Develop Bugs

Automobile Quick Charging Solution

What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?

I have started to use 12-220 volt converter so I can use wall chargers.

I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY

ellisz said:
I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 .. this solution has been working great for me, as well.

I've been getting 2.1A car chargers (look for ones for the iPad), most of the ones I had prior to this were 700mA or so and they can't keep up with my 1A phones. Be careful of dual port chargers advertising 2A, they may only be 1A each and may be "optimistic" about that rating. And don't worry about getting one rated for too much current, the Galaxy Nexus won't pull more than an amp no matter what the charger rating.

Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.

I've never run into a car adapter that looks like a USB port, including the VZW charger with a spare port or the cheap 2.1A chargers I got from Amazon. My guess is that a charger not built correctly and leaving the data pins open only supports ~500mA anyway. Even if that's not the case I have a moral objection toward buying a cable to fix a design flaw in another cheap product - but that's just me

Grant H said:
Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a charger similar to http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-Car-...ccessories&hash=item4ab18358f4#ht_1638wt_1392
All I had to do was undo the screws at the top, put a bit of solder between the middle usb pins, and my phone recognises it as a AC source rather than USB.

There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA

Grant H said:
What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA

I've heard that Motorola one mentioned a lot as a good one.
The nice thing about having the low-profile usb plug is (a) it is low profile, (b) I can use it to charge other devices. The charge-only cable is only about $4, so I had no issues buying it to work with this to charge as an AC charge over a USB charge.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this one and it charges just like it does from the home outlet and its says "AC" charging. I bought another 8 for family and friends and they all love it.

I think I've figured out the disconnect, I've run into chargers that appear as a USB host which limits the charging to 500mA on previous phones I've had.
You guys are concerned about USB vs. AC charging mode. Of the chargers I've got, this one lists as AC while the rest as USB. However, the fact that the other chargers all work just fine keeping up with GPS+streaming music indicates that the USB vs. AC really has no bearing on the charge current delivered. I'd stay away from charge-only cables just because they'll get mixed in with your standard USB cables and you'll knock yourself out wondering why they don't work. On the other hand, if you really want AC in your battery info order the one I linked.

I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.

jdbower said:
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
makes sense.. the one I use has dual usb (1.0 and 2.1)

You went and gave me a project for the weekend, and once again science prevails over anecdotal evidence. I took each of my 5 chargers and hooked them up to a 12V power supply that measures current. I then recorded whether the charger reported AC or USB, for the ones with USB I modified a right-angle adapter to short out the data pins, and I measured the current. The contenders:
Verizon Wireless Dual Charger
XTG Dual Port Charger
Griffen Powerjolt Dual USB Charger
Griffen Portjolt Micro
CostMad Dual USB Charger
The VZW model was USB out the external port as I had tested before, however AC out the built-in cable which I hadn't bothered to test. It pulled 0.25A @12V via the USB port and 0.59A via the cable. Hmmm... A hole develops in my previous observation. While I had used this on a long car trip with no issues, it was via the built-in cable.
The XTG was new, I hadn't used it before as it's in the car I rarely drive. It reported USB and 0.22A. With the adapter to make it report AC it pulled 0.48A.
The pattern was set. I had expected the Griffen adapters to be built more appropriately but the dual charger reported 0.22A without the adapter and 0.42A with. I had used this without losing charge in the past so this was surprising to me, but it's possible I just wasn't drawing as much current because the screen was dimmer or something.
The compact Griffen adapter (which is great for a laptop bag, BTW) pulled 0.21A and 0.47A respectively.
The cheap CostMad adapter was the only one that performed well out of the box, both reporting AC and pulled 0.57A.
In theory, a perfect adapter should pull 0.42A. Anything more is waste, anything less means it's not keeping up. I have doubts about the Griffen 2x allowing for a full amp, but the VZW and CostMad chargers are pretty lossy. What's even worse is that I'm pretty sure the VZW charger is rated for 800mA (but I can't find an actual spec on it) which would mean that it pulled the most power for the least current. Not that this really matters unless you've got an electric car.
Sorry for misleading you earlier, I should have checked the other port of the known-good VZW charger and probably doublechecked the numbers on my other "known good" charger. Still hating cables that work for charging but not for data, I ended up modifying each of the chargers to short the middle pins (except for the VZW one). If I didn't have the soldering iron for this, I probably would have gone for some of these instead.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyberPunk7t9 said:
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the same one and it works perfect. Charges even when GPS navigation is running.
Make sure you select Amazon as the seller though. I heard there are a lot of fake ones.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to those recommending this one. I have this exact model and it does indeed charge at the "AC" rate, about twice as fast as the "USB" rate.

