If you read the news regularly or even casually scroll through your social media feed, perhaps you’ve seen stories about people being electrocuted by way of earphones while charging their smartphones.
This has raised many questions. Among them, are these fake news stories? The most mainstream reports are of incidents that took place in Brazil and Malaysia.
These stories seem to check out but the facts surrounding these incidences are murkier. Generally, for electrocution to take place, one must be using something with faulty wiring or come into contact with water.
Or both. But there isn’t any hard evidence in these new articles, despite they come from legitimate news sites.
Still, the question remains: is it OK to use earphones while charging your smartphone? While you should always err on the side of caution, you should read up on the facts and what you should do when you use your earphones and your smartphone. Keep reading to find out!
Is It Safe to Use Earphones While Charging?
Most people surmise that it’s completely safe to use your earphones while you charge your phone when you’re using a proper charger and earphones that are in good condition. Staying away from water while you charge up is also important to avoid catastrophe.
Why did these cases pop up in the news of electrocution through earphones and charging?
Though reports do not say, when things of this nature occur, it is like the cause of a bad charger or using one that isn’t suitable for that type of phone.
With today’s smartphones, they are designed so that AC voltage is automatically converted to the voltage required to power up your phone which is typically 5V.
If the charger is an off-brand or non-genuine charger, it might not be giving your phone the same amount of voltage as the manufacturer’s charger provides.
Some may give you a lower charge while others can be too high. When this happens, it can be very dangerous.
This is why you should always stick with the charger designed for your phone and never buy into cheap chargers, no matter how tempting it might be.
What Could Happen to Your Phone If You Use Earphones While Charging?
Generally speaking, most people aren’t going to get electrocuted by using earphones while charging their phones and it probably won’t make their earbuds explode either. Although, in very rare instances, it can happen if you’re not careful.
The most concerning problem is using a bad charger. If the entire charger is old or the wires are exposed, this can be very dangerous.
You should replace it with the correct charger for your model of phone. As mentioned above, cheap chargers should never be used.
Most of them are not manufactured with the proper codes and security checks that legitimate chargers must undergo.
A bad charger can be bad news for your health (more on that below) and for your phone too. Bad chargers are more prone to overheat while you charge.
They can also harm the battery of your phone. At the very least, they can keep your phone from performing optimally.
And at the very most, these bad chargers can give the wrong current for your phone and cause it to explode.
Let’s further examine these points:
■ Possible Phone Damage
Smartphones aren’t cheap. Even if you don’t buy yours outright and you purchase it through your cell carrier, you’re still making payments on that thing.
Do you really want it to become damaged? By using a cheap charger, it slows down the speed of which your phone charges and results in damaging the phone.
Phones that charge too long can harm the battery.
Additionally, the motherboard of the phone is more susceptible to damage under these conditions.
If you’re not ready to replace your phone yet, you should avoid using a cheap charger and also put it down while it charges, especially if you’ve got earphones in.
You’ll notice if you just connect via the correct charger and let it do its thing, it will be charged up in no time.
■ Risk of Electrocution
And speaking of earphones, when your phone is plugged in and charging, electricity can be more easily conducted thanks to the electrical outlet you’ve got your phone plugged into.
What if that plug were faulty? And what if those earphones were worn? Either of those scenarios could create a shock which would be horribly painful to experience.
If you’re going to charge your phone, take out your earphones to be on the safe side. Even if you’re sure your home has no faulty outlets, you can never be sure when a power surge might occur which could be extremely dangerous.
If you can’t bear to be without your earphones and your phone for a short while, you need to re-center yourself and take a short break from technology. It will do you good!
Again, the electrocutions from earphones and charging smartphones in the news might be rare, but they do happen.
Getting hit by lightning is also pretty rare, but that doesn’t mean you should run out into a thunderstorm and stand by a tree.
■ Risk of Explosion
Did you know that every mobile phone has the potential risk of exploding? Samsung famously came under fire for their faulty lithium-ion batteries a few years back but it could happen to any model phone.
Sometimes, batteries just live through their prime. If your battery swells or the phone seems to look like it might burst, you should have your battery changed immediately.
