What Are All Of The Smartphone Charger Types?

What Are All Of The Smartphone Charger Types?
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How many types of Smartphone and Cell Phone Chargers are there? What are they for and how are they different?

If you are anything like me and you are constantly charging your Cell Phone somehow then this is the article for you. We are always looking at new technology and how it makes our life easier or better.

We did a few articles a while back called “Why you need a Qi Wireless Charger for your Cell Phone?” and “How to Set Up iPhone 7 6 & 5 Wireless Chargers?” We try a lot of charging devices to see what works the best and we think the variety of Cell Phone Chargers is pretty interesting and fun as well.

With the Wireless Charging technology constantly evolving and changing we also see a lot of interesting experimental products out there but until they are tested and confirmed reliable or actually charge your cell phone well we will not list them here.

Below is an alphabetical list of Smartphone Chargers by category and use. Cell Phone Chargers, Smartphone Chargers, Mobile Phone Chargers. 

  • Automobile Chargers – Car Chargers
    • Car Console Cup Holder Cell Phone Chargers
    • Cigarette Lighter Car Chargers
    • Wireless Car Charging Stations
    • Wireless Car Chargers
      • Air Vent Chargers
      • Dashboard Charger
  • Battery Chargers – Power Banks – Portable Chargers
    • Battery Charging Cases
    • Portable External Cell Phone Batteries / Battery Packs
  • Charging Stations
    • Wireless Charging Stations
    • Multiple Device Quick Charging Stations
  • Charging Cables
    • Apple Lighting Cable
    • Micro-USB
    • Mini-USB
    • USB-C
    • USB 1, 2, and 3
  • Qi Wireless Chargers
    • Qi Wireless Charging Stands
    • Qi Wireless Charging Pads
    • Qi Wireless Charging Computer Mouse Pads
  • Solar Chargers
    • Solar Power Charger Portable Battery Backup Pack – Multiple Solar Panels – Foldable
    • Solar Charger Portable Power Banks
  • USB Wall Chargers
    • Portable Wall Foldable Charger
    • USB Charging Station
    • USB Charger Port Wall Socket Smart LED Night Light

Car Chargers 

Car Chargers or any kind of Vehicle, Truck, SUV, RV, Camper, Boat, or Motorcycle use Smartphone Chargers and as we all know are a necessity in today’s busy world with the usual low battery life of Smartphones.

So Car Chargers are time and life saver most days and with all the new wireless devices on the market there are a variety of types and configurations to suit your needs and these are just a few.

Car Console Cup Holder Cell Phone Chargers

Car Console Cup Holder Cell Phone Chargers are a good choice to sit in your car console cup holder and blends in very well with your vehicle. Very convenient location also and gives you extra charging capabilities.

10W QI Car Wireless Cup Charger USB iPhone XS MAX XR X 8 Samsung S10 9

Car Cup Mount Charger 2 Port USB Bluetooth LED MP3 Player Mic Speaker

Flexible Car Charger Cup Holder Extended Arm Mount Dual Socket USB

Cigarette Lighter Car Charger

Cigarette lighter car chargers are the smallest and simplest charging options for your vehicle and the least obtrusive.

Car Universal Cell Phone Charger 4 USB Ports Accessories

3 Port Mobile Phone Car Charger 34W 6.8A for iPhone Android Samsung

Wireless Car Chargers

Wireless Car Chargers are mounted in vehicles of all types and sizes generally in two common ways. They are either mounted on the Air Vent or on the Dashboard or some other flat area.

These are a great way to charge your Cell Phone and depending on the charger, other devices such as Wireless Earbuds and Wireless Watches as well. This is so convenient in our busy world and is helpful just to have another easy charging option available.

Wireless Car Charging Station

With a Wireless Car Charging Station like below, you can charge your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods together.

Qi Wireless Car Charger Charges iPhone Apple Watch AirPods Together

Air Vent Wireless Car Charger

Air Vent Wireless Car Chargers attach to your air vent and give you the opportunity usually to have your phone right in front of you which is a neat option for these types of Wireless Chargers.

