Thankfully, the kinds of appliances that typically need a converter are single-voltage items, which more often than not, tend to be older-model irons and hair dryers. While the purpose of an adapter is to simply help the plugs on your electronics fit into (or more aptly, adapt to the shape of) foreign outlets, a converter’s job is to change the voltage found in an outlet to match that of your devices. The big difference between an adapter and a converter is electricity. To help you prepare for your upcoming trips overseas, here’s our guide to power adapters and converters to keep your devices safe and working properly. Unfortunately for us globetrotters, this isn’t the case, and when we travel overseas we’re faced with the oftentimes head-scratching task of choosing the right adapter (or should it be a converter?) for our electronics. Many USB chargers have LEDs bright enough to practically read from I eliminated any universal adapter that had this problem.In a traveler’s perfect world, every country would run on the same type of electricity and use outlets that fit the same kinds of plugs. Last, I checked how bright the LED on each was, since a too-bright LED keeping me awake has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I connected several chargers and plugs to the output side of each adapter as well. I didn’t find much difference in how they fit and worked. All had a US-style plug, so I tested each one in several outlets around my house-some new, some old. Since none are expensive, though, this didn’t seem like a major issue. None felt like you’d own them for a lifetime. After spending several minutes with each one, forcefully extending the various plugs, slamming them back in, and just being fairly rough with them, I found it easy to tell which felt like they’d last a few trips, and which wouldn’t. However, getting in a dozen and playing with them for a while revealed that some felt better put together than others.
The universal travel adapters are far more similar to one another than they are different. (If the device charges via USB, just about any USB port will suffice, though different ports may provide different charging speeds.) Check out Do you need a voltage converter? if you’re curious about these aspects.
The majority of your electronic devices only need adapters-the voltage converter is built into the charger itself. So if you’re headed to a country not covered by the so-called universal travel adapters (for example, Brazil, India, Israel, or South Africa), or if you want to purchase multiple adapters for your gear, there’s probably an option available here.Ī note up here, which we’ll discuss in detail below: All of these are adapters only. (We’ll call these “ Ceptics White” to minimize confusion and set them apart from our “Ceptics Black” top pick.) While you can purchase these as a five-pack, which contains basically the same assortment of plugs as the Ceptics Black set, the company also sells, in this same model line, three-packs for nearly a dozen specific regions. These plug adapters are bigger than our top pick for plug adapters, but this means they offer a larger surface for chargers to brace against, which makes them more stable and less likely to fall off the wall.