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Motorola one will charge even when using GPS. I have a friend I bought one for that uses his GPS all day and loves the Motorola charger.

Best wall charger

Hi everyone,
I have a problem with my original wall charger that came with the phone. There seems to be something wrong between the cable and the connector you are plugging into the phone. I need to have the cable in a specific position for the phone to be able to recharge.
The question is, is there any better charger than the original samsung one? I could probably get it replaced as it still is in warranty, but I don't like how slow it recharges the phone. If I am running a 3D game the phone is slowly DISCHARGING even when plugged in to a wall charger.
I noticed the charger has only 500-700 mA output. I had an older htc charger which had 1000 mA output. Would a charger like this recharge my phone faster? I have seen some posts about non-samsung chargers not being able to recharge the battery fast as there is some kind of protection built into the phone.
I would also consider buying a wireless charger if it was available for a reasonable price.
Are you all using the stock chargers?
Thanks in advance for any help.

you can read this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1721677&highlight=charging
Just to make sure it is the charger's fault, does the phone charge normally if connected to a computer, from the USB port?

Thanks for the link.
Yes, phone charges and transfers data from USB without any problem, so it should be fault on the charger.
Reading through that thread, I guess there is no point in buying a more powerful charger.

as i said there, i use a nokia 1200mAh charger and the charging time is more than 2 hours, so we have to deal with it. The thing you should care of is the quality of the charger to avoid the touchscreen known problems

Imho you don`t need better (more powerfull) charger because of the hardware limitations. What you should do is to try any other microUSB charger just to see if that solves your problem. So if any of your friends of family have other samsung or nokia etc. phone, thats charging with microUSB, plug it into your phone to see if it solves your problem. You will know what to do next if it does

al3x_xct said:
as i said there, i use a nokia 1200mAh charger and the charging time is more than 2 hours, so we have to deal with it. The thing you should care of is the quality of the charger to avoid the touchscreen known problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do I check the quality of the charger?

USB wires, right and wrong ones?

I have a 2meter USB to MicroUSB cable(EBAY) plugged into mains which does Not charge the phone when screen is on. In fact it Loses charge when watching films .
But when l plug in the one that came with the phone (1 meter) it charges the phone no problem, regardless of what you are doing.
Anybody have any ideas for why this is happening?
Length of wire? or just bad quality of wire? But l have tried a few different 2m ones. Same drain.
(Also same results with different roms)
Cheers me dears
(Was getting no traction in accessories)

DaffyOnLSD said:
I have a 2meter USB to MicroUSB cable(EBAY) plugged into mains which does Not charge the phone when screen is on. In fact it Loses charge when watching films .
But when l plug in the one that came with the phone (1 meter) it charges the phone no problem, regardless of what you are doing.
Anybody have any ideas for why this is happening?
Length of wire? or just bad quality of wire? But l have tried a few different 2m ones. Same drain.
(Also same results with different roms)
Cheers me dears
(Was getting no traction in accessories)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might have noticed that smaller the phone, the larger the charging cable comes with it.
and the larger phone, and tablets have decreasing charger cable lengths. Also, the charging cable become thicker as the device becomes more power hungry.
This all comes down to a simple explaination that longer and thinner cables have more impedance, and thicker and shorted cables have less resistance...
This is to cover up for the amount of power the device will consume in order to get charged, and hence, result in a different "quality" of charge.
Also, some cable, like that of Nokia, do not run on touchscreen samsung phones. This may also be because of the difference in power output, as they may not fulfill the requirements which the latter needs.

