Wtf? I have never had a problem plugging in foldable prong chargers and none of them locked into place. How the hell were you trying to plug it in??
You needed help figuring this out? Putting pressure opposite the way they fold wasn’t something you thought of?
I hadn’t used this charger before and hadn’t given those folding prongs a second thought. Now that I look at it then yeah I can see it takes a special trick to use it. You can’t just shove it into the wall outlet like a normal plug. I did eventually get it plugged in yesterday.
At least we can finish the trip with this charger.
In the OP’s defense:
Folks, try to bear in mind that hotel rooms (unless recently renovated to cater to business travelers) are notorious for lacking in accessible electrical outlets. His outlet may have been crammed in the narrow space behind a large piece of furniture and with the other half of the outlet pair occupied with a power brick for the telephone/lamp/alarm radio. Not conducive to plugging things in with finesse.
How come some USB chargers charge better than others? I have had some that take all day to charge my Galaxy S3, and others that get it done in a couple of hours. Isn’t there a USB standard they should be following? What good is a standard if they aren’t uniform?
Every folding-prong charger I’ve ever used had prongs that clicked into place and required a bit of a push to fold them up again – if anything, they tended to be more stiff than really necessary. Sounds like you got a bad unit or maybe a badly designed model.
Weird. For me, it’s the opposite, with a couple of exceptions.
Basic usb 2.0 that has been around for years is 5V .5 amps. That is not a lot of power So phone companies have made higher power charging standards. Naturally they are not all compatible. For the most part android phones know they can get more than .5 amps from a charger if the two data pins in the usb connector are shorted together. Apple does something different. So if you want to charge fast you need to get a charger that is compatible with the phone you have. A lot of after market chargers have one USB plug for apple and one from Android.
My understanding (IANAE) is that, as long as they have the same USB plug, they’re compatible in the sense that you can use any charger with any device (phone, tablet, e-reader, etc.), but different chargers deliver different amounts of power. If your device wants more power than the charger delivers, it will take a very long time to charge. If your device wants less power than the charger delivers, the device is smart enough only to pull as much power as it needs.
The charger pictured in the OP’s link shows an output of 550 milliamps (or about 0.5 amps). Many modern devices want, and many modern chargers supply, a lot more than this.
There’s usually a plug in one of the lamps.
And if you’re looking for a USB connection for recharging, don’t forget the TV. In the last few hotel/motel rooms I’ve been at, all the TVs had USB connections on the side.
Major-brand properties that have had a remod in the last 6 years should have some accomodation for recharging. But y’all haven’t wound up at some of the Norman Bates Inns I have…
When I’m awkwardly trying to get one plugged in and it folds up, I turn it upside down and plug it in.
I have a couple of similar chargers with folding plugs and from 2 to 4 USB ports. Never had any real problem plugging them in, after the first try. Since they only fold in one direction, it quickly becomes second nature to insert them with slight pressure in the stay-open direction.
But plugging them into those badly positioned hotel receptacles, then having USB cables long enough to reach my devices as I sat in the chair or laid on the bed, was problematic. So I bought one with 6 USB ports and a (removable for packing) standard electrical cord and plug. I can plug the standard plug in almost anywhere, even behind the bed, and still have the power hub in an accessible spot. The 6 ports allow both MsDan and I to connect all our devices without the “but mine is down to 5% so I need it more than you” discussion. Plus it’s a ‘smart’ high power charger that provides optimum levels for our different vintage mobile devices. It’s part of my permanent travel kit (along with the spare toothbrush, half a dozen USB cables, and that tiny bottle of shampoo).
ETA just noticed the age of this thread! <groan >
I want to watch Ace’s head assplode when he tries to plug his charger into his new outlet…