26 September 2019
There is a large selection of different classes of power supplies. From the highest quality to the simplest:
1) Original (best quality)
2) Like original (almost like the original)
3) Kolega-Power (A++)
4) Kolega-Power (A) / Kolega-Power (Auto)
5) A class / A class (Auto)
6) NoName (B) / B class
7) C class (not represented here)
Let's take a closer look at each class separately.
1) The Original is a power supply of the highest quality. This is a power supply that has been specially designed by the equipment manufacturer. Often the manufacturers of such power supplies are such companies as - "Lite-ON", "Delta Electronics", "Hipro", "Li-Shi" and others. Manufacturers of laptop monitors and other technicians order from them the power supplies necessary for their devices ... These power supplies are manufactured under licensing conditions and certifications from many countries and have dozens of degrees of protection, which makes them the best offer. If your budget allows you, and you are provided with a good guarantee, the best option to buy is the original. But it is very difficult to determine that you are buying exactly origanal.
But, like all electronics, they also break down, mainly due to violation of operating conditions or physical impact, and changes in power grids. This is not a warranty case, because the warranty does not cover breakdown during operation (as many mistakenly believe), but for component defects that led to equipment failure, which can often be detected at the first connection (under load) ... Because these companies producing power supplies do not have representative offices in our country, no one will be able to provide a full warranty or determine whether the case is a warranty. The case of the power supply unit is sealed and not many services can accurately disassemble it, a very complex circuit, and since the power supply unit sounds like a heat-conducting compound, repair in most cases is almost impossible. Therefore, our real original power supplies are very expensive, and if they are given a guarantee, then 2-3 prices are usually included in the cost in order to cover the possible costs associated with the guarantee.
If you see a low retail price (less than $ 25-30) for a new 65w power supply, then in 99% of cases it will not be an original, it will be a copy, at best a very good copy, and at worst even "C class" ... We will tell you about the types of replicas below. On our website there is a clear distinction between classes, and you know exactly what you are buying.
We have this segment in a small assortment (leftovers) that we sell at the lowest possible prices (close to the cost price) and will not update, because it has very low demand due to its high cost and a large number of budget alternatives.
2) As Like original, these are very good power supplies, which are almost impossible to distinguish from the original ones. Because they have a very similar body, stickers and weight as the original. Therefore, very often even the sellers themselves can be sure that they are selling the original, but in fact it is only a very good copy. Their price is slightly lower (by 20-30%), because no funds were spent on world certifications that the original power supplies have. If your budget allows you, and the seller can provide a good guarantee, this is a great option to buy only if you can determine that you are buying the power supply "as the original". But unfortunately, because of their advantages, they also have a rather complex circuit and a sealed case, few people can carefully disassemble and repair them. Therefore, they also have a rather high cost of 2-3 prices. The retail price for 65w is about $ 18-25, the warranty usually does not exceed 3-6 months. Their reliability is similar to the level of reliability of the original power supplies (as close as possible), but the diagram is slightly simplified, the reliability decreases accordingly. At the same time, all the main reasons for the failure remain, as with the original power supplies. It is slightly more sensitive to voltage drops (the circuit is a little simpler) and drops because it is less filled with heat-conducting compound. On our website there is a clear distinction between classes, and you know exactly what you are buying.
This segment is presented on the site in a small assortment (leftovers) that we sell at the lowest possible prices (close to the cost price) and we will not update, because, as an original, it has a very low demand due to its high cost and a large number of budget alternatives.
3) Kolega-Power (A++) - These are the top class power supplies of our brand. These power supplies are manufactured according to our developments. Thanks to more than a decade of experience working with a variety of power supply options since 2007, we have been able to develop power supplies with the highest possible quality for a low price. We took as a basis the power supplies "as the original" and "A class" and developed their best variation. Thanks to this, we got a budget alternative similar to power supplies "like the original" and its name is "A++ class". The main differences between our “A++ class” power supplies from the “original” and “like the original” are a different case with our “Kolega-Power” logo, and a simplified optimized circuit. This allowed us to achieve such a level of quality that we provide a 24 month guarantee for the "A++ class". We can provide such a guarantee and such a low price because this is our development and we have a replacement material and our cases have hidden locks. Thanks to this, we can disassemble the power supply without traces and make the necessary repairs or simply replace the board. This allows you to reduce the cost and provide such a long warranty period. (more details can be found in the article - "Why Kolega-Power?") We have invested the ability to collect a wide range of different power supplies, which allowed us to provide the largest assortment in Ukraine. We started production under our own brand in 2017, and over the years we continue to improve and expand our range so that everyone can find what they need.
4) Kolega-Power (A) is a simplified, budgetary version of our power supplies. The main differences between "A class" and "A++ class" are the absence of filters at the input and output of the circuit (for the 65w power supply) and the absence of filters at the input of the circuit and a duplicate second Schottky diode (for the 90w power supply). Otherwise, it is the same power supply unit as the "A++ class", but only with a 12-month warranty. We are confident in our power supplies, and can give them a long warranty. Our power supplies are equipped with well-proven OS2269 PWM controllers that provide the most necessary degrees of protection UVLO, OVP, OTP, OCP, SCP (for more details, see the article "What are the degrees of protection" and "Why Kolega-Power?»).
Kolega-Power (Auto) - is one of the best options on the Ukrainian market for charging your device from the cigarette lighter of your car (11-14v). This type of power supply has a very small offer, and few people are engaged in them, while only a few provide a guarantee for this type of power supply. With an oversized radiator for cooling the components of our power supplies and a clever circuitry, we back you up with a 12-month warranty. And in addition, our car power supplies have a USB module for fast charging phones using Quick Charge 3.0 technology at 18w. And we also have the opportunity to make a wide range of various power supplies, which allowed us to make the largest range of power supplies in Ukraine. We started production under our own brand in 2017, and over the years we continue to improve and expand our range so that everyone can find what they need.
5) A class / A class (Auto) - these are good quality power supplies, for which you can give a 12 month warranty if you have a good replacement fund. They can be similar in quality to our Kolega-Power (A) / Kolega-Power (Auto), but because with almost every new delivery they change the scheme, it is difficult to provide the proper level of service. Because we switched to our own brand, we are selling this type of power supply. This segment is presented in a small assortment and we will not update it.
A big plus for unscrupulous sellers is that this type of power supply can be passed off as an "original", because the quality of the case is at a high level. As a rule, they are built on good IC chip and also have aluminum radiators for cooling the components. That allows them to be not a bad alternative for the original power supply. On our website there is a clear distinction between classes, and you know exactly what you are buying.
6) NoName (B) / B class - this is the most common type of power supply units on the territory of Ukraine, because at a low cost, they can work without interruptions for a long time. There are different variants of this class, usually they are built on a rather old, but not the worst IC controller 3842(43) and its newer versions 3862(63). These power supplies can work for a rather long time or die quickly, it all depends on its construction, namely, whether sufficient cooling is installed. The best option, of course, would be an aluminum radiator, but there are also steel radiators, which dissipate heat worse than aluminum ones, so they must be large. The large size of the steel heatsink increases the weight of the power supply, which can mislead those buyers who determine the "quality" of the power supply by its weight. And this is a mistake, because A good power supply unit can be lightweight, because "A class" and higher classes usually have aluminum radiators. Of course, if you have an original power supply in your hands, it will not have a small weight compared to analogs, because it is completely filled with a heat-conducting compound. The main thing is to be able to determine which power supply unit you have in your hands. Considering this, this class of power supplies in our country is also "presented" as "a real original". Again, the original 65w PSU has a price tag of at least $ 25-30. And on each power supply on the sticker itself, as a rule, there is a serial number, which is stamped (the text with a barcode is located over the lamination of the sticker) and on each power supply the serial number is different. The same method of application can be used on power supplies "like the original" on other classes, it is very rare. This segment is also presented with us in a good assortment, which we sell at the lowest possible prices and give a short guarantee period, if there was a greater guarantee, the price would of course be higher. On our website, this is a cheap alternative for those who are looking for "cheaper". Otherwise, we recommend that you pay attention better to our power supplies "Kolega-Power" 12-24 months warranty.
7) And the final representative of the classification is C class. On our website, this class is NOT represented, due to its poor performance and danger. Typically, these power supplies are sold at very low prices and without warranty. These power supplies either have a very simple circuit that does not have an ic controller, or are assembled on used parts that have already worked for a certain period of their service life and are more likely to fail faster. The Chinese have an unspoken division into which countries, which power supplies to supply. "C class" is offered, as a rule, to India, Iraq, African countries, third world countries. «B class" (which is the most widespread in our country) are sold to the CIS countries. And "A class", "as the original" and "original" are supplied to the countries of the European Union, England and the USA. As you can see, this still does not stop our entrepreneurs (as a rule, this is the 7th kilometer Odessa market) with a huge amount of the cheapest goods, without any rights to a guarantee. It happens that, having disassembled the power supply, you find in the case another case from another smaller power supply, or just a disproportionately smaller board, with hastily cut wires and others soldered on top. But again, not all sellers on the 7th kilometer sell such goods, there are also very good options, the main thing is that there is a guarantee.
In this article, we tried to describe the difference between the classes in the simplest possible way, so that our and not only our customers understand what they are buying and what options are available. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that if you do not see the warranty period in the description or directly in the title, then it most likely does not exist. If you see a "Brand" sticker on a power supply, this does not mean that this is an original or a good quality power supply. We try to offer you almost all possible options with different conditions and prices. And only you should choose what kind of product to buy, and make this choice consciously knowing that if you buy, for example, the original, then this is really the original, and not a fraud. We recommend buying our own berend - "Kolega-Power" because You get the highest possible quality for the minimum money with a 12-24 month warranty.
"Kolega-Power" - reliability is a priority...