Ok, so how about getting a beefier longer wire? I've seen a brand one for 10 £ claiming to be grippier blah blah. Obviously no claim for what it's able to charge and how fast.
Will this change anything?
I'm guessing im doomed to be always leaning in to the wall if wanting to use the phone and getting it charged.
And thanks for explaining things, sadly that is what I feared.

DaffyOnLSD said:
Ok, so how about getting a beefier longer wire? I've seen a brand one for 10 £ claiming to be grippier blah blah. Obviously no claim for what it's able to charge and how fast.
Will this change anything?
I'm guessing im doomed to be always leaning in to the wall if wanting to use the phone and getting it charged.
And thanks for explaining things, sadly that is what I feared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not definitely that beefier and shorter wires will charge quickly/better. They need to have correct power ratings and other j7mbo mumbo, which is most definitely best in the stock charger you get

Just buy a usb extension cable with plug and socket on each end. You have to use the Samsung charger AND the Samsung USB> MiroUSB cable. Beetween you place the extension cable.
The reason is, in the Micro-USB-Plug of the Samsung-Cable, i think there is a Resistor between pin 4 and 5 that makes the Phone change into high-charging Mode (AC-charging).
Otherwise on USB-Charging you have only 500 mA. That is not enough for the Note 2, if the Screen is on. The Phone will not charge.
regards

Thanks. .. should of tried that. Forgot I've loads of them.

DaffyOnLSD said:
Thanks. .. should of tried that. Forgot I've loads of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let us know, if it works now how it should. Thanks...

Same here, with random internet cables it just doesn't charge fast, but yes with the original.
I was looking for some good cables to use it but I didn't see any info to know what are the faster ones for charging.

Right, some bad news regarding USB extenders, I used a 2 meter extender with the white stock Samsung cable.. screen on, torrent app downloading, did NOT charge at all. But did not lose anything either.
I then found a 0.3 meter USB extender with stock Samsung. And it is charging, but I would say it isn't as fast(very close to normal), but the main thing it is slowly charging. Make what you will of this.
My USB extenders are from ebay crap

I have a s2 original charger
Output 0.79 takes 7 hrs to charge note2
Original note 2 charger is fast charger
Output 2.00 tkes 4 hrs to charge the phone
So it depends upon the uotput of the charger as i use the s2 usb to charge wt note 2 charger and again used the note 2 usb to charge 5he phonr at both time the chargin time was same
So i think the length or thilness of the cable dosent matter only thing matters is the charger output
Secondly if u use nonoem cables or chargers the usb port may give off or ur phone freezes while chargin so pls avoid nonoem cables
U can use oem cables of sony , htc, blackberry, even micromax and spice in india which r runnin androud but dont use first copy of chargers ir cables as they would harm ur phone

[Q] Need Opinion/info on Qmadix 4.4A USB Triple Travel Charging Hub...

So Im in desperate need of at least one more Wall charge for my galaxy note 8.0 and Galaxy S4. The only problem is they're either pretty expensive for the more legit products, or sketchy. I just need the white box part that goes into the wall outlet. SO incredibly embarrassing and frustrating that I can't seem to figure out what it's actually called. In any case, through my searches I found this:
Qmadix 4.4A USB Triple Travel Charging Hub
It allows for three ports, but each port is designated differently. well, okay... two are the same (1A), but ones different (2.4A). I have no clue about electricity, except to know if you don't use the samsung recommended converters it could damage the battery in the long run. Im under the impression that both of my devices require 2.0A. Does this mean only the 2.4A port would work?
Is anyone familiar with this Item Ive listed? Could I use this device to power bot my Galaxy Note 8.0 AND Galaxy S4 at the same time?
It seems like such a great deal and very compact. Can't pass up without at least asking about it.
again, Im asking about the:
Qmadix 4.4A USB Triple Travel Charging Hub

This is what you NEED to get: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2608578

vectron said:
This is what you NEED to get: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2608578
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the reply. I had actually seen that and immediately fell in love... but I just as quickly wrote it off because of the additional cable thats required to plug it into an outlet. I need something more compact... something with collapsible prongs.
Another one I was looking at is this one iXCC Dual USB 4.2 Amp (20 Watt) SMART High Capacity AC Travel Wall Charger...
Any thought?