Qi Wireless Car Fast Charger Air Vent Phone Holder 10W-7.5W-5W

Dashboard Wireless Car Charger

Dashboard Wireless Car Chargers sit on top of your dashboard as the name implies and the one below automatically opens and closes as you get your phone close to it.

Auto Opening Infrared 15W Wireless Car Charger Intelligent Dock Cradle

Battery Chargers – Power Banks – Portable Chargers

External Portable Cell Phone Battery Chargers are great for situations where you are using your phone all day and like if your outside hiking and you have no way to recharge. These battery packs are the perfect on-the-go solution for these moments, never again get troubled by the short battery life of your electronic devices.

Battery Chargers – Power Banks 

Portable External Cell Phone Battery 5000mAh Power Bank Charger

20000mAh External Cell Phone Battery Pack With 3 USB Ports

Battery Charging Cases

7200mAh Battery Charger Magnetic Case For iPhone 6 6s 7 8 Plus

Charging Stations

Wireless Charging Station

Wireless Charging Stations are for Charging Multiple wireless components such as an iPhone AirPods, and an Apple Watch all at the same time.  These are also super convenient on your kitchen counter for your whole family to charge all of your devices in one convenient location.

They come in all kinds of different designs, colors, and configurations and we are just showing a couple here.

Wireless Charger Pad for Apple Watch 1 2 3 4 iPhone XR XS X 8 AirPods

Multiple Device Quick Charging Stations

You can also charge multiple devices on a Multiple Device Quick Charging Station like all of your family’s Cell Phones or Tablets and iPads.

Multiple Device Quick Charging Station 4 USB Multi-Port

Charging Cables

Charging Cables are the old standby with the new wireless charging configurations and technology. They are a necessity that I personally have not learned to live without sometimes. The smartphone industries’ various manufacturer’s consistency across devices all have different charging cables so here is a breakdown.

All USB cables, whether v1.1, v2 or even v3 all have the same connector at one end which is a USB Type-A Connector Plug (Male). This is what goes into a computer or a powerpoint adapter.

Original USB Type-A Plug

Apple Lightning Cable

Apple Lightning Cable

Apple iPhone XS XS MAX XR X 8 8 Plus 7 7 Plus 6 6 Plus 6s 6s Plus – Apple Lightning Cable USB A.

Apple iPhone 4 (30-pin) USB 2.0 went to iPhone 5 (8-pin) Lightning cable. iPhone 5 was the first to use the Apple iPhone Lightning cable connector as its own proprietary connector. These offer absolutely no durability or speed advantage over the USB 2.0 and usually last a lot less longer. Just saying!!

Micro-USB – Micro-A USB – Micro-B USB

Samsung Galaxy S6 / S7 – Micro USB to A Fast Charger Cable

Samsung Galaxy S2 / S3 / S4 / S5 – Micro USB to A

The vast majority of smartphones do use micro-B. Samsung, LG, and many other Cell Phone companies use the Micro-USB single type connectors for worldwide distribution to keep costs down. Until now, this is the closest the smartphone world has ever come to having a charging standard.

Mini-USB

Mini-USB

Although fewer and fewer devices now use a mini-USB connection, they do exist.

You’ll tend to see this in flip-top and some rugged phones. That is because the mini-USB connector and socket tend to be more robust than the equivalent micro-USB. This is the reason why digital cameras and other devices have continued to use a mini-USB connector long after it was officially retired.

USB-C

Samsung Galaxy S10 /S10+ /S10 E / S9 / S8 Plus / Note 9 8 – USB C to A Fast Charger Cable

USB-C is a 24-pin USB connector system, which is distinguished by its two-fold rotationally-symmetrical connector. USB-C is a standard that has the same connector on each end. Those connectors have no up or down as they are fully reversible.

USB 1, 2, 3 and Plug Types A and B

USB 1 was the original USB standard released in January 1996 and USB 3.1 the last before USB-C was confirmed. The numbers only signify the available transfer speeds, and all ports are backwardly compatible. You can plug a USB 1 device into a USB 3 port on a computer. It will still work or charge, just at USB 1 speeds. USB 3 devices do have a different connector that goes into the device itself. That in order to facilitate the backward compatibility but, otherwise, the technology is identical.

