Reader tip: Don’t use 2.1A chargers with the HTC One [Updated]
Pocketables reader Matt H. just sent us a message about his experience using a 2.1A charger with his brand new HTC One:
I received my HTC One from Sprint just after launch day, with my pre-order, as advertised. I was blown away by how smoothly it ran; the battery life was damn good for even my moderate to heavy use, but around the third week it began to complain when I plugged it into the charger in my truck.
It would tell me that the charger was not compatible with the phone, and to unplug it to prevent further damage to my phone. I was puzzled by this, since the Just Wireless dual USB 2.1A charger I was using was the same one that had charged my original EVO 4G for two and a half years. But after a little research, I found out that the standard HTC charger only pushes 1A, and thought that an overvoltage from the charger in my truck could possibly be what the HTC One was complaining about.
I stopped using the car charger after that. But then, about three days ago, I noticed that my phone was running a bit warm, and video was starting to have a hard time running in almost any format. After leaving my phone to charge overnight on the wall, I proceeded to check the weather on it and get into my truck, when I noticed that the phone would not respond to me at all. The
screen was off, the phone would not respond to any input, and attempts to charge it or have it respond to a computer did nothing. It was a paperweight, and I hadn’t even had the chance to root it yet.I called Sprint, and they quickly sent me a new one with no real hassle, thankfully. I just hope that this helps others in keeping their phones from dying on them.
Have you had a similar experience? Let us know in the comments below!
Update: As pointed out in the comments, devices choose how much current to draw from chargers, up to the amount of current that specific chargers can provide. However, at the same time, aftermarket chargers are capable of and have caused damage to devices in the past. That’s why HTC advises in its user manual that users should “[u]se only the adapter and the USB cable that came with HTC One to charge the battery.” It’s impossible from this reader’s story to determine whether his aftermarket charger was the ultimate cause of the phone’s demise, but at least one other person has experienced something similar. If you choose to use a different charger, you do so at your own risk.
