Unapproved iPhone chargers - Do you know how dangerous they are?

 Great caution: the 99% of unapproved chargers are "dangerous", according to a survey conducted by an independent company

A new survey was conducted by an independent company specialising in the security provided by electronic devices and accessories, and the results were impressive, but not "positive". Impressively dangerous, I might add.

These tests meet UK commercial safety standards and were carried out by UL, an independent, specialist safety company based in Illinois, USA.

The test involved applying a high voltage load to chargers that were purchased online from eight different countries, including China, Australia and the United States of America. In essence, the insulation of these accessories was tested under overload conditions on the power grid, something that can happen in real life.

Read also: This is the fastest way to charge your iPhone

According to the results of the survey, only three out of 400 chargers had sufficient insulation to cope with the increased voltage and eliminate the possibility of a short circuit or electric shock.

Leon Livermore, Director General of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, was clear and described unauthorised chargers on the market as "unknown entities" and asked consumers to avoid buying from untrustworthy shops.

"Genuine products may cost a few pounds more, but using fake and second-hand goods could cost you your home, your life and worse, the life of a loved one."

A few days earlier, Amazon had acknowledged that poor quality or "monkey" products are being sold from its online store and that it is a "primary goal" for the company to withdraw them. The announcement had come in the wake of a complaint by Apple against a retailer who was selling "monkey" chargers and cables.

As much as we knew that cheap chargers are not of the same quality, these results are shocking. We are not only risking our device, but also our health. Especially since we have paid gold for our devices, we should also be careful when buying the related accessories or peripherals.

Of course the original Apple chargers are expensive. There are many times when we don't decide to pay a respectable amount for a charger, simply because we think it's "not worth that much money". This, in my opinion, is true, but we shouldn't go to the other extreme.

In addition to original accessories, there is always the solution of approved accessories. They are almost always cheaper than the originals, but more importantly, they meet the safety standards that Apple has set. In many cases, approved peripherals or accessories from well-known companies in the field are cheaper and at the same time much better than Apple's.

Apple-approved accessories and peripherals are marked MFi, which stands for "Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod". They are reliable to use, meet safety standards and are significantly cheaper than the originals.

Therefore, there are not only the "two extremes", the expensive Apple chargers on the one hand and the expensive "kinesis" on the other. We can get cheaper, but approved accessories and peripherals for our favourite iDevices.

In this way we will not have to put our hand (too) deep in our pockets and we will secure our home from property damage and at the same time our own health and the health of the people we love.

Buy "responsibly".

by Kostthem