Is It Safe To Charge AirPods With A 20W USB-C Charger?

If you’ve got a new pair of AirPods (of any generation, Pro or non-Pro), you might be wondering whether it’s safe to charge them with a 20W USB-C charger, specifically Apple’s 20W iPad charger. It’s a very common question!

Is It Safe to Charge My Airpods With A 20W Charger?

Yes, it is safe to charge your AirPods with a 20W USB-C charger. This charger will be effective and is completely safe for you, your home, your outlet, and your headphones as well as their case.

One benefit from the 20W charger is that it’ll charge the AirPods a little bit faster than the normal 5W charger. This effect won’t be as much as you might find with a phone or with an iPad, where the AirPod case battery capacity is a tiny 398 mAh (1st gen) but it’ll still make a difference in the charge speed.

The most effective scenario for a larger charger is if your AirPods are out of battery life and you only have 5 minutes to get them going before you run out the door. The larger 20W charger will get you up to 15% or even 20% of battery life in minutes, where the trickle of the 5W charger won’t give you much juice at all.

If you’re looking to get the longest device like possible, we recommend sticking with Apple’s own 20W charger. Other brands might go a little faster, but it can come at the expense of the longevity and health of your device’s battery.

Are There Any Other Potential Risks?

In addition to potentially damaging your battery, charging your AirPods with an unofficial charger may also void your warranty. So, if something goes wrong down the line, you might not be covered. Apple recommends using an official Apple charger or a licensed charger (and cable) with your iDevices^[1]Apple Support Chargers: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210133

Generally speaking though, the USB ecosystem is designed to throttle back the power load so that a larger charger (like this 20W model) won’t damage a smaller device.

Safe Or Skip?

Is it safe to charge AirPods with a 20W usb-c charger? The answer is almost always, “No.”

While the 20W charger will work, it might not charge your Airpods as quickly as you’d like — you won’t get 1/4th the charge time relative to a 5W charger! In addition, using an unofficial charger could potentially damage your battery in the long run. So weigh your options carefully before making a decision.

But if you are going with an official Apple charger, pick any one you’d like and you are good to go.

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