Develop Bugs

[Q] Charging Current

Hi All,
Was wondering if anyone knows the maximum current the SGS2 can draw for charging purposes. I had a look at the wall charger provided with it, and it's 0.7a; it takes forever (my opinion) to charge compared to my last phone. Just wondering if it is worth my while investing in a more powerful charger.
Cheers

If you take the battery out and look and the sticker then it says there 1000mA

Excellent thanks; Can't get the back off my phone (fingernails).

oozrafa said:
If you take the battery out and look and the sticker then it says there 1000mA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, at the start of the SGS2 charging cycle, my wall-plug power meter reads 5.1 W.

5.1 is what the adapter is pulling. All of that isn't getting to the phone. Funny thing for my is the phone charges faster off my blackberry 0.75a charger then it does off my Galaxy I 1a charger.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Someone in another thread mentioned seeing something in the source code about the phone drawing at most 650 mA (instead of a more typical 1000 mA) during charging. If that's the case, a more powerful charger by itself won't help; you'd also need a custom ROM that doesn't limit the charge current.

Does anyone know why Samsung would limit the charge current?

theinstagator said:
Does anyone know why Samsung would limit the charge current?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speculation is that its a heat related problem. Don't want to pull a Sony and have the batteries explode on people... (but again, that's speculation)

Murfle said:
Speculation is that its a heat related problem. Don't want to pull a Sony and have the batteries explode on people... (but again, that's speculation)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also heard that a smaller charging current extends the Li-ion battery's lifetime, even though I'd prefer quicker charging as the battery can be replaced with ease.

I second that. I tried it today with a 1A car charger (USB cig. plug) can't say it made a difference on speed of charge compared to wall one.

Just received my SGSII and the charging is extremely slow. 3+ hours = about 500 mAh, on a 1A wall charger. Never had such a slow charging smartphone before

To change i9100 charging current you have to short r529 or r531
Current limit will change to 1000mA
You can use 2A charger and phone will charge only with 650mA current
But after this short one of those resistors current limit will change to 1A
I use it on my phone and all is fine. Current after change is measured.
Wath this film youtube.com/watch?v=FL71G2YEIHU
Make shortcut of resistor and check your new current and feel the difference.

Is there a logfile, where I can see which charge current is used?
I have the suspicion, that my noname charger is not recognized properly and it only charges with USB current (450mA).

hmm a 1000mA current could be used also for the 2000mAh battery?

Yes, should not depend on the capacity of the battery.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

good
thank for all, it help me so much

1000mA is more likely the maximum current that the phone is expected to drain from the battery.
It is not the battery charging current, which is presumably equal to the mentioned 650mA, since the 1650mAh battery charges in about 4 hours.
If the charging current was actually 1000mA, then the 1650mA battery it would charge in 2 hours or so, but as we all know, it is not so, even with a 2A charger.

mine took about 4 hours charge the battery

The charging time depends on the Charger and Rom i use, i havent figured out for what reason.
Sometimes the SGS2 is charged in approx. 1 hour and with other Roms the charging time may take up to 3h.

kirschi said:
The charging time depends on the Charger and Rom i use, i havent figured out for what reason.
Sometimes the SGS2 is charged in approx. 1 hour and with other Roms the charging time may take up to 3h.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definately 650ma, IF the phone detects an High current USB port, otherwise it falls back to lousy 400ma.
You can trick into 650ma always: take a usb cable, cut from the PC plug side the TX/RX cables, on the other side short them on PHONE plug side these two cables.
Phone will now always go into "AC charging mode". Don't worry (too much) for your USB ports, they can all well 1000ma, and the one that cannot will report "high current detected, port disable".
:fingers-crossed:

Compatibility with Nokia fast microUSB chargers

The Samsung charger adapter which comes in the box is very slow in nature. It take more than 2 hours to charge my phone. I was wondering if I can use the following Nokia brand chargers which are fast chargers?
Nokia Charger Adapter CA-146C
Nokia Fast Micro-USB Charger AC-10

It won't make any difference the phone decides what current it draws from the charger, so it'll take just as long to charge.