Qi Wireless Chargers

The Qi Wireless charging platform has become the standard for Wireless Charging devices but most specifically when Samsung Smartphones first then Apple adopted the technology into their iPhones. As it gains popularity and continues to improve it is opening up new opportunities to charge your wireless devices.

As you have already seen above there are many types of wireless chargers but the two basic standards for your home or office are the Qi Wireless Charging Stand and or Qi Wireless Charging Pad.

Qi Wireless Charging Stand

Powerful 15W Qi Wireless Fast Charging Stand For iPhone Samsung Galaxy

Qi Wireless Charging Pad

10W Qi Wireless Power Charger Pad For iPhone Samsung Galaxy

Qi Wireless Charging Computer Mouse Pads

Red Dragon 10W Qi Charger Mousepad

Smartphone Solar Chargers

Solar technology and Solar Chargers are evolving at an increasing rate. They get better every day and are a great idea for our future.

Solar Chargers are an excellent option for Emergencies or remote camping where there is absolutely no other way to charge your phone. This is mainly because they are not as fast as an electrical charger. They also don’t work on cloudy days or in the shade but they do work fantastic when you need them especially if you are in a jam.

Solar Power Charger External Battery Pack

Cell Phone Tablet Solar Power Charger 10000mAh External Battery Backup Pack

Emergency Solar Charger Portable Power Bank

Cell Phone Tablet Solar Power Charger 10000mAh External Battery Backup Pack

These are Solar Power supplied portable batteries that charge up when in direct sunlight or by Electric power supply. They store energy for later use and have it ready for you when your smartphone or other devices need charging up.

As stated earlier, solar charging is specially designed for emergencies, it’s not a primary source of charging due to the compact solar panel size on these batteries.

The energy transformation from solar to electricity is rather slow and the solar charging speed is subject to sunlight intensity and the solar panel conversion rate. It can take up to 5-20 days for a full 0-100% charge on these batteries. It is recommended that you charge the solar charger USB adapter or wall charger to shorten the charge time unless you are in a remote location.

USB Wall Chargers

USB Wall Chargers either plug directly into the wall or a power strip and are usually the center of a lot of gadgets from Cell Phones to wireless Headphones.

Portable Wall Foldable Charger

Portable Wall Foldable Chargers are convenient to carry in your purse or backpack for travel as they fold up and are already small and compact. You can use them in an airport just as easily as you can use them at home.

Anker Portable Wall Charger 5000mAh with 2 USB Ports Foldable Plug

USB Charging Stations

USB Charging Stations have multiple USB ports and you can charge up to 6 or 7 different types of electronic items simultaneously with ease.

5 Ports USB Cell Phone Fast Charger Station EU US Plug

Lighted USB Wall Chargers

Lighted USB Wall Chargers are great multifunctional space savers that provide light as well as multiple assets like USB ports as well as 110 outlets for more USB chargers so you can charge more Stuff!!!

USB Charger Port Wall Socket Smart LED Multi-Function Night Light

Improvement of Smartphone Charging Technology

The Smartphone charging technologies will just continue to keep getting better and more efficient and sophisticated with time. The wireless and solar technologies are evolving into powerful mediums with each passing day and as society accepts them they will be in the background of our lives in our vehicles, restaurants, train stations, public areas and all around us.

https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/electronics/smartphones/2886729851001/cell-phone-charging-mats/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell_phone_charger

https://www.zdnet.com/article/one-charger-for-all-smartphones-were-getting-there-say-tech-companies/

https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/computers-and-electrical-engineering/electrical-engineering/cellular-telephone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C

https://www.howtogeek.com/175734/htg-explains-can-you-use-any-charger-with-any-device/

https://www.businessinsider.com/best-phone-charger

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John Mortensen

As a kid I wanted to be an astronaut, geologist, or scientist. I became a project manager which is involved with many of those things. I am a project manager and tech writer who researches the latest alternative and green technologies. We write helpful articles about green electronics and green technology products. AI, extreme weather, electric vehicles, are all in our future and we want to know the best way to deal with the effects of these on the power grid and emergency preparedness. https://techevaluate.com/author-bio-page-john-w-mortensen/

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