Recently, Nintendo Switch owners living in Japan had an interesting question – is it safe to charge smartphones with the Nintendo Switch AC adapter?

The Nintendo Switch AC adapter has a USB-C connector. USB-C connectors are compatible with Nintendo Switch and smartphones. However, there’s a huge caveat.

All Nintendo Switch AC adapters manufactured by Nintendo support two standards – 5.0V/1.5A (Handheld/Tabletop Mode) and 15.0V/2.6A (TV Mode). Meanwhile, most adapters and devices manufactured by other companies support the PD standards – 5.0V/3.0A, 9.0V/3.0A, 15.0V/2.0A, and 20.0V/1.5A.

As you can tell, there is a huge difference between the standards that Nintendo Switch (and its AC adapter) supports, compared to the standards other devices support.

While the standards differ, Japanese users have reported no issues charging their smartphones with the Switch AC adapter. But if you want to stay safe, we do not recommend you to use the Switch AC adapter to charge your smartphone.

On the other hand, if you happen to use a different adapter or unofficial USB cable to charge your Nintendo Switch, you may experience slower charging time. Learn more about that here.