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I want to get a few extra USB's and an extra chargers... Can someone link me to something that wont mess up my phone/has the right output?
The K-Zoo Kid said:
I want to get a few extra USB's and an extra chargers... Can someone link me to something that wont mess up my phone/has the right output?
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Click to collapse
I bought two of these to use with my existing usb cables and wall chargers. It works great for both charging and file transfering.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-RAZR2-Original-Micro-Adapter/dp/B001E5FN20/ref=pd_cp_cps_2
The K-Zoo Kid said:
I want to get a few extra USB's and an extra chargers... Can someone link me to something that wont mess up my phone/has the right output?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no "right" output
most usb ports will charge up to 500mA
the stock usb wall charger is, i think 750mA, i havent looked at it in awhile since its behind my desk, but i know its not 1A
the oem nexus one wall charger (non usb) will charge up to 1A
I would only recommend a 1A charger because there's no point to use a lower amperage, it just takes that much longer to charge your phone.
Couple of good threads on this topic, both on the vibrant and the i9000 acessories thread. Lots of good info. The deal extreme chargers look promising. Waiting to hear from a person who bought a 2amp charger if the extra 1a is used by the phone especially when using gps.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
sfsilicon said:
Couple of good threads on this topic, both on the vibrant and the i9000 acessories thread. Lots of good info. The deal extreme chargers look promising. Waiting to hear from a person who bought a 2amp charger if the extra 1a is used by the phone especially when using gps.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
well, my phone will still charge (slowly) while watching avatar, which i would assume is a pretty high load on the cpu, using the 1amp charger i got from dealextreme.
fwiw, the one i have is a 1A "HTC" wall charger thats square and lights up HTC when charging, it ****s up my screen sensitivity so i wouldnt recommend it, but it was only like four dollars so i'll live with it.
link:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41025
AC charger or car charger?
The charger does not dictate the amount of current given to the phone. The phone will only draw what it wants to. The charger can limit the maximum current but if the phone only asks for 700mA, a 2A charger will only provide the 700mA demanded by the phone.
I don't know what the max current our phones will use but having a larger charger will only help if the phone requests the larger current.
Typos and other gibberish courtesy of Swype
ive been using these:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10311&cs_id=1031106&p_id=6767&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10303#1030307
This is a pointless post and you know it...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
turbosix said:
well, my phone will still charge (slowly) while watching avatar, which i would assume is a pretty high load on the cpu, using the 1amp charger i got from dealextreme.
fwiw, the one i have is a 1A "HTC" wall charger thats square and lights up HTC when charging, it ****s up my screen sensitivity so i wouldnt recommend it, but it was only like four dollars so i'll live with it.
link:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41025
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure how stressful watching Avatar is from a current draw perspective. The torture test is to turn on 3G, Bluetooth, synch, GPS and run the Navigation app while driving. Some post indicate that only a true 2A charger will be able to do this w/o discharging the battery. 1A ones can only limit the discharge. Cheap ones empty quickly.
Could you check what your charge current file value is for your 1A DE charger? Make sure to use the original Samsung cable and cross check with the original Samsung charger and a USB port.
1) Use an application like ES File Manager or Astro Filemanager
2) /sys/class/power_supply/battery/batt_chg_current
Here are the 2 threads that I've found have a lot of charger info.
Vibrant: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=749746
Galaxy S: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7933978
well, i'll come back and update with samsung usb numbers as i wont have access to it for awhile.
i checked the file when using the HTC cable plugged into my work dell and it said 850-860 after checking a a dozen times
plugged into the wall charger now and its around 700-750
is that supposed to be reporting in mA?
turbosix said:
well, i'll come back and update with samsung usb numbers as i wont have access to it for awhile.
i checked the file when using the HTC cable plugged into my work dell and it said 850-860 after checking a a dozen times
plugged into the wall charger now and its around 700-750
is that supposed to be reporting in mA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but I haven't heard that anyone has measured it. The numbers you are getting are consistent with what others have see. 800-900 for USB. The original Samsung 700mA charger is getting 900-1100.
If you have another Android phone try that one as well to see the differences (e.g. G1 ~300-400).
sfsilicon said:
Yes, but I haven't heard that anyone has measured it. The numbers you are getting are consistent with what others have see. 800-900 for USB. The original Samsung 700mA charger is getting 900-1100.
