Develop Bugs

Review of Anker 3.6A (18W) Dual USB Car Charger w/pics!

This is a review of Anker Bolt 3.6A (18W) Dual USB Car Charger: Anker Car Charger
From my own personal experience I use Note 2 every day as GPS to/from work. Everything is usually on (display, bluetooth), plus GPS/Google maps are up, and I take/make phone calls in a middle of all that. What does that mean? Battery is draining really fast, and even with car charger you need at least 2A output to be able to charge at faster rate than discharging with everything on. 2A charger is not hard to find, although question always come up if you can trust their actual rating. If you want to take it to the next level and charge another smart phone, you can probably find a dual charger with 2A and 1A, although reliability and current sharing during simultaneous use of ports might be in question. This new product from Anker took it to the next level where they are offering dual port output with 2.1A and 1.5A outputs and guarantee full current supply from each port at the same time. In terms of reliability, they are offering 18 months warranty which I think is a bold statement of confidence in their product.
3.6A, which is 18W, is a lot of power and to my surprise the charger was actually very small and lightweight. The dimensions of the end with dual ports is only 26 mm x 24 mm, and the whole charger is very lightweight and only 22g. This small size is very convenient for tight spaces like in your arm-rest compartment, and just in general is unobtrusive to use anywhere in the car. I know they advertise it as dual port with 2.1A for Apple (obviously iPad) and 1.5A for smart phones, but I confirmed that our Note 2 charges perfectly from Apple port. As a matter of fact that would be the best port to use for Note 2 fast charging. I took a picture in my car to demonstrate that both of the ports worked charging Note 2.
Overall it's a great little dual usb port car charger from a trusted company with a punch of 3.6A capacity split between 2.1A and 1.5A ports where both can be used simultaneously so you can do a fast charging of two devices at the same time. Plus, you can get it on Amazon for under $12 which is a bargain.
Here are a few pics:
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How fast does it charge though. Post pictures of charge progress over a 15-20 minutes period please

elite-fusion said:
How fast does it charge though. Post pictures of charge progress over a 15-20 minutes period please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if I ever get around it. I'm testing my ZeroLemon 9300 mAh so I mostly discharging my battery rather than charging it up. Will take a while before I get to in car charging Beside for me timing charge in the car makes no sense because I use my N2 for GPS and calls all the time, so I'm discharging it at a heavy rate as it charges up. But for sure, it goes up 15%-20% with this charger during my 1hr commute, but only because I use GPS/BT/display fully on at max brightness. This car charger is true 2.1A/1.5A, so the charging time from 2.1A shouldn't be any different than our OEM wall charger.

vectron said:
Don't know if I ever get around it. I'm testing my ZeroLemon 9300 mAh so I mostly discharging my battery rather than charging it up. Will take a while before I get to in car charging Beside for me timing charge in the car makes no sense because I use my N2 for GPS and calls all the time, so I'm discharging it at a heavy rate as it charges up. But for sure, it goes up 15%-20% with this charger during my 1hr commute, but only because I use GPS/BT/display fully on at max brightness. This car charger is true 2.1A/1.5A, so the charging time from 2.1A shouldn't be any different than our OEM wall charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to use the Galaxy Charge Current app (available on the play store) to see how much current it's supplying (although this may vary depending on the USB cable you use with it, a reason why I'm purchasing the variant with a built in micro-usb cable and a usb port) although I seem to remember you stating in another thread you had one of the US variants of the Note II and the app may not be compatible with those.

