Customer Reviews

OEM Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip (SPN5400) for Verizon Motorola Droid A855 Cell Phone

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

How much can you say about a car charger for a cell phone? Does it work, stop charging when full, appear to be well made and durable, priced right, and shipped fast?

Yes 5x.

Other thoughts: To get the phone maker's OEM branded (Motorola)charger shipped to my door for $8.08 is a very good deal. The charger looks cool with the lighted blue window that's viewable from all angles, so you don't have to fiddle with the charger to find some tiny little LED to see if it's on - nice feature. The construction quality is clearly much better than the off-branded one I picked up at an auto parts store as a tide-me-over backup. The smart chip works, as the charger did not push juice to the phone when full, but when the phone had been used for a little while and reconnected it began charging only until full again. This is comforting...who needs a ruined battery or electrical fire in their car?..especially if they aren't around.

Would I recommend this to a friend or family member? Yes.

First things first: IF (and that's IF) you get the genuine OEM Motorola charger listed here, the SPN5400, it works great with modern smart phones like the Motorola Droid, The Incredible, The Google Nexus One, etc. Basically, if your phone has a micro USB connector (and almost all of the newer generation smart phones do), then this is the charger for you.

That said: Not every seller is selling the right item. There are lots of reports of people getting the wrong charger (I've had this happen myself). Your best bet: Amazon, who not only IS selling the correct charger, but has the best price, when you factor in shipping, provided you qualify for free shipping from Amazon (either with Prime, or if your order is > $25).

The Amazon listing for this charger can be found here: Motorola P513 Vehicle Power Adapter MicroUSB Rapid Rate Charger. Search through the sellers to find Amazon. Their price, if you get free shipping from Amazon, is the cheapest. And you are guaranteed of getting the correct item, brand new, retail.

OK, that said, here's the rest of my review:

There are so many sketchy sellers selling phone chargers out there, that it can be a bit scary. The problem is that if the charger is poorly made, the output of the charger can be out of spec and can, in some cases, fry the phone you connect to it.

For that reason, when it comes to phone chargers, you should stick to name brands. (They are all made in China, but the name brand ones are usually subject to stricter QA).

When I found this charger on Amazon, SOLD BY AMAZON, I jumped on it. It's a MICRO USB car charger, made for Motorola and sold under the Motorola name, in retail packaging. The rated output is 4.75-5.25V and 950mA.

This charger should work fine with most any phone that uses the MICRO USB connector. The key number to pay attention to is the second one, the rated amperage. This is the MAXIMUM amount of current that the phone can request from the charger. A typical USB port on a PC provides as little as 100mA, and few provide more than 500mA. So this charger should charge your phone faster than when it's connected to a PC. A few phones out now can use up to 1000mA. But that just means they CAN use that amount. If 950mA is provided, they'll still charge, just a bit more slowly.

Note that the amperage (second number) merely tells you how much the charger CAN supply, if requested. The phone itself is responsible for asking for the current. That is to say, if this charger can provide 950mA, but your phone can only use 300mA--no problem. Your phone asks for 300mA and the charger provides all of what is requested. If, on the other hand, your phone can use 1000mA, this charger will provide all it can, which is 950mA--a wee bit less than the max asked for. That's also not a problem; it just means your phone will charge a little bit (not much in this case) more slowly. The rated voltage for this charger is presented in a range of 4.75-5.25V. The "ideal" voltage for a USB charger of any type if 5V. And most chargers for home use are rated right at 5V. But car chargers work in a noisier environment and thus you have the range. This is where a cheapo charger can really do damage, as some of them are poorly regulated and can provide voltages that are WAY out of spec. Again, when you can get a name brand charger from a seller you can trust (Amazon) for such a reasonable price, it's very foolish to consider the cheapo no-names.

This is an excellent quality name brand travel micro USB charger at a price that beats the no-name junk from third party sellers. What's not to like?

BE SURE TO ORDER IT FROM AMAZON AND NOT ONE OF THE THIRD PARTY SELLERS, as some of those have been known to make mistakes with respect to what they ship relative to the listing. I can confirm that Amazon is shipping the P513 /89143N /SPN5400 charger, as pictured.

This product works great with my new Motorola Droid. Charges very fast and has a cool blue light that shows when it has power. Too bad my truck just got broken into and it got stolen. Will have to get another one. I recommend this product if you own a Droid.

Very cool looking. Charges the phone without any problems. What more do you want for five bucks? :-)

I was skeptical based on the price as well as some other reviews. I've been very pleased, though, with the value and effectiveness of this charger. No, it's not going to completely recharge your battery from the brink of death in 20 minutes, but in an hour, with the phone inactive, I've seen a 40% increase in charge. It's also nice to have when using the GPS function or the music player on the Droid. I'm able to keep the phone in use for hours without having to worry about a dead battery by the end of my ride.

It worked really well for the first 2 months and then it started charging slower. it still works but it takes longer to charge the phone

I can't add much more than what has already been said other than the fact that the device-end of the cable has a nice, long 12" or so section that's not coiled. When my Droid is in the Navigation Dock, this straight section of cord is preferable to a coiled section and it keeps things clean and uncluttered on my dashboard.

At this price, I decided to order 5 of them for $6.00 so I could have a number of them in various vehicles. Imagine my surprise when I saw Media-Mart intended to charge me $29.75 for "shipping & handling."
I sent their customer service an e-mail asking them to correct the shipping charges, but they said it was $5.95 each. I really don't want to cancel the order, but my principals make it difficult for me to give money to scammers...
They all arrived dumped onto one 8.5" x 12" padded envelope. Surely shipping and handling did not cost them $30.00.
I would feel much better if they gave an actual price on their items, and then didn't try to make all their profits on bogus "shipping and handling" charges.
The world doesn't need laws against deceptive practices, but rather in a free market, folks merely need to vote with their dollars and give their business to anyone other than Media-Mart.

Not too much you can say about a phone charger that works... ...this one does, exactly as described.
At this price, I've bought several; I keep one in each of several vehicles and have bought one as a gift.
Will work fine on other phones besides Motorola; does a good job on my Droid Incredible. Seems to fully charge the battery, but with no problems with overheating the battery/phone, which is a problem with many "cheap" chargers. I feel comfortable leaving my phone on the charger while driving (or even while the car is parked) with no worries about ruining an expensive instrument.

I only had to use a few times for now, but worked very well. I would recommand to any one who need car charger with mini USB interface.