Power strips, and more specifically surge protectors, are essential technology products that everyone should own. They shift the extra electrical currents to your outlet’s ground wire in the event of a power surge, protecting your devices or appliances from costly damage. This functionality cannot be understated, as it could reduce the likelihood of an electrical fire if there are unstable power fluctuations, major surges, or overheating. From an everyday convenience perspective, though, power strips are practical because they expand the number of outlets you can access.
Modern power strips and surge protectors can include more features than you might expect, including overload protection, ground fault protection, or over-voltage protection. These protections help safeguard your power strip’s outlets, but many surge protectors now include USB ports for direct charging. There’s just one problem — if you buy a cheap power strip without the proper certifications and protection, using onboard USB ports can be risky.
The power strips pictured in this article are for reference only and do not have the issues typically associated with cheaper strips and surge protectors.
Bad voltage regulation can fry your device
Cheap power strips lack the chips required to keep things steady
Depending on where you live and the quality of the electrical infrastructure in your area, the power supply coming into your home may not be consistent. Electrical voltage fluctuations can occur during peak hours when electricity usage is high. During these times, a dip or surge in electrical supply voltage causes instability. Devices that charge over USB need a clean, steady source of energy to recharge safely.
This is why high-quality power adapters that plug into wall outlets are recommended for daily charging. They regulate the electrical voltage coming from the wall, adjusting it to match your device’s recommended charging conditions using custom chips. USB ports on power strips, however, may use weak voltage regulators or fail to include them altogether — especially on cheap, generic products from suspect brands.
Poor voltage regulation could lead to power surges and dips affecting your device, commonly putting more stress on its battery and causing rapid degradation. It’s recommended to use a proper power adapter instead of the USB ports on your power strips to avoid these concerns entirely.
Inconsistent surge protection can trick you
Some low-quality power strips only protect the outlets
As the name suggests, surge protectors offer inbuilt protection against the very dips and surges in the electrical supply mentioned above. However, this surge protection is intended to cover the full-size outlets first and foremost. The technology powering the surge protection is called Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV), and this component sends overvoltage during power surges back to the ground wire. It protects your connected devices and appliances from the surge by diverting it if the incoming power is of a too high or too low voltage.
The tricky part about surge protectors with USB ports is that it’s not always clear whether the MOVs cover the outlets and the USB connections. Some cheaper power strips cut costs by using MOVs to protect the full-size outlets and ignore the USB ports. This creates a situation where your power strip might be branded as a surge protector, but its USB ports could be left unprotected.
Poor voltage separation is a safety risk
If the high and low voltage sides aren’t isolated, there can be problems
Extremely cheap power strips take all kinds of steps to deliver what looks like a decent product at a low price point. Usually, the USB ports are the first to be neglected. In some cases, USB power delivery is handled by a small board separate from the main power system. If unshielded and isolated, this board can be influenced by interference.
These power strips take high-voltage AC electricity coming from your wall and must convert it to lower voltages that can charge USB devices. Typically, surge protectors use transformers and circuits to take the 120V AC power coming from your wall and convert it to 5V DC power for USB charging. Without galvanic isolation separating the high voltage and low voltage internals, overvoltage power can travel through the USB ports and brick your device in extreme situations.
This sums up the risk associated with USB ports on power strips — there’s no way to know whether their internal components are properly regulated, grounded, and isolated from the outside. Your best bet is to avoid budget strips and pay for reputable hardware.
This surge protector turned out smarter than half my gadgets
Protect your gadgets before it’s too late
Tips for avoiding these power strip safety issues
The best way to avoid running into safety issues with USB ports on a power strip is to buy a high-quality surge protector in the first place. Spending $30 to $50 on a surge protector from a reputable brand with a specific joules rating — the higher, the better. This number measures how much power an extension strip can protect against during a surge, and it confirms the strip actually has surge-protection capabilities.
Additionally, avoid plugging expensive tech products directly into your power strip’s USB ports. These are low-voltage connections that do not have the power delivery or regulation capabilities required to effectively charge devices like high-end phones, tablets, and laptops at their fastest speeds. By using a dedicated power adapter, you add an extra layer of protection for your devices and benefit from faster charging speeds.