Are you really sure about this? Can you link me to some articles which confirm this.
Even I was thinking about purchasing AC-10 charger from Nokia.

How fast is the nokia charger?
0-10% -> 100% in an hour or less?

Joey2o11 said:
It won't make any difference the phone decides what current it draws from the charger, so it'll take just as long to charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about this. I have a friend with a Blackberry Playbook and he reckons his phone charges much faster if he uses the charger from that.
The "stock" S2 charger is 700mA - it doesn't take a genius to work out that for a 1650mAh battery this will take about 2.5 hours to fully charge the battery under ideal conditions (phone off) or anything from 3-6 hours with the phone on, depending all what's running or if you're using the phone while it's charging.
Which is all pretty ridiculous - ok we're comparing apples and oranges when we compare a S2 to the likesw of a Nokia, but I do miss the days when I could charge my phone in an hour and have it last two or three days. I thought my Blackberry was bad but at least I can usually squeeze a full day out of it...
The only wall wart I had lying around that was more than 700mA was a 5V 2A supply. I've tried with that which works, but the phone chokes with a "battery overtemp" warning after about 10 minutes - which tells me I AM pumping more into the battery than it can handle. This would suggest that there IS a happy medium where we can optimize the battery charge time - I'm bust looking for a 1A supply...

I have TWO AC-10Xs, and am using it with the Ninphetamene kernel (which comes with increased charge input mods to 800ma) fine. Charges to full in about 2.5-3 hours.
I've never gotten overcharge errors either.

Hi,the usage of more powerful charger will eventually reduce lifespan of your battery. This comes from basic physics, materials and so... Higher mA means faster current, which wear the material of the capacitor - battery.

I have capdase 2 USB car charger that was used for my old iphone device.
It outputs 1A.
is it safe to use it?
I tried to charge with it for 10-15minutes or so, and didnt recognize any suspicious warmups...it reached 41~degrees while at the moment im charging and using it as a hotspot and its on 38 degrees.

DobermanS said:
Hi,the usage of more powerful charger will eventually reduce lifespan of your battery. This comes from basic physics, materials and so... Higher mA means faster current, which wear the material of the capacitor - battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone (specifically, the kernel) limits charge coming in, and there MUST be hardware limiters on the batteries and the phone themselves (which, in some cheapo batteries DON'T WORK and results in them frying themselves and the phone in process) and the batteries are replaceable anyway.

eranyanay said:
I have capdase 2 USB car charger that was used for my old iphone device.
It outputs 1A.
is it safe to use it?
I tried to charge with it for 10-15minutes or so, and didnt recognize any suspicious warmups...it reached 41~degrees while at the moment im charging and using it as a hotspot and its on 38 degrees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use htc wall charger rated at 1A and having no proplem with ,a pc USB port is capable of 1A and we all know there are no problem ,even so there are no visible improvement in charging time because as someone said the charging current is automatically regulated

ledavi said:
i use htc wall charger rated at 1A and having no proplem with ,a pc USB port is capable of 1A and we all know there are no problem ,even so there are no visible improvement in charging time because as someone said the charging current is automatically regulated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to know that the current is regulated by the device.
Is there a software to see what is the current taken by the phone?
As long ad the temperture isn't higher than 45degrees is it ok?
By the way, Im pretty sure that usb outputs 0.5A and not 1A
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

battery monitor widget

It seems logical to be able to use all chargers as smartphones all have micro usb .
(I 'm not sute that's mean something in english, sorry)

Great widget! thanks.
I really like the data it gives!
Sadly, while charging with my .7A original charger & meanwhile giving a hotspot to my laptop, it shows that only 76mA comes in!
hehe, gonna take forever to charge the battery this way.

i doubt this. i'm still worried about the compatible problem~~~

After two days with the battery monitor widget Im affraid itself it drains the battery.
could it be it affects the battery?
settings are regular, it monitors changes every 60seconds