If you have another Android phone try that one as well to see the differences (e.g. G1 ~300-400).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fwiw, gf's oem nexus one wall charger (non usb)
1100-1200mA
I just bought this dual usb charger so I could charge my Vibrant and my wifes blackberry. It's 2Amp (1A per port) and works great, if a little pricey, but worth it imo. I shouldn't need to buy another charger for a long time.
Griffin PowerBlock Dual Universal Charger for MP3 Players and USB Devices
(can't post links yet, google it)
Sent from the future on my Samsung Vibrant
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?
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
I haven't seen anybody mention this yet here on the forum, so I went ahead and bought one and tried it myself.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0047AALS0/ref=asc_df_B0047AALS09152658?smid=A1AUCPBF2P18HS&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B0047AALS0
This is a USB Y cable. Two USB type A plugs to increase charge capacity from 500mA to 1A.
I use Siyah kernel with STweaks to change USB charge capacity from 500mA to 900mA, I am currently looking for a way to increase this to the full 1A.
Only £3.99 from Amazon. Tested using CurrentWidget. Charging now at 900mA.
danieljamie said:
I haven't seen anybody mention this yet here on the forum, so I went ahead and bought one and tried it myself.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0047AAL...de=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B0047AALS0
This is a USB Y cable. Two USB type A plugs to increase charge capacity from 500mA to 1A.
I use Siyah kernel with STweaks to change USB charge capacity from 500mA to 900mA, I am currently looking for a way to increase this to the full 1A.
Only £3.99 from Amazon. Tested using CurrentWidget. Charging now at 900mA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you just buy a 1mA output charger. I have chargers that will fully charger my phone in about 1hr and 30min.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
smark72 said:
Can't you just buy a 1mA output charger. I have chargers that will fully charger my phone in about 1hr and 30min.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's designed for PC's and Laptops which only output 500mA on their USB ports.
Would work really well with the KiDiGi Cover-mate Dual Desktop Cradle, too bad it is a tad to expensive seeing that it is just a cable
Hey i have this cable which came with my 2.5 HDD external case. In some places i need to connect both cables to power the HDD so you think it will work same with S3? Also will it not damage it?
Exactly what I was looking for
danieljamie said:
I haven't seen anybody mention this yet here on the forum, so I went ahead and bought one and tried it myself.
This is a USB Y cable. Two USB type A plugs to increase charge capacity from 500mA to 1A.
I use Siyah kernel with STweaks to change USB charge capacity from 500mA to 900mA, I am currently looking for a way to increase this to the full 1A.
Only £3.99 from Amazon. Tested using CurrentWidget. Charging now at 900mA.
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Click to collapse
this was exactly what I was looking for.. Thanks a lot.. I also has Siyah kernel, and many USB 2 ports available at work, and like to keep my AC charger at home.
This cable won't give you 1A. I guess the second USB plug has no data connection (how could it? ) and without a registered USB device a USB port gives only a few mA of power.
It does work with 2.5" harddrives that need more power than one USB port can deliver. Why shouldn't it work with the s3?
But why would you need that when you are charging your phone at work? It's not like you're in a hurry. It can sit there all day.
And I wouldn't try to charge it with 1A or more just to save a little time. The charger you get with the s3 an the s3 itself are made for 900mA. That's why the kernel is limited to 900mA aswell. You might damage your phone by charging it with a higher current. Sure, there is a safety margin build in but going to the limit seldom is a good idea.
weisselstone said:
This cable won't give you 1A. I guess the second USB plug has no data connection (how could it? ) and without a registered USB device a USB port gives only a few mA of power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was correctly answered back in August (above). What does data have anything to do with current? It simply has 2 plugs so that it can draw more current (mA).
shamez23 said:
It does work with 2.5" harddrives that need more power than one USB port can deliver. Why shouldn't it work with the s3?
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Click to collapse
This.
shamez23 said:
But why would you need that when you are charging your phone at work? It's not like you're in a hurry. It can sit there all day.
And I wouldn't try to charge it with 1A or more just to save a little time. The charger you get with the s3 an the s3 itself are made for 900mA. That's why the kernel is limited to 900mA aswell. You might damage your phone by charging it with a higher current. Sure, there is a safety margin build in but going to the limit seldom is a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can't damage it that way. Electronic devices DRAW current, which means that they only take as much as they are able to. You can plug your phone into a 5A charger and it wouldn't damage it. Too much voltage WILL fry it though.
