Three-euro chargers and cables: what they really damage
It isn't repairer paranoia: we see the burnt charging chips, and we always ask which charger was plugged in.
A charger negotiates with the phone the voltage and current to supply. A decent charger respects that dialogue; a bottom-end charger sometimes sends an unstable voltage, spikes on plug-in, or simply more than it claims. The phone's charging chip absorbs it, until the day it no longer does.
What we repair because of it
- The charge-management chip (Tristar, Hydra on iPhone; their equivalents on Android): the phone no longer charges, or the accessory is “not supported”.
- The port, whose contacts blacken with a cable with misaligned pins.
- More rarely, the battery itself, charged at too high a voltage.
How to recognise a good cable
Not necessarily the manufacturer's: a certified cable (MFi for Lightning, USB-IF for USB-C) from a known brand, at ten or fifteen euros, is perfectly safe. What we avoid: unbranded cables from petrol stations and supermarket checkouts, four-euro “65 W” chargers, unknown power banks.
What carries no risk
Charging with another known brand's charger (a Samsung charger on an iPhone, or the reverse) is risk-free: they speak the same language. Charging with a more powerful charger than needed too: the phone only takes what it asks for.
If your phone no longer charges after a dubious cable, the charging-circuit repair is at component level, 149 €, data kept.
Also worth reading
What is micro-soldering? What we really do under the microscope
We talk about micro-soldering all over the site. In practice: which tools, which components, what size, and why it lets us repair what others replace.
Repair the component or replace the board: why we almost always choose the component
A new logic board is half the device's price, and your data lost. A component is a few euros. The two approaches, and what each one implies.
My phone is under two years old: manufacturer warranty or independent repairer?
The legal conformity warranty covers factory defects for two years, not breakage. When it is better to go through the seller, and when an independent repair makes sense.