Which charger and cable should I use?

Chargers and cables look interchangeable and are not. A charger negotiates with the device over how much power to deliver, and the cable has to be built to carry it. Getting either wrong shows up as slow charging, or occasionally as something worse.

Safety

Step by step

1. Check what the device can actually take.A phone that accepts 20W will not charge faster on a 100W charger — it draws what it can and no more. Buying far beyond the device's capability achieves nothing.
2. Understand the wattage figure.Watts is the maximum the charger can supply. A higher-wattage charger is safe with a lower-power device: the device negotiates and takes what it needs. Under-powering, not over-powering, is what causes slow charging.
3. Check the charging standard matches.USB Power Delivery is the common one, with manufacturer-specific fast-charge protocols alongside. A charger and phone that do not share a protocol fall back to slow charging even if the wattage is high.
4. Treat the cable as a component, not a wire.Cables are rated for current, and higher-power ones contain an identification chip. A cheap cable with a high-wattage charger simply will not deliver the power, and a badly made one can overheat.
5. Check what the cable can actually carry.USB-C cables vary from 60W to 240W, and separately in data speed. A cable sold for charging may carry almost no data, which is why some cables charge but do not connect to a computer.
6. Buy chargers from reputable brands.This is the one place where the cheapest option is a genuine hazard. Counterfeit chargers routinely lack the insulation and separation that keeps mains voltage away from the device and from you.
7. Look for proper safety markings.A recognised safety marking, a named manufacturer and an address. Counterfeits copy the markings, so buying from a reputable retailer matters as much as the label.
8. Consider one multi-port charger.A single GaN charger with several ports replaces a drawer full of adaptors and shares its power intelligently between devices. Compact, and it means one good charger rather than four unknown ones.
9. Get the right cable length.Longer cables lose a little power and are more prone to damage. Two metres by a sofa or bed is genuinely useful; five metres is a false economy.
10. Retire damaged cables.Exposed shielding, a kinked or split sheath, a hot connector, or bare wire. These are not repairable with tape — that leaves conductors near flammable material.
11. Keep a known-good cable for testing.One cable you trust, kept separate. It is the fastest way to diagnose any charging problem, because the cable is the most common failure point.
12. Check what came in the box.Many phones ship with a cable and no charger. Assuming one is included is a common surprise, and using an old low-wattage charger is why a new phone charges slowly.

Tips

• If a phone suddenly charges slowly, try a different cable before anything else. Cables fail far more often than chargers or ports.
• Label or colour-code the high-power cables. They look identical to low-power ones and the difference matters for a laptop.
• A charger that gets warm is normal; one that gets hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold is not, and should be replaced.

Common mistakes

• Buying an unbranded charger from an unknown seller — Counterfeits routinely fail the insulation requirements that separate mains voltage from the device. This is the one accessory where cheap is genuinely dangerous.
• Pairing a high-wattage charger with a cheap cable — The cable limits what can be delivered, so the charging is slow anyway, and a poorly made cable can overheat under load.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask