AmazonBasics Wall Charger with USB Outlet (2.1 Amp Output)

I purchased two of this item on February 25, 2015, as well as a 6' Micro-to-USB cable for each...they arrived as scheduled and worked great, they're pretty beefy and fit firmly into an outlet, and they charged my Samsung Galaxy S4 at a comparable speed to the OEM Charger (if not a bit faster). One charger travels with me (constantly being opened/closed and thrown loose into a backpack/suitcase) and the other sits on my desk at the office, getting used for maybe 3-4 hours a day, four days a week...its maybe seen 400 hours of charging time. On August 18, less than six months after purchase, the charger that sits stationary on my desk stopped charging (the red indicator light flickers, but a volt-meter reads 0 across the pins. The cable still works fine (I've tested it on multiple bases and computer USB ports with success) and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a durable USB cable, but I can safely say now that I won't feel comfortable traveling unless I have a back-up wall charger with me. This is plugged into the same surge protector (true surge protector, not just a power-strip) as my desk computer and monitors, so I'd be shocked if a surge managed to fry my charger without damaging something else or tripping the surge protector. I have ordered other units since February, and just clicked "purchase" on another one to replace the fried unit, but I'm doing so with a bad taste in my mouth (I'll be sure to amend my rating depending on how the others survive). I really like Amazon, and these chargers "appear" to be a good value (most refreshingly they don't whine like I've heard other cheap 2.1-Amp+ wall warts do), but a reasonable price is worthless if I'm ordering a replacement every 6 months. I hate complaining over an item with such a small price tag...and I'm sure someone has already done the math and realized that this only cost me $1.33 a month...but if it is really going to come down to $1.33 a month I'm pretty sure I could spend $15.99 on a charger that will last longer than a year (I could have bought another OEM charger WITH a cord for the same price as the amazon unit Samsung OEM Universal Micro Home Travel Charger for Samsung Galaxy S3/S4/Note 2 and Other Smartphones - Non-Retail Packaging - White , but the OEM outlet design/format has a larger profile than the Amazon one and, in my experience, is much more prone to pulling/falling out of the wall).

Given I paid $10 for this, it's an easy choice to make it five stars. High amp output means my 2nd generation kindle fire typically charges within a few hours, and any other device I put on it. My phone (also uses micro USB) picks up 10% battery life in about 5 - 8 minutes. Far better than the inferior charging solution offered with the kindle fire 2nd generation (i.e. no wall plug, only a USB cable). Much cheaper than the amazon basics kindle fire charger (by half). The charger is nice and small. It will not interfere with the plug above it, though where the USB cable plugs in, it would interfere with any plugs below it. If this is an issue, get a power liberator or something similar. I can see two ways it would be even better: 1) If it were turned into a sideways plug, so it only takes up one plug slot on a wall or power strip without interfering up or down to the next plug slot; 2) If they had put more than one USB port on the charger; The first one doesn't bother me at all, I have it plugged into the last plug slot on a power strip, though I can see where the USB cable can interfere in certain situations. The second one would be great, being able to charge two or more devices at increased rate over a USB port would be useful. Five stars despite having room for improvement, because it does what it is supposed to, does it well, and only cost $10.

Works with Kindle Fire, but only if you use the right "charging cable" or mod the adapter. For those who are trying to use this with Kindle Fire, here's what you have to know: Kindle Fire tries to detect if it's O.K. to pull the full 1.8 A from whatever is plugged into its USB port, and it detects the "dumb" AC adapter by checking if the data wires (two inner conductors in USB A connector) are shorted together (because they wouldn't be on a computer, so it's a quick and dirty way to rule out being connected to a computer. This is not part of standard USB spec, but many tablet manufacturers are doing it, I guess following Apple's iPad). If the data wires are not shorted together, Fire assumes you plugged it into a computer and draws no more than 500 mA, so that it doesn't trigger protection circuits for (or burn out) the USB port. Anyways. This adapter doesn't short the data wires itself, so if you want your Fire to charge at full speed and draw 1.8 A, you need to use a special charging cable that shorts the wires in the cable. Any USB cable you can use to transfer data is NOT a charging cable; a charging cable will be specifically marketted as one, as it cannot be used as regular USB cable and transfer data. As for me, I don't have a charging cable, so I modded the adapter to short the data pins in the adapter, it's easy enough to open it up and do the quick soldering job (as usual, screws are under the sticker), but you need to have some experience soldering to make sure you don't break something while you are doing that.