D3_ said:
You should be able to use the Galaxy Charge Current app (available on the play store) to see how much current it's supplying (although this may vary depending on the USB cable you use with it, a reason why I'm purchasing the variant with a built in micro-usb cable and a usb port) although I seem to remember you stating in another thread you had one of the US variants of the Note II and the app may not be compatible with those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right I'm on US version under Verizon. Those are the exact 2 variants that don't work with this app

D3_ said:
You should be able to use the Galaxy Charge Current app (available on the play store) to see how much current it's supplying (although this may vary depending on the USB cable you use with it, a reason why I'm purchasing the variant with a built in micro-usb cable and a usb port) although I seem to remember you stating in another thread you had one of the US variants of the Note II and the app may not be compatible with those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick update on this:
Although the Galaxy Charge Current app only reports the charger giving 1.2a, over an approximately 15 minute period with the screen on, music playback, GPS lock and video recording @ 720p with DailyRoads Voyager, the charger was still able to charge my N7100 from 80% to 86%, which isn't bad considering the heavy load it was under.
The particular charger I bought is this one

D3_ said:
Quick update on this:
Although the Galaxy Charge Current app only reports the charger giving 1.2a, over an approximately 15 minute period with the screen on, music playback, GPS lock and video recording @ 720p with DailyRoads Voyager, the charger was still able to charge my N7100 from 80% to 86%, which isn't bad considering the heavy load it was under.
The particular charger I bought is this one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty good! But the one you bought is their old generation 15W charger (2.1A and 1A outputs), while this one is a revised new gen 18W with 2.1A and 1.5A outputs - this one

vectron said:
Pretty good! But the one you bought is their old generation 15W charger (2.1A and 1A outputs), while this one is a revised new gen 18W with 2.1A and 1.5A outputs - this one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, thanks for the info. Seems I'm only missing out on 300mA though (one reviewer says the android port on that is rated at 1.5A and I get 1.2A from mine) so I don't think I'll go for that one. this way I know I'm going to get a decent charge no matter what usb cable I use. I've only got one that's actually capable of charging at full speed and having to take it everywhere I go would be annoying, the fixed charger on this is perfect for me.
Only posted here to help others looking for a decent car charger, as you did. Every other thread I see on the topic seems to recommend usb chargers such as yours but never recommend cables capable of utilising them to their full potential.
Anyway, keep up the great reviews
Most of them make me want to spend money I know I shouldn't on things I don't necessarily need
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

D3_ said:
Ah, thanks for the info. Seems I'm only missing out on 300mA though (one reviewer says the android port on that is rated at 1.5A and I get 1.2A from mine) so I don't think I'll go for that one. this way I know I'm going to get a decent charge no matter what usb cable I use. I've only got one that's actually capable of charging at full speed and having to take it everywhere I go would be annoying, the fixed charger on this is perfect for me.
Only posted here to help others looking for a decent car charger, as you did. Every other thread I see on the topic seems to recommend usb chargers such as yours but never recommend cables capable of utilising them to their full potential.
Anyway, keep up the great reviews
Most of them make me want to spend money I know I shouldn't on things I don't necessarily need
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any recommendations for usb cables that can take advantage of that charge speed?

hurrpancakes said:
Do you have any recommendations for usb cables that can take advantage of that charge speed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely! I highly recommend to use Monoprice usb 28AWG/24AWG cables with Ferrite choker and gold-plated connectors. You need thicker cables to handle 2A current. Do not use thin computer cables designed for 500mA current.
Monoprice cables are very cheap too, 3ft for $1.08: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8640&seq=1&format=2 or 6ft for $1.40: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8641&seq=1&format=2

hurrpancakes said:
Do you have any recommendations for usb cables that can take advantage of that charge speed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd go with what Vectron suggested.
In the UK the only cable I've found that does is an old BlackBerry usb cable my cousin had. Swapped it for a spare cable I had that only did 1A because her phone only charges at 1A anyway.
Sent from my Galaxy Note II using xda premium

vectron said:
Absolutely! I highly recommend to use Monoprice usb 28AWG/24AWG cables with Ferrite choker and gold-plated connectors. You need thicker cables to handle 2A current. Do not use thin computer cables designed for 500mA current.
Monoprice cables are very cheap too, 3ft for $1.08: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8640&seq=1&format=2 or 6ft for $1.40: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8641&seq=1&format=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume their premium would also have the throughput and low resistance to work as well.

lovekeiiy said:
I assume their premium would also have the throughput and low resistance to work as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely, it's low voltage drop cable design. Plus it never failed me in the car either if it's 100deg C or down to single digits.