Ports listed as 1A might still be able to supply 2A for your phone, but they might be right at the top of their current limiting (thus running warmer). The whole thing about using only Samsung provided charger is just to scare you off so you buy their original overpriced accessories But there is a truth to it as well, when you buy cheap stuff from ebay where they sell 1A rated outputs labeled with 2A and can run into a problem above (overheating, which causes short, which can cause a damage to your phone). Anker is a trusted brand with a decent quality control, RAVPower is good, and I heard of QMadix before as well.
Here is a problem. When you are dealing with wall outlet converters with multiple outputs that carry a lot of heat/power, you are too close to the main electrical outlet. So, I would be careful not too overload these. Maybe using 2 devices plugged in at a time is ok, but NEVER 3 at a time. When you have something like that 40W Anker converter, you are placing it away from the outlet, it exposed to air circulation from every side (cooling it better), and it should have some fuse or internal protection in case of a short. I understand, for convenience you need wall converter that plugs in, but make sure you get a double one, not the triple output one because i would consider those to be not as reliable when you are charging 3 devices at the same time while plugged into a single wall outlet directly.

Anker also make this one: www.amazon.com/Anker®-4-Port-Charger-Travel-Adapter/dp/B00EI8SS4U/ - but I would not load more than 2 ports at a time. Or if you load 3 or 4 ports, make sure it's not overnight when you are sleeping and that all 4 charging devices are not drawing max current

Btw, one quick question... The Anker 40W 5-port USB wall charger... Should I only charge 2 devices at a time with it aswell? or was that referring only to chargers that plug directly into the wall because of the heat issue?

varxtis said:
Btw, one quick question... The Anker 40W 5-port USB wall charger... Should I only charge 2 devices at a time with it aswell? or was that referring only to chargers that plug directly into the wall because of the heat issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use all 5 ports on that one (40W version that doesn't plug into wall outlet directly). That how I do it all the way, mostly using 4 ports at once to charge my Note 2, my Metawatch smartwatch, my mp3/DAP player, and external battery. Sometime also add my wireless headset too

[Q] Need a new charger - where should I look for a good one?

Hi.
Two questions:
1. Where should I look for one?
Found this on Ali-express but wanted your opinion:
http://bit.ly/2ze7U2U
2. Regarding the cable: are all cables the same? Or is this (in link - the one that comes with the OPO) different (can move more current)?
Trying to save where I can
Thank you!

benyben123 said:
Hi.
Two questions:
1. Where should I look for one?
Found this on Ali-express but wanted your opinion:
http://bit.ly/2ze7U2U
2. Regarding the cable: are all cables the same? Or is this (in link - the one that comes with the OPO) different (can move more current)?
Trying to save where I can
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend using original charger and cable.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Original-OEM...%3A6a5fb7c815f0aca4b4ac59a8fffbc199%7Ciid%3A6

Mr.Ak said:
I recommend using original charger and cable.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Original-OEM...%3A6a5fb7c815f0aca4b4ac59a8fffbc199%7Ciid%3A6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for this.
Are you the only one answering questions?
Thanks!

Truth be told you can use any charger or cable on opo as long as the cable support fast charge...i have been using Nokia charger, Xiaomi charger, apple charger and samsung charger combine with original opo cable, xiaomi cable, remax cable and samsung cable and none of them give any problem on my opo...

iPusak Gaoq™ said:
Truth be told you can use any charger or cable on opo as long as the cable support fast charge...i have been using Nokia charger, Xiaomi charger, apple charger and samsung charger combine with original opo cable, xiaomi cable, remax cable and samsung cable and none of them give any problem on my opo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this.
I have been using a 5V 2.1A charger (from Belkin) but with a "regular" old Samsung micro-usb cable and it took 6 hours to charge till full.
I can't imagine it's right.
Perhaps a new, more powerful cable?
Also, how long should it take to fully charge the One?
Thank you!!! :good:

benyben123 said:
Thank you for this.
I have been using a 5V 2.1A charger (from Belkin) but with a "regular" old Samsung micro-usb cable and it took 6 hours to charge till full.
I can't imagine it's right.
Perhaps a new, more powerful cable?
Also, how long should it take to fully charge the One?
Thank you!!! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you use cable that support fast charge you can charge your phone less then 2 hour...just get a cable that support fast charge or support quick charge 2.0 and you will see the difference....

