What happens if I use a generic wall socket to USB instead of the (much bigger) samsung provided one on my Samsung tablet?

Question

I have a samsung tablet. It came with a wall socket to USB transformer for charging it, as the port on the tablet isn't a generic port.

If I were to use another wall-to-USB charger (which is much smaller than the one provided) would it break anything with my tablet?

This is my tablet. I broke away from TMobile a while ago so I don't use the antenna on it.

Answer 1

The official Samsung charger has a rated output of 2 Amps, which is quite a lot, hence its size.

On the other hand, standard USB has a 500 mA (0.5 Amps) maximum current rating, and an ordinary generic USB charger is likely to top out around there (or much less, if it's cheaply made).

The reason for the high current output of the official charger is the size of your tablet's battery - 7000 mAh. Even assuming 100% charging efficiency, it will take 14 hours to charge on the generic USB charger, while on the Samsung charger it will take a quarter of the time.

It's also worth noting there's not an established standard for USB chargers to indicate to the connected device that the device may draw more than 500 mA of charging current, and different manufacturers use different methods. To get fast charging, you'll either need an official Samsung charger or a third party product specifically designed to work with Samsung tablets.

Answer 2

USB standard voltage is 5V and will be the same on all USB plugin power sources. The only thing necessary is that the rated output amperage of the USB wall wart be the same or higher than the original you are replacing.

Charging circuits in devices that aren't receiving enough current usually either cut back to some sort of maintainer mode or turn off their charge function, unless it's one of those Apple devices trying to check for "Apple Approved even though made in China by the same people who make all the equivalent devices used by everyone else" trickery.