Just ordered one to see if it'll trigger my iBolt Dock's USB charging/audio feature. Hopefully it does...if it doesn't, well least I can charge two phones in the car at once now.

Ordered these cables from monoprice, used with my original charger and couldn't get my ZL9300 charged over 72%. Kept it on charger for over 12 hours

VitaliyUvakin said:
Ordered these cables from monoprice, used with my original charger and couldn't get my ZL9300 charged over 72%. Kept it on charger for over 12 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't be the cable. It's just a thick wire. If it would have been defective, you wouldn't be able to even charge it up to 72%, although you can never tell for sure. So you have used original Samsung 2A wall charger with it's original cable from the same AC wall outlet to charge up your Note 2 with Zerolemon before to 100% without any problem? I just want to baseline your working setup so you can troubleshoot from there. If it was working before in exactly the same setup and you only replaced the cable, can you go back to the original cable and see if it will charge it to 100% without a problem? If not, then it's something wrong with a cable. Make sure nothing funny is going on with your AC wall outlet plug. I discovered that in my house I have a few that not allowing me to do fast charging due to some electric wiring limitation. Also, make sure everything is connected all the way in. Depending on the case you are using, some of these micro-usb connectors are a bit too thick to go all the way in, and although it looks like you are charging - because connector is not mated all the way in, you have a bad contact and limiting charging current. I actually BET you that's exactly what is going on. I have so many usb-to-micro-usb cables around, can't keep track of it. But I remember at my work I had to slice a piece of micro-usb connector to make it thinner to work with my Zerolemon TPU, and I believe that was monoprice cable. Definitely check it out, cause that could be a problem in your case.

Everything was the same, same 2A charger, same outlet, same phone with ZL battery . Just replaced my Samy cable with 6ft one from monoprice. Will try again tomorrow with oem cable, will see how it goes

VitaliyUvakin said:
Everything was the same, same 2A charger, same outlet, same phone with ZL battery . Just replaced my Samy cable with 6ft one from monoprice. Will try again tomorrow with oem cable, will see how it goes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trim micro usb connector. Gotta be it.

It seems to fit pretty tight, but I will definitely try it.

Ha! The Anker direct store in ebay is selling this for $55!! What is it made of gold now? LOL.

A MUST have tool to figure out faster charging of your phone/tablet, w/lots of pics!