Let's see if I can help make things a bit clearer. Feel free to correct where I may be off.
The Nokia thing, it's not a charger. It's a power supply.
The "charger" is built into your phone, hardware-wise.
How can I prove it?
Take the Samsung supplied cable, plug it into your computer. You'll see that your phone is charging too. No, the cable is not a charger. Do you think your computer is a special built charger for your phone? Hardly.
The charging circuit is within the phone, and thus charging the battery when there's available power.
Ok, so we have the charger (i.e. the mobile phone), we have the battery, we need the power. Where do we get power from? The wall adapters (or computers). So what are the wall adapters? Ratings of 1000mah means that the wall adapter can provide up to 1000ma per hour.
However, your charging circuit will determine how much current to actually draw. For example, drawing 800mah for 10 min may raise the temperature to 55 degrees, so after 10 min the charging circuit drops the charging current to 500mah.
Of course, if you're using el cheapo cables, some cables may not be able to support the current draw and you may find that even with 20000000mah power supplies your phone can only draw 100mah.
The SGS2 heats up pretty easily, and it doesn't quite draw beyond 700mah. The circuit built into the phone doesn't allow it to, if i'm not wrong. If your phone is overheating while charging, you better change your case as it's going to cause your phone to overheat sooner or later.
Using a 20000000mah power supply isn't an issue, because the charging circuit within the phone will be able to draw only a certain amount.
Me, I plug my SGS2 into a 2Ah charger every night to charge, and yes it's perfectly fine. I'm only upset that after buying an expensive 2A charger, I realised that the phone is not able to draw high currents (phone even heats up to 55degree Celsius when charging).
Charging the phone on a ice pack (which lowered the phone temperature to 16 degrees while charging) didn't increase the amount of current drawn by the phone, even on a 2A power supply.
My humble advise is, stick with the stock power supply, or at most get a 1A version. No need to splash for a 2A power supply. If you really need faster charging, get a battery charging dock.

eranyanay said:
After two days with the battery monitor widget Im affraid itself it drains the battery.
could it be it affects the battery?
settings are regular, it monitors changes every 60seconds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes of course it does. It consumes a certain amount of ma per hour, doesn't it?
Personally, there's a app called watchdog, look for it, IMHO it helps to catch rouge apps better, and manage battery better.

I thought the whole idea of having a universal micro USB charging connection across most good brands was so you could use other chargers!

moooxooom said:
yes of course it does. It consumes a certain amount of ma per hour, doesn't it?
Personally, there's a app called watchdog, look for it, IMHO it helps to catch rouge apps better, and manage battery better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I just like the widget, which shows me also the battery temperture
I hope it doesnt takes too much

[Q] Slow Charge

Not sure if this is an issue, or if its standard. But here is what im facing.
A charge off the wall will get my Tmobile SGS2 to a full charge (from around 15%-20%) with the stock plug and cable in about an hour to an hour and a half. However charging from my laptop or from a car charger im only getting a total increase in battery 15% in an hour. I tried to use the stock cable with the laptop and got about 25% in an hour and a half. I tried to use the stock cable in my car and only got 7% in 45 minutes.
Anyone have any ideas?

When charging from the car or from a laptop, the power is limited to what the cable/charger can supply which might not be sufficient for the SGS2. For the car charger, you can try buying one that supplies more amps, but for the laptop, theres really nothing you can do, as it is limited by the USB cable itself.

Do you mean the USB cable or do you mean the actual plug & internal workings of the laptop? because i have tried several cables. And just also remembered that i tried the stock cable as well with crappy results.

you can buy a 2A charger, and it will charge a lot faster, that's what i use in my car
at home or office, i just use the regular charger, as i always carry extra battery packs

When you plug it into the laptop it only gives out a limited amount of amps unlike the regular charger that came with the phone. The one that came with the phone regulates the charge so that it doesn't overcharge your device or anything. The laptop USB plug is supposed to be meant for peripherals like a mouse and stuff so it doesnt give out that much amps, therefore charging slower than a regular charger.

I use the t-mobile rapid car charger, It can charge this beast in about 45 minutes. It also has a 2nd port for a 2nd device.
Deebo took your bike too?