Are you sure about that?
I've read more than once on tech sites that for example the 2A charger of the iPad will charge other devices that come with weaker chargers faster but that they advice against doing that on a regular basis.
I do use industrial Li-ion batteries (18650) on several other devices and the charger I use for those has a switch with witch I can decide if I want to charge them at 500mA or at 1000mA. Reading in forums that specialize on devices that use those batteries and that have users that seem to know quite a bit about batteries and do extensive testing with sophisticated equipment, the general opinion is, that using lower Amps will prolong the lifetime of your batteries and that too high currents can potentially damage them as of course will overcharging them.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/ultra_fast_chargers
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
I don't know much about battery technology so I might be wrong. I always had problems to wrap my head around anything that has to do with electricity and electronics in general and have to use analogies to understand and explain how things work in that area. Those analogies don't always apply completely.
The one I have in this case is the following:
I decide how much I can eat. I can eat at a normal pace until I'm full but I can also stuff myself and eat a lot more than I would normally do in a short period of time. I know that the later is a bad idea and won't do me much good but it is possible.
If you are correct with what you said, batteries could draw a higher current than what the original charger is delivering, up to their limit but that could still be too much and harm them.
I don't know. Now I'm confused.
shamez23 said:
Are you sure about that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a point. I guess it depends on how well the charging circuitry (in the phone) is designed.
The battery itself won't limit the voltage/current (*). It's the charging circuitry that does this. For instance, if you connect the battery directly to a power supply and give it too much juice, it WILL damage the battery. Similarly, if the charging circuitry supplies too much to the battery, then this could also happen. However, it SHOULD be designed with appropriate tolerances and safety margins in mind. Therefore, it depends on how much you trust the hardware.
In that way, I guess charging at 500 mA would be considered safer. That being said, I'm happy plugging my phone into the wall charger every night, whether it's 900 mA or 1A.
(*) I know that Lithium batteries usually have built-in circuitry for safety measures, so they MIGHT have something that limits voltage/current, but I'm not sure.
900mA should be save. After all that's what Samsung gave us.
It's just that some people tweak their kernels to 1.25mA or even more. That's quite a bit higher than the specs and probably close to the safety margin.
It won't even charge your batterie faster that way. At least not when you talk about fully charging it. It will get faster to about 80% charge but after that it will take just so much longer to get to 100% that in the end it takes the same amount of time.
I'll stick to the original Samsung charger or the charger of my old HD2 that I have lying around. Makes me feel safer.
need a quick help here. i accidentally left my charger at work overnight, and someone decided that its his/her's now ....ive searched around and cant find place to buy the original charger that came with the m8. HTC's website doesnt have it. amazon doesnt. even ebay dont carry it.
i need of a charger. currently using a LG G2 charger thats rated 1.8a 5v .....but with a super slow cable.
is the LG charger okay to use? will it damage my m8 in the long run?
i am also buying this cable on amazon. buy or dont buy?
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Universal-5-Feet-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B009OP8KCM/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1401167720&sr=8-1&keywords=quick+charge+micro+usb+cable
yes, i know there is a quickcharge 2.0 coming out. seeing as the cable is only $5 ...im thinking it will do for now.
thanks in advance
HTC charger outputs 5V and 1.5A. As long as output voltage is same, you can use different chargers. Ampere value just affects charging time. Higher ampere means faster charge. In long term, it can shorten your battery's life, but I don't think 0.3A can cause an observable affect
D0GuKaN said:
HTC charger outputs 5V and 1.5A. As long as output voltage is same, you can use different chargers. Ampere value just affects charging time. Higher ampere means faster charge. In long term, it can shorten your battery's life, but I don't think 0.3A can cause an observable affect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. ordering now
simpl3lang said:
thanks. ordering now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use all sorts of chargers. They are pretty much standard now as far as micro usb goes. As said some are higher rated some are lower. I don't think there is any that will damage the phone as long as its designed for charging and is 5v.
I too use multiple chargers and cables and the only issue I've had is a double length cable that works for charging but won't allow connections to the pc
XDA app on m8 running venom
I charger capable of delivering more current will not damage your phone since the phone won't draw more current than it wants.
