also called step-down converter · step-up/step-down converter · transformer · voltage transformer
A device that changes the electrical voltage so appliances built for one system work on another.
A voltage converter actually changes the electrical voltage so a device built for one country's supply can run on another's. That is a different job from a plug adapter, which only reshapes the pins. Plug single-voltage gear straight into a higher-voltage supply without a converter and you can destroy it, no matter how well the plug fit.
You bring an appliance rated for your home country's lower voltage and pop it into a foreign socket using just a plug adapter. Because nothing stepped the voltage down, the higher local supply fries the device, and you learn the converter, not the adapter, was the part that mattered.
Plugging single-voltage gear into a higher-voltage supply without one can destroy it, unlike a simple plug adapter.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These solve two different problems people confuse.
A universal power adapter only changes the shape of the plug so it fits a foreign socket, while a voltage converter actually changes the electrical voltage so an appliance built for one country's system works safely on another's.
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