Really?! I've never seen my charging current go over 700 mA, even with a 2 amp charger.
I'd happily give up some long-term lifetime for faster charging.
Sent from my Galaxy S II using Tapatalk.

They have a home charger too that's a home charger plus car charger in 1. I use them in the cars but they're great for trips cause you have a 2 in 1 charger.
With 3 batteries and a external charger though, I never need a home charger and haven't even put this on a charger yet.

Just as most of the others have said here, the charge is going to be limited to what the source can put out. If you get another charger (2A charger) then it will be able to charger faster but you also want to be careful with using after market chargers there are some that can negatively affect your battery by overcharging which is when the phone gets fully charged but the charger does not ever stop with the flow of power to the device.

Ok Thanks all.
Guess i need a new car charger and something for the office.
Also did some crawling through "Mother of all battery life" thread found some good ideas there for making this thing last longer on the charge its got.

Im having the same problem my fone takes forever to charge...im pluged into the wall using the charger in the box n it took me no joke 7 hours to charge my fone!
Im on it rite now as its plugged i to the wall n im losing power instead of charging...i tested the voltage n its fine ...is tgere anythin i can do?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App

I, myself, actually haven't used the OEM charger that came with the phone. Although I did notice it is quite small and the phone battery is a 1850mAh (larger than normal) that might affect the charging rate. I am currently using the old HTC charger that came with my Sensation and it charges fully in about 2 hours. If you want a charger that charges your phone in an hour and a half, I recommend going into a T-mobile store and grabbing the Wallcharger they sell. It charges 33% faster than OEM chargers and does not harm your device nor kill your batteries.
You can find it by clicking here

Exactly same problem as OP.
OEM wall charger charges phone to full in couple of hours but laptop USB or car USB is doing at 10% / hour assuming you don't do anything on your phone but just leave it there to be charged. Otherwise you'll be losing battery rather than being charged.

513263337 said:
Exactly same problem as OP.
OEM wall charger charges phone to full in couple of hours but laptop USB or car USB is doing at 10% / hour assuming you don't do anything on your phone but just leave it there to be charged. Otherwise you'll be losing battery rather than being charged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As explained in previous post, this is due to limitations in the laptop USB drive and depending on what car charger you have, the phone might suck up more juice than it is able to provide.

so this is nothing a kernel or any other tweak can fix?

mightymike889 said:
so this is nothing a kernel or any other tweak can fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no a new kernel or any other tweak wont work.

So i gotta buy a new charger!?!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App

Yes, or if you have like an old microUSB charger from HTC or another Samsung phone (Samsung Vibrant) you can try using those.

the 2A chargers from BlackBerry are the best

So, you guys are seeing the phone draw over 700 mA (when the charger is capable)?
If I use my iPad charger (2A), I still top out at 700 mA, and the ~4 hours that go with it. :/
Even my 1A car charger tops out at 700 mA, that's why I thought it was a hardware issue.
Sent from my Galaxy S II using Tapatalk.

Charger Concerns

I see that the wall charger for the Galaxy Nexus outputs 5V and 1A. Unfortunately, none of the extra chargers I'd like to use as additional chargers have this output. Some of them are 5.1V, and some of them all put out under 1A.
From what I understand, using a charger w/ a higher voltage could potentially damage the phone. I know that this unlikely considering it's only an extra .1V in my case, but I don't want to risk it.
As for the amps, I believe that using lower amps isn't dangerous, but may result in charging taking longer than normal.
Are these two assumptions correct? Also, does anyone know of any cheap chargers that put out 5V/1A? If you put in "phone charger" in Amazon, the second hit is a Samsung OEM charger that puts out 5V/0.7A, but I'd rather get one that is going to be an exact match.

700-800mah are fine and acceptable for charging. But if wanting to play games on a charger and still get some kind of charge, go with a 1000 mah charger. 1000 mah charger is also best to use while using mhl so you can hopefully not lose battery charge while streaming video over hdmi.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.

Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>

Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Micro-Travel-Charger-M540/dp/B002HJBM04
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Travel-Charger-Adapter-MicroUSB/dp/B0049IE70I

Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33

alee said:
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml

Dmw017 said:
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.

alee said:
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...you say it folds too huh :/ ....
but for that price, i wonder if there are any samsung chargers that are just as good if not better..
that is Apple, after all
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts

I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Dmw017 said:
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same one.
Good question on whether it's putting out a full 1A. I guess what I do is check the charge times tomorrow with a few different 1A chargers to see if it measures up.

I use this for home:
http://www.amazon.com/Cellet-Charger-Retractable-Cable-myTouch/dp/B004XVM1T0
And this for the car:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Powerjolt-Dual-Universal-Micro/dp/B0042B9U8Q
Both are dual-USB and put out 1amp. Charges my GNEX and iPhone 4 (work) at the same time without issues.

Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!

assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read that the wall charger drops the battery down to 90ish % after it hits 100% and just goes between the two levels until you unplug your charger
While a USB charge is slower and charges your device up to a "fuller" charge
...I may be unfathomably wrong though
---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------
man that little Apple charger is so damn cute ... lol , ill probably end up buying it once the 1A volt charge is confirmed
edit: just bought it lol, oh well.. it will probably maybe more or less somewhat possibly work like it should at 1A :}

assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an expert on the subject but I was under the impression that cycles (charge + discharge) were a bigger factor on battery life than something like this. The longer a current is running through the battery (charge or discharge) is detrimental to it's life span.
Leaving a laptop plugged in all the time ruins its battery is my source on this one. I would say it's because it has a constant charge running through the battery.

qreffie said:
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall

rashad1 said:
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[hfm] said:
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
500mA is the max before the PC will disable the port. So your actually get less current.
There are some ports, depending on the motherboard that have a option of outputting more power for charging devices, and also have the port powered when the computer is off. But a normal usb 2.0 port is limited to 500mA max per spec... so a normal usb 2.0 port charging a phone is drawing less then 500mA, or it would get and over current condition and disable the port.

I design electronics and work with USB and batteries often, so let me clear some stuff up in no particular order:
- PC ports are limited to 500mA so will only ever output a max of 500mA
- You can use a wall charger that outputs 1000mA but on most devices the data pins on the micro USB need to be shorted to tell the phone it can try to draw more than 500mA. This is true for HTC devices for example. That means if you get a cheap charger that doesn't short the data pins, when you plug your standard micro-usb cable into it, it will still only charge your phone at 500mA.
- The charging controller is actually in the phone. It decides based on temperature (there's a sensor in the battery), current, voltage across the battery (current charge) and characteristics of the type of battery to figure out how much current to allow into the battery. Although its true that a 500mA charger may have different affects than 1000mA chargers, there usually is very little perceivable difference. Which is (slightly) better really depends on the charging controller and how it decides when to stop charging.
- When the battery is full, the phone continues to 'trickle charge' for a period of time. This isn't a bad thing. Overcharging a Lithium battery can be extremely dangerous, so normal charging occurs at a high speed and then slows down at a safe limit below the 'true' 100%. After that the phone continues to trickle charge to top up the battery. This is the reason you read in phone manuals you should charge the phone for 8 hours or overnight for its first charge.
- When charging at 500mA, the battery does not get as hot. This usually means you get closer to the true 100% before 'trickle charging' starts. With a 1000mA charge the battery heats up a lot more so charging may switch to trickle much sooner. Here's an example with made up figures.
Lets say you charge your battery with a 500mA charger, and it takes 2 hours. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 99%, and trickle charging. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to its full capacity.
Now, lets say you charge your battery with a 1000mA charger, and it takes 1 hour. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 98%, and trickle charging - It stopped sooner because the battery was hotter. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to full capacity.
Conclusion.. the 500mA charger took 2.5 hours, while the 1000mA charger took 1.5 hours. However if you unplugged both when the phone showed 100%, the 500mA charged battery may last longer, and so you think the 500mA somehow resulted in a more thorough charge!
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which you use. the absolute charge cycles is what counts. Charge to 100%, then dont charge till its 0 for best battery care. Constantly plugging into a charger or dock all day on and off is bad. But having said that, your phone is there to be used, so a sensible balance of the two is the best bet.