I have been on the hunt for good charging solutions for my Nexus 5 (and other devices). During this process I have made some observations that many of you probably already know but I wanted to post them here for others and hopefully gather more information as well.
It started off with me looking for dual port chargers that could fast charge my devices. Much to my dismay, I found that all the dual chargers I found had one Apple port and one non-Apple port which meant decreased charging rates for devices that weren't meant for its port. With that I decided to do a little non-scientific study. This was not meant for getting exact performance numbers, just to get an idea of what kind of performance I could get with different phone/cable/charger combinations.
Phones used:
Nexus 5 running 4.4.4
Samsung Galaxy S4 (SGH-I337) running 4.4.2
Method of measuring charge amperage:
Current Widget. Set to update every (1) second and I put 2 instances of each type of widget on the screen (total of 4 widgets): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget
Although I did the measurements with the phones connected to WiFi and not in airplane mode, the differences with the phones in airplane mode were insignificant for the purposes of this observation. The bigger factor was the difference between screen on and screen off (the rates you see immediately after turning the screen back on). I only used screen on rates. The readings I used below were when the phones batteries were below 90%.
Chargers that I have tried so far:
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From left to right, starting at the top left: Nexus 7 (2012) stock charger, Galaxy S4 stock charger, Nexus 5 stock charger, PowerGen dual port charger, GT Max 2 port car charger, LectronicSmart by Conair 2 port car charger.
Charger ratings:
Nexus 7: 2A
Galaxy S4: 2A
Nexus 5: 1.2A
PowerGen: 2.4 total divided between an Apple port and a Non-Apple port (NA)
GTMax: 2.1A and 1A
LectronicSmart: 2.1A each
Cords I used: Motorola SKN6378A, stock Nexus 5 cable, stock Galaxy S4 cable. All these cables had the same performance.
Nexus 5 results:
N5, N7 and PowerGen (NA port) all peaked in the 900mA range but the readings were constantly fluctuating between the peak and the 600mA range except for the PowerGen NA port had lows in the 300's. The PowerGen Apple port could barely peak in the 300's with lows in the single digits. The Samsung S4 charger had peaks in the 1500mA range and lows in the 1400 range.
Both car chargers were miserable, with peaks in the 300's and lows in the single digits.
Samsung Galaxy S4 results:
The Samsung values didn't fluctuate like the Nexus did. In spite of it being set to update every second, it just showed a constant charge value. I'm not smart enough to divine what might be the cause but I am assuming it may be due to the widget compatibility or how the S4 reports charging amperage, I cant imagine that it doesn't fluctuate.
On all chargers it showed 1200mA charging rate, even on the Apple port of the PowerGen charger. It is interesting that the N5 pulls a better charging rate off of the Samsung charger than its own phone does.
I also decided to try out some 3rd party cables to see how they might perform. On the S4 power adapter with a generic eBay/Amazon cable the N5 pulled around 400mA and the S4 pulled 600mA. With a generic cable from Fry's the N5 pulled into the 900's while the S4 pulled 1200mA.
I have a couple more chargers on order and will update this along with links if anyone is interested.
I am still on the hunt for a good dual port charger (both car and wall) that can fast charge a Nexus 5 and another Android device (Nexus 7, Galaxy S4, etc) so if anyone has any good leads, it would be appreciated.
Here is a screenshot of the N5 with the 4 widgets to illustrate the wide fluctuations:
Ok, It turns out that not all cables that report "Charging (AC)" are created equal, more on that below.
I got more chargers in the mail:
From left to right: Anker dual port car charger with PowerIQ, CHOETECH, Pwr+ single charger, Pwr+ dual charger.
The Anker dual port car charger with PowerIQ is great. I can get 1A+ on either port on the Nexus 5.
Both the Pwr+ chargers gave 1A+ charging. They have fixed cables. The power supply for the dual charger is a bit big but its still better than carrying two single chargers.
The CHOETECH also worked great, giving 1A+ charging with the included cable. Here is where the interesting part with the different USB cables come in. The included cable showed Charging (AC), as expected. However, when I plugged the stock Samsung or the Motorola SKN6378A from A4C they only reported USB which is odd because they report Charging (AC) on other chargers. They could also only pull around 400mA from the CHOETECH. The CHOETECH's included cable showed Charging (AC) and pulled 1A+ on the other chargers. It was even able to pull 1A+ on both ports of the PowerGen charger when the other "good" cables could only pull good amps off of the NA side.
