Cell Phone Chargers Guide

Choosing the right kind of cell phone charger depends largely on the type of GSM cell phone you have and your phone usage habits. Every cell phone comes with some way to recharge their batteries, and standard plug-in cell phone wall chargers are the most common.

With the numerous types of cell phone chargers available, you’d be hard-pressed to find yourself in a situation with a dead cell phone.

Car Chargers, DC Cords

Mobile phone car chargers are one of the more popular battery chargers. There are four types of cell phone car chargers, commonly referred to as DC cords, that simply plug into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter to recharge the battery as you are driving.

An eliminator is a type of DC cord that allows you to operate your phone without using the battery. It will not charge your cell phone battery.

A fast charger allows you to charge your phone battery and use it at the same time. However, if you do not stop the charging process in time, the battery could overheat and burn out the cells. This will, of course, damage the battery and decrease its talk time and capacity.

Trickle phone chargers work the same way as fast chargers, allowing you to use the cell phone as it’s being  charged. The only difference is that a trickle charger will not burn out the battery.

Rapid phone chargers allow you to use your cell phone and charge your battery at the same time. This type of charger can sense when a battery is fully charged. The DC cord then stops charging and works like an eliminator.

Desktop Chargers

Desktop cell phone chargers have a base that holds your cell phone, or the battery itself, while the battery is being charged. Some desktop chargers can handle more than one battery at a time.

A major draw back with desktop phone chargers is that you cannot use the phone while it is being charged. You can, however, leave the phone powered on and answer incoming calls so long as there’s enough power at the time of the call.

Travel chargers are the lightest and smallest type of charger. They are basically an electric cord for your phone that plugs into an electrical outlet.

Innovations in Cell Phone Chargers

A common problem that plagues cell phone users is having different proprietary connectors and data cables to charge different models of phone. Unfortunately, the industry has no plans to settle on a standard for charging cellular devices.

As a result, industrial designer Luigi Colani created the AnyFix Universal Cell Phone Charger. The AnyFix phone charger currently supports about 80% of cell phones commonly used in Europe. There are universal phone chargers that already exist, but Colani's is the first to support many phones.

Solar powered phone chargers have recently entered the market. They provide you with an efficent and endless source of power for your cell phone. Many solar phone chargers come with different connectors that make it possible for you to charge not only phones, but your iPod or MP3 players as well.

Another interesting innovation is the sidewinder portable charger. This sidewinder charger features a handle that you constantly turn to charge your cell phone. It uses manual power and it is quite easy to operate.