In India back in 2017, a young man died because he was using his phone while it was charging and it exploded. Years before that, another man felt a burning sensation along his leg.
He had his phone in his pocket and when he pulled it out, it was smoking. Because of cases like these and what we know about the nature of electronics, it is advisable that you take good care of your phone and watch for hazards.
It’s even more advisable that you refrain from using your smartphone while you charge it. That charge is coming from an electrical current.
All it takes is a zap in your power to come through there while you’re charging it and you could be seriously injured or killed.
Again, it’s not all that common, but do you really want to be a solemn news story? It could be even worse with earphones in.
So, smartphones, tablets, even laptops too…avoid charging them and using them at the same time, especially with earphones.
What Could Happen to Your Health If You Use Earphones While Charging?
As if the possibility of electrocution or combustion isn’t enough to put you off to taking a break from your phone while you let it charge up, there are very real health risks that you’ll run into if you habitually put yourself in this situation.
Maybe you like playing with fire and think the chances of you being severely injured or killed like the handful of people reported by the news for using smartphones while charging are so low it can’t possibly happen to you.
Yes, those chances are indeed low, but you do have a greater chance for the following health risks.
■ Cancer Risk
Some of you have always known cell phones as a part of your life. Older generations can tell you stories about getting along without them just fine. But all generations seem to love the convenience that having a cell phone brings.
You have the whole world at your fingertips anywhere you go. It’s definitely a time-saver and a huge part of our lives, but cell phones do bear a risk for cancer and other health issues because they emit harmful radiation.
The closer your body is to it, the more you’re absorbing. In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the electromagnetic fields that mobile phones produce have been classified as potentially carcinogenic.
In India in 2012, problems arose when five people attending a school in Mumbai were each diagnosed with cancer without a prior family history.
The school’s caretaker also was diagnosed. After research, many believed that the surrounding cell phone towers (10 in total) were to blame.
Study after study points to troubling conclusions that excessive cell phone use leads to a greater risk for brain tumors.
Keeping your phone away from you more often is a better option than constantly being glued to it, one that could save your life in more ways than one.
■ Brain Damage Risks
When you wear earphones as you charge your phone, it can give you a much higher risk for brain damage. Radiation emission plus electricity together is never a good thing.
In safe outlets and with the right charger, the quantity of electricity isn’t too high but the radiation will be the bigger problem in this scenario.
However, you should know that when you use your earphones for calls and listening to music when your phone isn’t charging, it’s a safer measure for distancing yourself from that radiation.
That radiation can still come through wired headphones and earbuds but when you use a ferrite bead, it absorbs the radiation.
Experts have been comparing cell phones to cigarettes. They’re addictive and they can certainly cause great damage.
The warnings are out, but just like cigarettes in the olden days, no one wants to listen. After all, cell phones aren’t just cool… they’re extremely useful.
Ask anyone who has ever gotten lost on the highway at night that found their way back thanks to their smartphone’s GPS, found a place nearby that sells earplugs late at night when your partner is snoring, or had to send an important email while waiting at the endlessly boring DMV and they will tell you they don’t want to live without their cell phone.
But kicking the habit of smoking is far worse than kicking the phone habit. Plus, you can do a few things to make your smartphone safer.
As mentioned, using a ferrite bead with your wired headphones can absorb radiation. Just make sure you’re not using your headphones while they’re charging! The right case can help keep radiation away too.
Are you concerned about your health and the health of the people you love? Then you should keep reading to find out how you can keep from having health problems caused by your cell phone.
How You Can Avoid These Health Problems
No one wants to wind up on the 6 o’clock evening news with the heading “Death By Earphones” printed under your least favorite selfie from your social media accounts.
And while that might be a bit extreme, you certainly don’t want to find out you’ve developed brain cancer because of excessive smartphone usage.
The best thing you can do is take a few steps to keep from having health problems like the ones mentioned above. Here’s what we recommend…
■ Spend Less Time on Your Phone
Look, you might not like that, but honestly, decades ago, people got along just fine without cell phones. They called each other on landlines.
Kids rode bikes to their friends’ homes to see if they wanted to come out to play. People went outside and walked around a whole lot more.