With probably over a hundred of gadget and accessory reviews, this is the first time I'm making such a bold statement. Yes, I do consider this as one of the MUST have tools for any smartphone users. This is Charger Doctor, USB amp-volt tester I just got from DX.com : http://dx.com/p/usb-av-usb-power-current-voltage-tester-translucent-blue-silver-235090 and this little guy is only $5.99
How many times we seen posts asking "my phone is not charging fast enough" or "I have a bunch of usb cables and old chargers, which one to use"? I lost a count. When it comes to chargers, at least those get labeled, although some are "mislabeled" or get degraded after months of use. Why do you think our phone is charging slow? Its the current output of your charger AND usb cables you are using. The charging formula is very simple, capacity of your battery in 'mAh' / rating of your charger in 'mA' = to get time in 'h' to charge. The number is usually approximated since nothing is ideal due to efficiency loses. So how do you find this perfect combo of charger and cables to give you the fastest charging speed? Use Charger Doctor!!!
This is a very simple little pass-through usb dongle. For those who know anything about electronics, and I actually took the case apart and snapped a few shots for your to appreciate the guts of it, or anybody who just have an open mind - the principle of this device is simple. You have full size usb input and output with interconnected power and signal, but power will go through a sensing resistor to measure voltage drop for calculating the current (ohm's law of V = I * R). I'm just guessing by looking at this gadget, it has some DAC to convert and to output the reading on a small led display which shows your Voltage reading and I-current reading. Here is a catch, since its full usb - it will connect between your charger and usb cable so you are NOT measuring at the output of the cable going into the phone. By using free Galaxy charging app you can approximately see the drop between the charger and going through the cable. Plus, this way you can "calibrate" the cable loss if you want to use this setup with another tablet or smartphone, other then Galaxy type.
In simple words for those who might not be following my technical explanation, just gather all your chargers and cables, and test different combinations to find the highest current reading you can get. KEEP in mind, when this little gadget is plugged in, it will draw its own current to power up dac and LED display, that is why you will see an additional drop when you compare reading with just a charger and a cable, and with this Charger Doctor in-between So once you find a perfect combo, unplug this dongle because it will "slow" down your charging by funneling some of the current. To demonstrate what I mean, I have a little presentation below with combination of 2 wall chargers and 3 pairs of cables, and took comparison pictures with Charger Doctor and without it. Keep in mind, this might not be 100% accurate, but it will give you a really good idea. As you can see, I found that one of the usb cables (black one) was the worst one, and the best combination of charging speed was using original Samsung OEM wall charger and yellow usb cable from UE boom. I hope they will also release a similar device with micro-usb in and out, but even with full size usb - for $5.99 its one cool gadget! Also, if you have solar powered charger - this will be a must where it will help you greatly to find a sweet sunny spot for a maximum current charge.
Here are the pics.
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And for EE or hobby geeks:

Great timing with your post of this, vectron. I have a knock-off version of the same unit that I got off of ebay. I am actually in the process of making my own micro usb version that I can use in between the charge cable and the phone. I am awaiting for parts to arrive from china, so it will still be a while. Up until I took it apart and removed the usb ports, I was using it in between the charger and cable and it worked great. I agree that it is a "must have", especially for those trying to figure out an ideal charger/cable combination.....

evil510 said:
Great timing with your post of this, vectron. I have a knock-off version of the same unit that I got off of ebay. I am actually in the process of making my own micro usb version that I can use in between the charge cable and the phone. I am awaiting for parts to arrive from china, so it will still be a while. Up until I took it apart and removed the usb ports, I was using it in between the charger and cable and it worked great. I agree that it is a "must have", especially for those trying to figure out an ideal charger/cable combination.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post details of your DIY!!! micro-usb update will be highly desirable!!! One connector is surface mount, the other one is through-hole on this device. Definitely feasible to remove and white-wire with micro-usb

I just recently got one of these as well. I highly recommend it. The only one of its kind at a reasonable price.

Would I be correct in assuming that the app that you are using basically gives the same information as this device?

JCreazy said:
Would I be correct in assuming that the app that you are using basically gives the same information as this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Relatively speaking yes. But Galaxy Charging current app only works with Samsung Galaxy phones, and for example you will have to buy premium version to use it with older models like S3. And if you want to figure out your charging current on Nexus or any other tablet or iDevice - this voltage/current meter will still work without a need for an app. Also, very important, keep in mind that app gives you total current through the charger and the wire. Those are 2 variable and you will not know which one is bad until you break it up. Thus using both voltage/current meter and app gives you the most info when you troubleshooting your connection.

This is super cool! Great write up! Gotta get one or 12.
The fact that they can design, develop, test, manufacture, distribute and ship this product from China to the U.S. and cover PP/CC fees all for $5.99 is absolutely mind boggling.
I could barely ship a pencil down the street for $5.99...

Probably not too hard when you pay the factory workers $1 a month. ...
Sent From My Ginormous Note 2

planetbeen said:
Probably not too hard when you pay the factory workers $1 a month. ...
Sent From My Ginormous Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And probably considering that components in there all together cost under $3. All those products are manufactured in big quantities and they probably make very little profit on each unit.

