The OnePlus 2 handset has struggled to live up to its predecessor and isn’t the “flagship killer” everyone hoped for. Despite this, it’s still a very good smartphone for the money providing you can acquire an invite. On the other hand, the company recently encountered a large number of complaints as the bundled USB Type-C cable had the potential to damage other devices by drawing too much power. Thankfully, OnePlus addressed this in a blog post and made some interesting claims:
*Name-brand products like chargers, cables, power banks and USB hubs that are made by reputable companies are usually pretty trustworthy and safe to use. But there are a lot of products on the market that are cheaply made and more likely to potentially harm your devices. It’s a good rule of thumb to choose products from the brands you trust and research their products to ensure compatibility before you purchase them.
“The issue is that the cable and adapter are designed for a maximum of 2 amps of power, but the resistor will allow fast-charging devices to try to draw more power than a power source may allow. This could result in damage to the power source (third-party charger, USB port, etc.) if the device and power source do not have an internal mechanism to self-regulate the amount of power flowing to or from them. Typically, if a charger has a CE, UL or CCC logo on it, it has been certified and is safe to use.”
“There are a lot of products on the market that are cheaply made and more likely to potentially harm your devices. It’s a good rule of thumb to choose products from the brands you trust and research their products to ensure compatibility before you purchase them.”
It appears they are portioning the blame on their supplier and feel the cables were not up to par. Additionally, the bundled cables didn’t even confirm to the official USB Type-C standard. If you purchased an official cable directly from OnePlus, you can apply for a refund here until December the 31st. Sadly, this doesn’t apply to any third-party retailers but ones with a good customer service record should refund you in a timely manner.
If that was the case, why do they do refunds and promise better cables in the future?
OnePlus should stop making “cheaply made” cables.