So it seems that it can be important to be able to pair the right USB cable with the right charger.
Here are the Amazon links to the chargers listed above:
Anker car charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D82O68Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
CHOETECH: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IG05402/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pwr+ single charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009STIJWA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pwr+ dual charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JKSMXLC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Reserved again.. cuz the first one was so much fun!
phoenyx said:
N5, N7 and PowerGen (NA port) all peaked in the 900mA range but the readings were constantly fluctuating between the peak and the 600mA range except for the PowerGen NA port had lows in the 300's. The PowerGen Apple port could barely peak in the 300's with lows in the single digits. The Samsung S4 charger had peaks in the 1500mA range and lows in the 1400 range.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very odd. I have a 2012 N7 charger and I am able to get an average of 1.6A with my Nexus 5. I do my measurements differently (I take the charge time between two known percentages and use that to calculate the average current) but it shouldn't cause that significant a difference. The issue with the current meter widgets is that they're measuring the total current flowing into the battery. That means that anything that is using power on the device (screen, CPU, etc...) causes a fluctuation in the current reading. The charger itself is providing a fairly flat current, your phone's usage is changing rapidly over time.
The reason you see low charging rates on the car chargers/apple chargers with the Nexus 5 is probably due to the charging method being used. Apple chargers put a voltage across the data pins to tell the phone the charging rate of the adapter. Android chargers short the two data pins to tell the device that it's a charger and not a USB port. When you plug the Nexus 5 into a charger designed for an Apple device, the Nexus 5 thinks it is a computer and won't pull more than 500mA off of the charger. If you check the battery menu during that time you will likely see that it says "Charging (USB)" instead of "Charging (AC)." Some of the cables I have cause this issue as well. Monoprice's Premium USB cables are super cheap, guaranteed for life and charge every phone I have tested properly assuming the charger itself isn't an issue.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=9762&seq=1&format=2
As far as a charger recommendation, I love Anker products. Their "PowerIQ" chargers will charge any device at its maximum rate.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Dual-P...MK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1405347957&sr=8-14
Two Nexus 5s will charge at 1.6A each on this charger. The only issue is that they don't have a good wall charger with PowerIQ. The only option is this "desktop" charger.
http://www.amazon.com/Family-Sized-...ETFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405348099&sr=8-1
I followed up with them and they said that more PowerIQ chargers were coming over the summer, but I haven't seen anything yet.
You can also use a "charge only" cable to get the maximum from any charger.
http://www.amazon.com/PortaPow-Micr...TYUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405348221&sr=8-1
That should allow you to get a better charge out of the "Apple" port on the "A/NA" charger you have.
raptir said:
That's very odd. I have a 2012 N7 charger and I am able to get an average of 1.6A with my Nexus 5. I do my measurements differently (I take the charge time between two known percentages and use that to calculate the average current) but it shouldn't cause that significant a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. Admittedly, it wasn't a very scientific approach and I could have been more accurate but my goal was to just show that two Android phones using the same chargers and cables were getting different vastly different results. Especially that the Galaxy S4 could get 1200mA on the Apple port while the Nexus 5 couldn't even get half that.. and they are using the same charger, same cable and both widgets are showing AC charging (FWIW I tested all the cables on each charger, each showed AC and all had the same results across setups).
raptir said:
The issue with the current meter widgets is that they're measuring the total current flowing into the battery. That means that anything that is using power on the device (screen, CPU, etc...) causes a fluctuation in the current reading. The charger itself is providing a fairly flat current, your phone's usage is changing rapidly over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I am aware of that and I guess I should have explained it better. I had two points about this. The first was that the Galaxy S4 didn't fluctuate while the N5 did, but I suspect that has to do with the way the app is interacting with the phone.
