequately charge an iPhone and maintain its battery level. If you’re using your smartphone for navigation, which is known to use a ton of battery power, it’s likely to drain faster than it charges using the USB port.

The specifically designated car-charging ports didn’t prove to be better, either. Several charging ports were tested in both the front and rear passenger spaces and were found to be only 1 A. Under ideal conditions, 1 amp charges smartphones and tablets extremely slowly. It cannot withstand a charge under less-than-ideal conditions and might not even work if the device is high-demand. More specifically, say if the passenger is using your iPhone to play a game, expect the battery to slowly drain even if it’s plugged in.

So what’s the solution? Stay away from those built-in USB ports and look into your car’s 12-V ports, as well as some universal chargers. The 12-V port found in most cars provides 10 A, meaning that it can be divided for charge amongst several devices. An effective plug-in USB car charger can provide more charging power with three 2.1-A ports than all the built-in ports in the car combined.

The Omaker Intelligent USB Car Charger contains three ports (two 2.1-A and one 2.4-A). If you’re looking for more power, the Aukey 4 Port USB Charger is your best bet, offering four ports with 2.4-A power each, giving you enough juice to charge four battery-hungry devices at once. Lastly, the Scosche USBC242M Car Charger has two ports with 2.4 A each and is so compact that it’ll look like it was built right into the car.

Via How-To Geek