I have a camera, phone and iPad I will need to charge in Europe. Finding the plug to put in the wall with usb ports are easy to find. I am uncertain on the electrical current side of things. If I use the EU plug that has usb ports, will the electric power be correct for my devices or do I have to use a current converter too??
Posted by
Washington DC
27616 posts
I took a Samsung smartphone and a Samsung table to Europe last year. My electrical-engineer brother assured me that everything would be fine, after I verified that the adapters were labeled "100-240V". He was right. No issues.
I did have a problem with my electric toothbrush. It wouldn't recharge. After I returned home, I discovered that the charging base (which was a last-minute replacement for one that failed) was faulty. So that should have worked, too.
Posted by
7 posts
USB is 5v DC all over the world. You won't have any problem. If you use a USB adapter that is designed for EU power then you will have no problems.
Most USB plugs work on both EU and US power standards. If it says something like 100v - 240v/50Hz-60Hz then it works on both US 120v/60Hz and EU 420v/50Hz power (this will be printed on the USB plug). If you have one of those then you just need something to adapt the US style plugs to European style plugs which can be bought for a few dollars, that would be cheaper than buying a special USB plug just for EU. You can buy those anywhere, the Rick Steves store has one for $1 (https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/european-power-adapter)
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Beware, there is more than one type of plug in use in Europe. For 2-pin devices (a USB charger is 2-pin) you have 2 round pins for mainland Europe. Looks like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Euro-Flachstecker_2.jpg
For the UK, it is 3 flat pins, like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Moulded_and_rewireable_BS_1363_plugs_%28horizontal%29.jpg
Depending on where you are going, make sure you get the right type of adapter.
For 3-pin plugs it is more complicated.
And of course USB is the same the world over.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32318 posts
smais,
The first thing you'll need to do is check the Input Voltage ratings of all the devices you'll be travelling with, to ensure they're rated for 100-240 VAC. Your phone and iPad should be rated for that, but if the Camera is an older model that may not be the case.
As you noted, you will need Plug Adaptors appropriate for the countries you'll be visiting, and Chris F provided a good description of those in the previous reply. I'd suggest packing along a couple of Adaptors, as they're small and easily misplaced.