The second was that on the Nexus 5 with 4 instances of the widget from the same app, all set to update 1 second apart were showing 4 very different amperage readings when they were supposed to be getting the sample at the same time. I just found it curious is all.
raptir said:
The reason you see low charging rates on the car chargers/apple chargers with the Nexus 5 is probably due to the charging method being used. Apple chargers put a voltage across the data pins to tell the phone the charging rate of the adapter. Android chargers short the two data pins to tell the device that it's a charger and not a USB port. When you plug the Nexus 5 into a charger designed for an Apple device, the Nexus 5 thinks it is a computer and won't pull more than 500mA off of the charger. If you check the battery menu during that time you will likely see that it says "Charging (USB)" instead of "Charging (AC)." Some of the cables I have cause this issue as well. Monoprice's Premium USB cables are super cheap, guaranteed for life and charge every phone I have tested properly assuming the charger itself isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That it what I understood as well. Which is why I am mystified why one Android phone (S4) can pull 1200mA off an Apple port but a different Android phone (N5) can't, using the exact same cable and showing AC Charging on the widget. I would be interested to hear if you have any ideas on why that would be.
raptir said:
As far as a charger recommendation, I love Anker products. Their "PowerIQ" chargers will charge any device at its maximum rate.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Dual-P...MK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1405347957&sr=8-14
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ordered that when I was having issues with the Nexus 5 on my current car charger, it should be here any day now. It was one of the ones I mentioned in the original post that is on order. Their description of PowerIQ made me hopeful, but then I read a product description of one of their other products with PowerIQ on their website and it talked about Apple and non-Apple ports so now I'm just hoping that it will work the way I originally thought/hoped it would.
It was the car charger that alerted me to the possibility of a difference in charging performance between the Galaxy S4 and N5. I noticed that when I drove around with navigation on the Galaxy S4 could charge up decently while the Nexus 5 wouldn't charge much if at all using the same cable and charger.
raptir said:
Two Nexus 5s will charge at 1.6A each on this charger. The only issue is that they don't have a good wall charger with PowerIQ. The only option is this "desktop" charger.
http://www.amazon.com/Family-Sized-...ETFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405348099&sr=8-1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost ordered that last week until I ready that other product description. I decided to wait to see how the car charger above works.
raptir said:
I followed up with them and they said that more PowerIQ chargers were coming over the summer, but I haven't seen anything yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is great news! If this PowerIQ works like I hope it works, I'll be happy. Thanks for that info!
raptir said:
You can also use a "charge only" cable to get the maximum from any charger.
http://www.amazon.com/PortaPow-Micr...TYUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405348221&sr=8-1
That should allow you to get a better charge out of the "Apple" port on the "A/NA" charger you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is also one of the cables I mentioned in the OP that are on order. Unfortunately since my other cables here are showing AC Charging, I am assuming they have the data pins shorted and so I'm not expecting anything from this. This still doesn't really answer the question of why the Samsung can pull a better charge out of an Apple port than the Nexus 5. Any ideas? Same cables and all.
Thanks again.
phoenyx said:
Thanks for the reply. Admittedly, it wasn't a very scientific approach and I could have been more accurate but my goal was to just show that two Android phones using the same chargers and cables were getting different vastly different results. Especially that the Galaxy S4 could get 1200mA on the Apple port while the Nexus 5 couldn't even get half that.. and they are using the same charger, same cable and both widgets are showing AC charging (FWIW I tested all the cables on each charger, each showed AC and all had the same results across setups).
That it what I understood as well. Which is why I am mystified why one Android phone (S4) can pull 1200mA off an Apple port but a different Android phone (N5) can't, using the exact same cable and showing AC Charging on the widget. I would be interested to hear if you have any ideas on why that would be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what I posted mainly applies to the Nexus phones. I think Samsung has put some more intelligent circuitry in the Galaxy S4/S5 that allow it to charge on Apple ports as well. It's not a hard and fast rule, it's just the "standard." The S4 is hard-capped at 1200mA though, so the Nexus 5 will charge faster on an appropriate charger.
phoenyx said:
Yes, I am aware of that and I guess I should have explained it better. I had two points about this. The first was that the Galaxy S4 didn't fluctuate while the N5 did, but I suspect that has to do with the way the app is interacting with the phone.
The second was that on the Nexus 5 with 4 instances of the widget from the same app, all set to update 1 second apart were showing 4 very different amperage readings when they were supposed to be getting the sample at the same time. I just found it curious is all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. My guess would be that even though they're supposed to poll at the same time, they're really pulling the data in quick succession. As in they end up in the service's queue and receive the data at slightly different timepoints as a result.
phoenyx said:
I ordered that when I was having issues with the Nexus 5 on my current car charger, it should be here any day now. It was one of the ones I mentioned in the original post that is on order. Their description of PowerIQ made me hopeful, but then I read a product description of one of their other products with PowerIQ on their website and it talked about Apple and non-Apple ports so now I'm just hoping that it will work the way I originally thought/hoped it would.