getting a good cable makes all the difference. I'm not sure if it is due to Lineage, firmware or the kernel... but my OPO has been very picky with the charging cable for at least the last 9 months. I first noticed this when my Jaybird Bluebuds X flat short cable charged significantly faster (then i lost the cable). then on some cables, it would say it's charging but the percentage would remain constant or even drop at a slower rate! I then tried different cables and charger combinations using the the AccuBattery app and OPO Charging Current app to note the ampere.
the xiaomi fast charging micro usb 1.2m flat cable is cheap and charges "fast". I highly recommend the xiaomi cable (i even bought like 4 of them for the office and for home).
paired with new-ish samsung quick charge chargers (which came with the S7 and C5 Pro that i had lying around), i get about 1.58A (screen off).... i also get comparable results with an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 charger from like 2011 and an ipad 3 charger.

-SKYLINE- said:
getting a good cable makes all the difference. I'm not sure if it is due to Lineage, firmware or the kernel... but my OPO has been very picky with the charging cable for at least the last 9 months. I first noticed this when my Jaybird Bluebuds X flat short cable charged significantly faster (then i lost the cable). then on some cables, it would say it's charging but the percentage would remain constant or even drop at a slower rate! I then tried different cables and charger combinations using the the AccuBattery app and OPO Charging Current app to note the ampere.
the xiaomi fast charging micro usb 1.2m flat cable is cheap and charges "fast". I highly recommend the xiaomi cable (i even bought like 4 of them for the office and for home).
paired with new-ish samsung quick charge chargers (which came with the S7 and C5 Pro that i had lying around), i get about 1.58A (screen off).... i also get comparable results with an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 charger from like 2011 and an ipad 3 charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you all for the great information!!!
Are you guys approve of this cable:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mic...lgo_pvid=66a80ce9-a9b2-454e-baa8-44c3ccb87354

well I went with blitzwolf ...I don't use my original charger as blitzwolf is faster(just a tad but still) ...BW-S5 is my main and I've ordered an BW-S9(I'll make BW-S5 a second to charge my phone in my shop and also charge clients phones/tablets if needed - I fix them too)
BW-S5 has an extended review from a dude with all the pros and cons ...great review if you want to look at it(he'll do the S9 as well but didn't receive it yet and I couldn't wait, I needed a good 2nd one)
P.S. Using custom cable made by me to avoid getting slow charges(only power cable, no data - for safety too)

I'm on this charger: http://s.aliexpress.com/qeaIfIrE and reversible micro USB cable from the same manufacturer (reversible micro usb seems to be not available to buy any longer though, I can see regular micro usb only)
Both are excellent.

Reccomend a Anker Charger
Anker makes good chargers..

evronetwork said:
P.S. Using custom cable made by me to avoid getting slow charges(only power cable, no data - for safety too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can we hear more about your custom cable?

Chotech SMT0008 5V/2.4A charger
Hi anybody who want to use a longer cable (1.8m -3m) without losing the charging speed, I would recommend Chotech SMT0008 5V/2.4A charger. You would be able to increase the charging speed up to 10-15%.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CHO...er-for-iPhone-Samsung-Xiaomi/32742790687.html
This charger can supply up to 5.5V to compensate USB cable resistance (especially when using a longer cable).
https://lygte-info.dk/review/USBpower Choetech usb 5V 2.4A SMT0008 UK.html
Don't forget a good quality cable as well for fast charging. Up to 1.5m 22AWG is OK, but over 1.5m get a 20-21 AWG cable. If you want to learn about cable resistance during charging the below article is helpful.
https://goughlui.com/2014/10/01/usb-cable-resistance-why-your-phonetablet-might-be-charging-slow/
I myself use Chotech SMT0008 5V/2.4A with a Tronsmart 20AWG 1.8m cable. I have tested some cables: Mageek 21AWG 3m, Blitzwolf 21AWG 1.8m, Ugreen 22AWG 1.5m all of them are OK. Avoid VoxLink cables !! their "fast cable" uses fake 24-28AWG!