Rootabaga said:
This is super cool! Great write up! Gotta get one or 12.
The fact that they can design, develop, test, manufacture, distribute and ship this product from China to the U.S. and cover PP/CC fees all for $5.99 is absolutely mind boggling.
I could barely ship a pencil down the street for $5.99...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much less to do it for $3.27... lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Portabl...uter_Power_Supply_Testers&hash=item485a80ba76

JCreazy said:
Would I be correct in assuming that the app that you are using basically gives the same information as this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not for me.
Based on Vectron's review, I ordered and received one from Amazon. I love it.
The information is interesting: on my Note 2, I use the app Galaxy Charging current lite
and it always reported '1680 mA' (yes, I kept hitting 'refresh'), while the usb current gadget displayed 1.1 A (and yes, I connected to a 2A wall charger).
So the app is not accurate.

I ask the creator of Galaxy Charging Current about using it on Note 2, and here's the reply:
As far as I know the device does not provide that info, and the app has no way to guess it, unfortunately.

SiliconBug said:
I ask the creator of Galaxy Charging Current about using it on Note 2, and here's the reply:
As far as I know the device does not provide that info, and the app has no way to guess it, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? I'm pretty sure I got some readings when running it on my Note 2... I already uninstalled it as it wasn't accurate.

really nice...

looks to me like the galaxy charging current app average (in mAh) is pretty accurate when compared to the charger doctor...good to know, albeit it rounds up.

vectron said:
The charging formula is very simple, capacity of your battery in 'mAh' / rating of your charger in 'mA' = to get time in 'h' to charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uh... no. While your algebra is correct, mAh/mA = h is only true if all other things are equal. All other things, in this case, being voltage. And they are not equal. The voltage of your battery is somewhere between 3.6 and 4.2 volts. The voltage of your *USB* charger is always 5 volts.
So to get the total amount of time it would take to charge your phone... you need POWAH!!!! (power)
Power (watts) = volts * amps
Total amount of power in my Galaxy S3's battery:
3.8v * 2100mAh = 7980mWh = 7.98Wh​
Total amount of power being delivered by my Samsung USB charger:
5v * 1A = 5W​
Total amount of time required to fully charge a completely dead Galaxy S3 battery, using a Samsung charger:
7.98Wh / 5W = 1.596h = 1 hour, 35 minutes, 45 seconds.
*gets very annoyed when people do not understand electricity*
**also, don't go around telling people "it's not the volts that kills you, it's the amps!" - it's neither. it's the watts.**

moeburn said:
uh... no. While your algebra is correct, mAh/mA = h is only true if all other things are equal. All other things, in this case, being voltage. And they are not equal. The voltage of your battery is somewhere between 3.6 and 4.2 volts. The voltage of your *USB* charger is always 5 volts.
So to get the total amount of time it would take to charge your phone... you need POWAH!!!! (power)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, but you are missing a point. While a handful of people will understand these details, and not to insult everybody else - majority needs a simple basic "concept" formula to round off calculation, not to mention for some english is not even a first language. Otherwise, you need to continue with more formula correction factors to take into account heat dissipation and efficiency of conversion, and so on. Oh, also keep in mind that majority of people charge their phone when it's on and probably syncing all their social media updates in the background among other things that drain your battery while charging. How about factor in people using PC usb cables instead of a quality 24AWG gauge wire cables? Or all of those cheap ebay ac adapters? And so on...
Just makes it easy to simplify the equation instead of preaching EE101. No reason to get annoyed, especially around Holiday season Just trying to help people with hundreds of my reviews here on XDA

