TapNot all USB chargers are made equal

Well, we sort of knew that. Some devices like more power to charge faster so their dedicated chargers will give more power—the iPad is a case in point. But you would think they they would all provide up to their rated power to any device that asked for it. No.

All figures are in amps drawn. Blanks are not tested. “X” indicates it refused to play.

iPad iPhone 4 HP Slate 7 LG Phone Garmin
iPad charger 2.0 X X 0.48
iPhone charger 0.85 0.95
HP charger 0.9 0.85 1.0 0.35
Camelion charger 0.9 X
Maplin Travel charger 0.9 X

My conclusion at the moment is that the iPad charger refuses to charge most non-Apple devices (it is outside the USB specification anyway). Also that the Slate 7 is slightly fussy about which charger it uses.

You have to be careful which chargers you take on holiday if you are traveling light.

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