Thank you so much for the detailed response, kam187. Would you recommend avoiding using a 5.1V charger, considering the phone came with a 5V charger?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

I wouldn't use it. The 0.1v probably won't make any difference, but it may not be regulated. Chargers with these odd values sometimes don't have any regulator inside them. That could damage your phone as the voltage could shoot up and down as the current draw changes.
Just search amazon/ebay for any MicroUSB charger, and pick one from a reputable manufacturer like Motorola, HTC, Samsung etc. Since all phones now use MicroUSB, there's loads of these chargers around from previous phone models etc.
Here's just one I saw on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Trave...E70I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1322808220&sr=8-3

Charging the E4GT with non oem adapter

The original Samsung charger outputs 5V---1000ma, I have an extra blackberry micro usb charger that outputs 5V---750ma.
I want to use my old blackberry charger in my office, will this different current output affect my battery long term or short term?

edlivian said:
The original Samsung charger outputs 5V---1000ma, I have an extra blackberry micro usb charger that outputs 5V---750ma.
I want to use my old blackberry charger in my office, will this different current output affect my battery long term or short term?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the immediate side effects will be that your phone will take a longer time to fully charge your battery.
If I helped you out in any way please thank me. Thanks.

Not sure how the blackberry chargers are. I know some of the Motorola chargers are accepted by the phone for high current charging (any charger that doesn't puts the phone in low current mode).
I charge my phone every night on my old 700mah Samsung charger and while it does take longer youd hardly notice unless you were trying to get as much charge in say an hour as possible. So as long as the phone doesn't limit it you should be good. <500mah is very noticeable.

I know it will take longer to charge. But Im not as familiar with appropriate charging output for li-ion as i am for ni-mh Sanyo eneloops for example that ideally should be charged at 220ma to maximize cell life.

edlivian said:
I know it will take longer to charge. But Im not as familiar with appropriate charging output for li-ion as i am for ni-mh Sanyo eneloops for example that ideally should be charged at 220ma to maximize cell life.
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The rule still applies the less current used to charge the better the lifespan. The phone was paired with a battery with the intention of using a 1 amp charger. The phone will only allow high current charging mode if it thinks the charger is Samsung. Shorting the data pins is a way to fool it and many aftermarket chargers already do this.
With your phone on and the phone in low current mode (320 mah i believe) you will have a hard time charging the phone if anything is wake locking the phone even screen off. You will even have trouble charging and using the phone at 500mah depending on whats going on.
The phone will be eating some amount of power from the charger, the battery is not always seeing as much current as you might think. I always stick by the practice of not deep discharging it, LiION would rather be topped off then not charged (geeze remember NiCad laptop batteries.... lol). I feel this battery will be the shortest lifespan of any phone or laptop I have ever had. Just due to how much use it sees.

Charger
Any micro usb charger should work. I've had a dozen or so different gadgets that all use micro usb from Blue Tooth headsets, to speakers. I use all chargers interchangeably with one noteable exception. My wife's Nook Tablet will only charge using the provided Nook charger. Found that out the hard way.
I have also found that not all micro usb cables will provide data transfer for all phones. I'm guessing different pin-outs? For instance when I was trying to root my ET4G, I forgot my OEM cable at home so I tried to use my EVO cable. That dind't work well at all.

My old blackberry chargers seemed to work fine but I started seeing some strange jumping around of the battery while using. For instance it would all of a sudden jump up to 100% charged then if I unplugged and plugged back in it would go back to 70% or whatever. I went back to only samsung or just charging off usb. I use my pc, printer, cable box etc to charge my phone.

I charge mine with either the stock charger that came with my E4GT, or an old 700MAh charger that came with my old Samsung Rant. Occasionally I use the charger that came with my HTC Evo 4G. I really can never tell a difference. Although, like someone above said, it seems as if non-Samsung usb cables will not charge when plugged into a computer. That's how it is with the HTC cable, and I've also tried an LG usb cable and got the same results.
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BBJon said:
I have also found that not all micro usb cables will provide data transfer for all phones. I'm guessing different pin-outs? For instance when I was trying to root my ET4G, I forgot my OEM cable at home so I tried to use my EVO cable. That dind't work well at all.
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Really? I rooted and always use Odin using an HTC cable...

