Until now my chargers have been outliving the devices they came with
I’ve never had to replace a charger.
Same.
Um, never?
I’ve lost chargers on several occasions, and I’ve switched from older ones to newer ones for faster charging, but the older ones still work as spares.
Cables, on the other hand…
I can’t remember a charger ever going bad on me. It’s always been the cables!
Not often. I still use ones from 10 years ago. The only reason I typically buy a new one is because I’m relying more and more on USB C charging and things like my Steam Deck and laptop require a relatively high wattage
Got my first phone in 1997, and I have yet to experience a charger needing to be replaced.
I only replace them if they break, are lost or new technology comes out that makes sense to upgrade to. I think if you stick to that you can avoid making ewaste
Just a general PSA: you should be really careful where you get your chargers. The very cheap, low quality chargers have quite a tendency to burn your house down!
I read your comment like you’re in the phone charger mafia and you threaten people who buy cheaper chargers with arson.
Maybe that’s how you should read it.
Best to go with chargers with replaceable cables. If you do that, I don’t see any reason the charger shouldn’t outlive the phone.
I’ve never had a wall charger just stop working, but I have certainly lost some, and broken a few USB ports. A good quality charger should last long enough that you’ll replace it only because newer & better charging tech is available.
If it’s a USB charger…frankly, I have more USB power supplies from various devices than I will ever use already. I do hang onto them, as every now and then I get a device that doesn’t have serious power requirements that doesn’t come with a power supply and can draw from USB. Have a digital carbon dioxide meter that can be powered by USB and didn’t come with a USB power supply. A headphones amplifier that didn’t come with a USB power supply and had audible noise spill into the audio when I tried plugging it into a powered hub running other devices – power on USB is astonishingly dirty – and that was solved by putting it on a dedicated USB power supply. But other than that, I tend to accumulate them faster than I use them.
Only time I get a charger is if I have a device that can draw more current than any of my existing unused chargers can put out (e.g. USB-C PD can now do something crazy, like 270 watts).
I’ve never had to replace a phone/tablet charger, the ones that came with them are still fine, even though I’ve had one of them for over 10 years now. Now, when it comes to the cables for either usb game controllers or storage devices, they usually only last me a few years at max.
I take good care of my chargers, and I have never had a single one break. I really only plug my device in before bed.
As often as the previous charger’s tech becomes obsolete.
I dont even remember when I got mine but its been 5+ years for sure.