When the WHO makes an announcement like it has with radiation from cell phones, it’s time to pay attention or else you won’t be around long enough to enjoy your golden years with the latest smartphone in your hand.
It only makes sense that you limit the time you spend using your cell phone. Keep it out of your pocket and don’t always hold it and stare into it like you’re in a trance.
Some say putting it on airplane mode is a great way to keep it from emitting too much radiation when you are near it. The bottom line – keep it as far away from you as you can when you don’t need to use it.
■ Try Not to Make Long Phone Calls
Long gab sessions were fine back in the days of landline-only phones. Today’s smartphones are very dangerous when held up against your head.
Your head is absorbing all that radiation from your phone. Have you ever spent an hour or two gabbing away with a friend who needed you (or who you needed) with a phone up against your head?
If you do this on the regular, it’s not that you should stop talking to your friends, but rather, find a different way.
One way is to put the phone on speaker, but if you’re not in a private place, you’ll be disturbing everyone else and airing your dirty laundry.
You can also use earphones when your phone is not plugged in and charging, but choose the air tube version of them or get the ferrite bead to mitigate the radiation from your earphones.
Texting is another way. While older generations chide younger ones for texting and never talking on the phone, this slightly antisocial communication is better for your health.
We’re not advising you give up verbal communication by any means. After all, you do need it to have social skills. But you should make your phone calls from your smart phone in a safe manner.
■ Keep Your Phone Further from Your Body
Do you keep your phone in your pocket? Keeping your phone on you at all times means you’re getting radiation at all times.
Phones can even amp up that radiation during certain times like when you’re on a call and you’re in the car, constantly changing radio tower connections or when your battery is running low.
Experts advise that you keep your phone in your bag with a radiation-proof case on it. And if you’re the sort that sets your alarm on your cell phone so you get up on time, make sure you keep it on your nightstand or on the other side of the room.
Don’t ever put it under your pillow or keep it close to your head.
■ Use Speakerphone or a Hands-Free Connection Instead
Another way to assure you’re safe from the health problems related to excessive cell phone usage is to put your calls on speakerphone.
This is great when you’re in the car alone or in a private setting, but when in public, you’ll simply be a nuisance.
That’s where a hands-free option comes in. It keeps the distance between your head and the phone to prevent absorbing radiation.
■ Avoid Using Your Phone When the Battery Is Low
While it might seem counterintuitive, your smartphone emits more radiation when the battery is low. If you must make a call, do so on speakerphone instead.
■ Ditto for Call Connections
Another high point of radiation is when you’re first making a call. Keep that phone away from your ear until the connection is established. And when the signal is low, it can give off the same higher radiation as it does when it’s working to connect. As your phone tries to reach the nearest tower, you’re putting yourself at more risk.
Why You Should Only Use Wired Earphones While Charging
When it comes to charging your phone and using earphones, it’s better to let your phone charge first before using it.
It’s why some phones have done away with the headphone jack altogether, as is the case with iPhone 7, for example. People wondered how they would charge their phones and listen to music.
The answer seems simple with wireless headphones. Apple has the EarPods with a Lightning Connector plus a Lightning Headphone Jack Adapter which allows you to attach any iPhone EarPods you have.
That presents a problem for users though because the port is hooked up to the wired headphones in the adapter and leaves you without a way to charge.
Belkin released a special device, the Lightning Audio and Charge RockStar that was developed in close relations with Apple to be compatible to the iOS systems.
It gives users the ability to charge the battery while listening to audio. Charging and listening on the go is certainly possible, but it’s a bit bulkier than simply using your smartphone with headphones.
■ Conclusion
Remember when your mom warned you not to take a shower when it was lightninging outside? This is a very similar situation with using your earphones while charging them.
The probability of something happening is very low, but do you really want to take that chance?
Besides, you should spend a little less time on your phone and living your life.
When you are using your earphones, make sure they’re a quality item that is designed for your phone model.
And when you’re charging your phone, be sure you’re plugging it into a safe place with the proper charger.
By taking these precautions, you’ll protect your health and live to sing to yourself while jamming out to your tunes with your earphones in.