It was the car charger that alerted me to the possibility of a difference in charging performance between the Galaxy S4 and N5. I noticed that when I drove around with navigation on the Galaxy S4 could charge up decently while the Nexus 5 wouldn't charge much if at all using the same cable and charger.
I almost ordered that last week until I ready that other product description. I decided to wait to see how the car charger above works.
That is great news! If this PowerIQ works like I hope it works, I'll be happy. Thanks for that info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't have a Galaxy device but I do know that the PowerIQ chargers work great for the Nexus 5. I get the full 1.6A current that the Nexus 5 can accept. It charges it from dead in under an hour and a half. It's great for recharging on my way home from work.
I did see on their website that they have a two-port wall charger on their PowerIQ page, but when you click through to Amazon it shows as the old A/NA charger.
http://www.ianker.com/poweriq/poweriq.html
Hopefully they actually update it soon.
phoenyx said:
That is also one of the cables I mentioned in the OP that are on order. Unfortunately since my other cables here are showing AC Charging, I am assuming they have the data pins shorted and so I'm not expecting anything from this. This still doesn't really answer the question of why the Samsung can pull a better charge out of an Apple port than the Nexus 5. Any ideas? Same cables and all.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as Samsung vs Nexus, see above. I've personally never experienced a slow charge out of a charger that showed "Charging (AC)." Very odd. If you're getting the Anker chargers, I would pair them with the Monoprice Premium cables.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=9762&seq=1&format=2
I can attest that the Anker charger or my Nexus 7 2012 charger plus a Monoprice cable will charge all the devices I've tried at full speed (Nexus 7 2012, Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Kindle Fire HDX, and my friend's Razr M). Their "non-premium" cables work well also, but I find that they wear out. They do replace them for free though.
raptir said:
Well, what I posted mainly applies to the Nexus phones. I think Samsung has put some more intelligent circuitry in the Galaxy S4/S5 that allow it to charge on Apple ports as well. It's not a hard and fast rule, it's just the "standard." The S4 is hard-capped at 1200mA though, so the Nexus 5 will charge faster on an appropriate charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I was assuming it was the standard that all Android phones used to determine charge rates... lol. Silly me. What you say makes sense and is what I was afraid of. I was hoping I was "doing it wrong" or there was some other trick to getting more charge out of the PowerGen wall chargers that I have. I will give it another shot with the cables I have on order when they come in. I will see how it goes and maybe I'll order that Monoprice to try out as well.
raptir said:
Interesting. My guess would be that even though they're supposed to poll at the same time, they're really pulling the data in quick succession. As in they end up in the service's queue and receive the data at slightly different timepoints as a result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kind of what I was thinking too but then again, the widgets are only reporting information the main app is seeing. You would think that when the app takes a sample at a given time, it is that info that is transmitted to all the app instances so the info should be the same. Apparently not. It's not a big deal, I just notice and am curious about strange things sometimes.
raptir said:
Well, I don't have a Galaxy device but I do know that the PowerIQ chargers work great for the Nexus 5. I get the full 1.6A current that the Nexus 5 can accept. It charges it from dead in under an hour and a half. It's great for recharging on my way home from work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is great news! I'm looking forward to getting mine in the mail soon. I'll post what I find with that charger along with the other ones I have coming.
raptir said:
I did see on their website that they have a two-port wall charger on their PowerIQ page, but when you click through to Amazon it shows as the old A/NA charger.
http://www.ianker.com/poweriq/poweriq.html
Hopefully they actually update it soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too. I'll be keeping an eye out for that. Which PowerIQ chargers do you have? Just the car charger or do you have this 2 port wall charger too?
raptir said:
As far as Samsung vs Nexus, see above. I've personally never experienced a slow charge out of a charger that showed "Charging (AC)." Very odd. If you're getting the Anker chargers, I would pair them with the Monoprice Premium cables.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Nexus 5 only really got a slow charge with Charging (AC) showing out of the Apple port on the PowerGen and car chargers. When the same cable is plugged into the non-Apple, it works fine. Kind of disappointed that I cant get the same performance on the Apple port like the Galaxy does. I bought a bunch of these when I was using the Galaxy. Makes me apprehensive about buying more chargers that may not work that well.