EggosEvo said:
I charge mine with either the stock charger that came with my E4GT, or an old 700MAh charger that came with my old Samsung Rant. Occasionally I use the charger that came with my HTC Evo 4G. I really can never tell a difference. Although, like someone above said, it seems as if non-Samsung usb cables will not charge when plugged into a computer. That's how it is with the HTC cable, and I've also tried an LG usb cable and got the same results.
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I had the exclaim, the replacement to the rant and thats where my 700mah charger came from.
All of my other Micro USB cables except the one are non samsung and I use them all for charging, data and they charge while connected to pc. But none of them are from other phone manufacturers or anything. The Micro USB spec is what these phones are using there is no difference.
The difference that matters most of the time is tolerances. Its easy to end up with cables that will work well in one port but not another. The rest of the cable may also be out of spec and not work well or at all for certain purposes.

I've ruined two batteries because of non-OEM chargers on the ET4G. (Actually, ruined two, and made a third battery just render terrible performance.) I definitely don't have the problem with other devices I own, and it's definitely happened with two separate ET4G's I've owned.
So, "be very careful using alternate chargers" is all I would advise.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't electricity the same no matter the source?
If the phone is looking to pull 1A and your charger is rated for .7A I'd be worried about the charger not the battery, which technically is a cell not a battery.
Tolerances were mentioned before and I think that is most of the problem with certain cables working fine for some people and not others. All connectors and cabling are supposed to meet the USB spec and many cheap ones don't. Also the supposed 10,000 insertion rating for micro USB is a bit optimistic imo. I replace cables after a couple months max because of loose connections.
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dberend said:
Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't electricity the same no matter the source?
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Not really because these chargers are doing AC to DC conversion and voltage regulation is a huge factor in its job. With a bad charger design not only can charging be affected, possibly even hurt the battery. Since the phone will consumer charger power to run while on the charger the phone can become unstable. Not talking a defective charger, just bad and cheap designs.
dberend said:
If the phone is looking to pull 1A and your charger is rated for .7A I'd be worried about the charger not the battery, which technically is a cell not a battery
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I think about that alot actually. Coming from PC power supplies you never want to overload the unit. But I know for a fact I have devices that demand more from chargers than can be given, and do not have the low current and high current modes like this phone.
I am no electrical engineer and am only familiar with AC to DC and DC to AC circuits and various voltage regulation techiniques. But it is possible to current limit as well right? You design a half amp charger, with the data pin short to put the Samsung into high current. You limit the current to 500 mah but over build the components just a little to increase lifespan.
Anyways, I bought a 2.1 Amp RCA wall charger from walmart last night on a wim. 9 bucks, might come in handy when i get a tablet. Has a 1 Amp side and a 2.1 Amp thats shared with the 1 Amp. Phone didn't show any ill will to it and I had my Schosche GoBatt on the 1 amp end. If the phones drawing too much current could be bad in the long run but its working so far. Charged at the normal speed of the stock charger.

RainMotorsports said:
Not really because these chargers are doing AC to DC conversion and voltage regulation is a huge factor in its job. With a bad charger design not only can charging be affected, possibly even hurt the battery. Since the phone will consumer charger power to run while on the charger the phone can become unstable. Not talking a defective charger, just bad and cheap designs.
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I agree with you on bad and cheap designs. How many tv's and other electronics have been rendered useless by a few substandard capacitors that saved the manufacturer $.02 per unit?
I try not to use any charger that doesn't have HTC, Samsung, etc on the label. I figure if they were willing to back it warranty wise for the original device it should put out clean enough power.
I'm far from being engineer but I do quite a bit of hardware hacking and learned a little bit about electronics when I was at Ft Gordon. So I'm not completely lost around a multimeter
I would imagine that there is some protection built into the charging circuit of the phone itself. How effective or what kind of tolerance Idk suppose I could look for datasheets if anybody really cares.
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