Can I charge the Kobo device with a USB phone charger?

[pentel]

Instead of connecting the USB cable to the computer, can I connect the USB cable to a Samsung USB phone charger and charge the Kobo device direct from the wall electrical outlet?

I can charge my Samsung phone by connecting to the computer via USB or using the USB phone charger. I am thinking I could use the USB phone charger to charge the Kobo device. The Kobo Charging Kit is expensive at $20. I could save money and own one less component.

[PeterT]

No issue using ANY USB charging device. (Actually, I *think* I've had problems using either the cable or the charger supplied with a Logitech Harmony Remote, but that is a total exception).

[pentel]

Peter, thank you for confirming there is no issue using any USB charging device. I didn't want to "toast" my Kobo e-reader if it is not okay, and I get to save $20 and carrying an extra charging device.

[cybmole]

I was wondering the same. I have a Kobo arc tablet which came with a mains plug to USB cable & was wondering if that would work also for my Kobo reader, if ever I needed a faster charge.

[filmo]

My Kobo readers have worked with chargers that are not compatible with my cell phone because my phone thinks it's a data cable. So far any charger that has Micro USB connector has worked. This includes charger for Samsung Note 3. Not luck but USB standards make this possible.

[cybmole]

are there any issues with speed of charge

I seem to recall, from car batteries!, that slow charges are better for battery life than fast ones.

it this applicable to lithium ion batteries or irrelevant.

I assume a mains charge delivers more amps than a PC usb link

[pfeerick]

cybmole,

Yes, a mains charger (typically) has a higher amperage capacity than the USB on a computer, however, that won't affect the charge speed. The charge circuitry in the Kobo will only use as many amps (actually, milliamps) as it needs. If the mains power pack has the capacity to deliver 10x the required amperage, it will only have to work at 1/10th of it's capacity...

Cheers,
Pete

Pete

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I assume a mains charge delivers more amps than a PC usb link

No.

At a minimum a USB port provides 100/150mA. All ports can provide this for even the most basic of devices.

All USB ports can increase this to 500mA (USB2) or 900mA (USB3) if the device communicates with the port.

Additionally, there's an optional USB Charging specification allows charging downstream ports (standard data ports) and dedicated charging ports to provide up to 1.5A for version 1.1 of the charging spec and up to 5A for version 1.2 (although only 1.5A if high speed data transfer is happening).

(All the above USB ports are 5v).

There's also a more recent 'USB Power delivery' specification providing up to 100W and higher voltages but I don't think it's very widely supported yet.

The biggest problem is that it's often difficult to find out what is supported by a particular device and port, although non-standard implementations from the likes of Apple can further confuse the issue.