I'll play around a bit more with the new cables and see what I can find. Thanks again for the info and the recommendations.
phoenyx said:
Me too. I'll be keeping an eye out for that. Which PowerIQ chargers do you have? Just the car charger or do you have this 2 port wall charger too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the two-port car charger and an external battery (second-gen Astro2). I really want a 2-port wall charger (to use with my Kindle Fire and Nexus 5 at home) but I haven't been able to find one.
raptir said:
I have the two-port car charger and an external battery (second-gen Astro2). I really want a 2-port wall charger (to use with my Kindle Fire and Nexus 5 at home) but I haven't been able to find one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JKSMXLC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I just got it in the mail and it works good with the N5. Rated at 4A.
I put the new chargers in the 2nd post above and also noted that cables that report Charging (AC) on some adapters will only report USB (and lower charging rates) on other adapters.
phoenyx said:
Check out this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JKSMXLC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I just got it in the mail and it works good with the N5. Rated at 4A.
I put the new chargers in the 2nd post above and also noted that cables that report Charging (AC) on some adapters will only report USB (and lower charging rates) on other adapters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only issue is a really want something with detachable cables. So I can change length/connect my wireless charger to it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52142798
fyi samsung galaxy phones aren't really compatible with current widgets.
use an external meter for accurate measurements
Akoolive said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52142798
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I've seen that post.. It's a good one but like another poster here I'm after chargers with USB cables that are detachable and dual chargers. I created this mainly to cite some observations that all chargers may not perform equally on different phones.
Nevertheless, thank you for your reply and for posting the link.
sucsss said:
fyi samsung galaxy phones aren't really compatible with current widgets.
use an external meter for accurate measurements
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I kinda figured it must be a compatibility issue. However, an external would only show how much the charger could put out, which is not the same as how much the phone will take.. Unless you measure it inline. Other than that you'd have to take a sample over time and do the math.
I got the Anker dual car charger and it has been great. So I orders ordered a couple more. the PowerIQ seems to be the key for their chargers.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
phoenyx said:
Thanks. I kinda figured it must be a compatibility issue. However, an external would only show how much the charger could put out, which is not the same as how much the phone will take.. Unless you measure it inline. Other than that you'd have to take a sample over time and do the math.
I got the Anker dual car charger and it has been great. So I orders ordered a couple more. the PowerIQ seems to be the key for their chargers.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to sound condescending but that's exactly how it would work. A good charger can only output up to the max designed. It's completely dependent on what the phone wants.
To measure amps the meter is in serial circuit and to measure voltage it's in parallel. The prebuilt usb meters are only a few bucks on ebay. I use a multimeter to check that the usb meter is correct.
And most phones will attempt to do their max charge rate when below 80-90% battery. (if temperatures allow). So you don't need a fancy graph. Just plug in the phone with low battery and not overheating and it'll try to charge at the max rate it can.
sucsss said:
I don't want to sound condescending but that's exactly how it would work. A good charger can only output up to the max designed. It's completely dependent on what the phone wants.
To measure amps the meter is in serial circuit and to measure voltage it's in parallel. The prebuilt usb meters are only a few bucks on ebay. I use a multimeter to check that the usb meter is correct.
And most phones will attempt to do their max charge rate when below 80-90% battery. (if temperatures allow). So you don't need a fancy graph. Just plug in the phone with low battery and not overheating and it'll try to charge at the max rate it can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL.. You sound more confused about what I've said than condescending. I've never implied a charger will charge more than its rated for. If I did, please show me where I said that so i can correct it because that was not my intention.
I know it was probably a little bit of a confusing post since i kind of mashed several thoughts together (and this one is probably no better... I've been up way too long and sorely jet lagged.. LOL) but if you read the thread I stated that I observed different USB/phone combos will charge at varying rates... Even between "good" USB cables on the same charger.. even when they are showing AC charging. It was my impression that two "good" USB cables that report AC charging would perform similarly on the same charger or one would have similar performance across similar chargers. That is apparently not the case.
Also as I originally posted it's just observations... Not trying to geek out on it and be pedantic over it. However the USB meter you mentioned sounds interesting, maybe I'll pick one up. Thanks for the suggestion.
Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the Anker chargers so I think I'll stick with them.
Thanks for your input..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk