When it comes to buying a USB charger one is just as good as another so you might as well buy the cheapest one, right? This interesting and detailed analysis of name brand, off-brand, and counterfeit chargers will have you rethinking that stance.

Ken Shirriff gathered up a dozen USB chargers including official Apple chargers, counterfeit Apple chargers, as well as offerings from Monoprice, Belkin, Motorola, and other companies. After putting them all through a battery of tests he gave them overall rankings based on nine different categories including power stability, power quality, and efficiency.

The take away from his research? Quality varied widely between brands but when sticking with big companies like Apple or HP the chargers were all safe. The counterfeit chargers (like the $2 Apple iPad charger knock-off he tested) proved to be outright dangerous–several actually melted or caught fire in the course of the project.

Hit up the link below for his detailed analysis including power output readings for the dozen chargers.

A Dozen USB Chargers in the Lab [via O'Reilly Radar]

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