The base itself is of much higher quality than the original. My original base seemed to have a short in it from the very beginning and if the cord wasn't at the right angle it didn't work. The process of receiving the charger was terrible. I think the shipper lost the package and when I contacted Biostrap I was told I should call the shipper and report it lost. That didn't seem like it should be my responsibility. After all it took over a month (If I remember correctly) to receive the package, all the while I could not use my BioStrap. Finally, the charger doesn't come with a cable or any instructions that I could find so I used a cable I could find and the charger worked for one night then started flashing. I was about ready to give up on Biostrap alltogether when I tried a different USB cable and it has been working well since. Seems like a great product but the customer service and experience left must to be desired.