vectron said:
I agree, but you are missing a point. While a handful of people will understand these details, and not to insult everybody else - majority needs a simple basic "concept" formula to round off calculation, not to mention for some english is not even a first language. Otherwise, you need to continue with more formula correction factors to take into account heat dissipation and efficiency of conversion, and so on. Oh, also keep in mind that majority of people charge their phone when it's on and probably syncing all their social media updates in the background among other things that drain your battery while charging. How about factor in people using PC usb cables instead of a quality 24AWG gauge wire cables? Or all of those cheap ebay ac adapters? And so on...
Just makes it easy to simplify the equation instead of preaching EE101. No reason to get annoyed, especially around Holiday season Just trying to help people with hundreds of my reviews here on XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get that you would want to simplify it to provide a rough estimate, and it makes sense to leave out things like heat dissipation and efficiency of conversion because of how small and insignificant of a difference that they make. But h = mAh / mA isn't simplified, it's wrong. I could say something like "h = mA * 2", and it would be very simple, but it would be completely wrong. Not a rough estimate. Just a number that means absolutely nothing.
And my correct formula isn't that much more complicated. If you can understand h = mAh / mA, you can understand h = (mAh * v) / (mA * v).
And the quality of a USB cable will make absolutely no difference in the speed of charging. Either it can handle 5-10 watts, and it charges just fine, or it can't handle 5-10 watts, has too much internal resistance, heats up, and melts/catches fire. The quality of a USB cable can affect things like EMI, signal interference, latency and timing, and can be important when you are trying to extend a cable over large distances, but it will have absolutely no effect on the amount of current transmitted by your charger, and thus the amount of time it takes to charge.

Hmm, if you don't think the impedance of 24awg wire versus 32awg wire used in typical pc usb cable makes no difference in voltage drop due to resistance at 2A current sink during Note 2 charging, then sorry mate. EMI, signal interference, that's were you need electronic choke in a form of popular ferrite beads used in quality cables like from monoprice.
I didn't say anything about your formula being incorrect. I'm just saying for rounding thing off having a simplified formula makes more sense for a ballpark calculation. If you think about it, your calculation is theoretical, but in reality it will take almost 2hr to charge your battery due to other imperfection factors and variation. So as I said, for a practical purpose simplified formula (even so it's not correct) makes more sense.
So buddy, let's agree to disagree

I've seen this

[Q] Heavy Duty Charging Cable

Does anyone know of a charging cable that will deliver a solid 1, 1.5 or 2 Amps?
I ordered a few cables off of Ebay and when I started using them I noticed that my phone wouldn't charge at all (or would charge at a rate of 1% every 8 minutes) when I started using it. I then bought a USB in-line voltage tester to test my outlets and cords, since I couldn't really make contact with a multi-meter. I found that using the Ebay cables I wasn't getting any more than 300 mA! Using the official Samsung charger and cable I was able to get 715 mA and the highest that I got out of the 6 outlets I tested in my house was only 878 mA. The Samsung charger is rated for 2 Amps and I know the phone will only pull as much as it needs but I'd expect it at least pull 1 Amp. I also used an Asus 2 Amp charger,an HTC 1 Amp charger, and a 2 Amp USB wall outlet along with the charging cable that came with my Logitech Performance MX mouse.
Here are my results:
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I know people have asked this before and I saw someone recommend Monoprice, so I found these 28 gauge and 24/28 gauge , but does anyone know of a vendor that sells 18, 20, or 22 gauge charging cables?
Edit:
After some searching I found 18 gauge 5 Pin Micro USB cables from Alibaba...but I'd have to buy 1,000 of them :-/ The smallest I could find in small quantities is 22 AWG from NewEgg
18 gauge would be ideal because it could deliver a max of 2.3 Amps. 20 gauge would deliver a max of 1.5 Amps, and 22 gauge would deliver a max of 920 Miliamps. Here's a chart about wire sizes.

re: charging
brando56894 said:
Does anyone know of a charging cable that will deliver a solid 1, 1.5 or 2 Amps?
I ordered a few cables off of Ebay and when I started using them I noticed that my phone wouldn't charge at all (or would charge at a rate of 1% every 8 minutes) when I started using it. I then bought a USB in-line voltage tester to test my outlets and cords, since I couldn't really make contact with a multi-meter. I found that using the Ebay cables I wasn't getting any more than 300 mA! Using the official Samsung charger and cable I was able to get 715 mA and the highest that I got out of the 6 outlets I tested in my house was only 878 mA. The Samsung charger is rated for 2 Amps and I know the phone will only pull as much as it needs but I'd expect it at least pull 1 Amp. I also used an Asus 2 Amp charger,an HTC 1 Amp charger, and a 2 Amp USB wall outlet along with the charging cable that came with my Logitech Performance MX mouse.
Here are my results:
I know people have asked this before and I saw someone recommend Monoprice, so I found these 28 gauge and 24/28 gauge , but does anyone know of a vendor that sells 18, 20, or 22 gauge charging cables?
Edit:
After some searching I found 18 gauge 5 Pin Micro USB cables from Alibaba...but I'd have to buy 1,000 of them :-/ The smallest I could find in small quantities is 22 AWG from NewEgg
18 gauge would be ideal because it could deliver a max of 2.3 Amps. 20 gauge would deliver a max of 1.5 Amps, and 22 gauge would deliver a max of 920 Miliamps. Here's a chart about wire sizes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such thing as a heavy duty charging cable for cell phones.
The charging rate has nothing to do with the cable itself but it has all
to do with the charger. Stock charger delivers about 2 amps & using
the computer as a charger only gives you approx 1 amps.
The gauge of the wire/cable does not make one bit of difference since
we are talking super low voltage (3.7 volts).
So at 2 amps at 3.7 volts it would make no difference if the wire
was 18,20,22 or 50 gauge at these very low voltages.
If the cell phone was charged at a higher rate than 2 amps like
3-4 amps it would degrade the battery since it would constantly
be over heating and thus would have a much shorter life span.
The battery could get so hot that it might even explode!
Good luck!

Well how do you explain the variances in Amps when using the cheap Ebay cables compared to the Samsung/Logitech cables?

Misterjunky said:
There is no such thing as a heavy duty charging cable for cell phones.
The charging rate has nothing to do with the cable itself but it has all
to do with the charger. Stock charger delivers about 2 amps & using
the computer as a charger only gives you approx 1 amps.
The gauge of the wire/cable does not make one bit of difference since
we are talking super low voltage (3.7 volts).
So at 2 amps at 3.7 volts it would make no difference if the wire
was 18,20,22 or 50 gauge at these very low voltages.
If the cell phone was charged at a higher rate than 2 amps like
3-4 amps it would degrade the battery since it would constantly
be over heating and thus would have a much shorter life span.
The battery could get so hot that it might even explode!
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say the cable itself does effect charge rate. Some are charge and sync some charge only cable. Adapters are different thing. I have a oem samsung cable that charges pretty slow compare to a cable i got from gamestop .which charges somewhat 25% faster. And some ebay cables which drains while i play with my phone and charges 15 % per hour. Test both into wall socket and computer usb. The gamestop.white cable charges faster both ways. Same result when plug into my car usb port. Not the 12v plugin port
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

re: batteries.charging
brando56894 said:
Well how do you explain the variances in Amps when using the cheap Ebay cables compared to the Samsung/Logitech cables?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The amps/milliamps output will always vary depending on the battery condition
at the time it's being measured.
A battery which is close to being fully charged will charge at a rate much less
than if the battery had very little charge left in it.
That's how most any charger works, there are no chargers which will put out
2 continuous amps regardless of the condition of the battery.
When we are talking about milliamps output from our computers or from any of the cell phone
chargers the rating of 2.0 or 1.0 or .5 milliamps are only in the specs to let us know the maximum
milliamp rate that any chargers can charge. (up to 2mA and so on, depending on battery condition)
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 PM ----------
jason4962 said:
I can say the cable itself does effect charge rate. Some are charge and sync some charge only cable. Adapters are different thing. I have a oem samsung cable that charges pretty slow compare to a cable i got from gamestop .which charges somewhat 25% faster. And some ebay cables which drains while i play with my phone and charges 15 % per hour. Test both into wall socket and computer usb. The gamestop.white cable charges faster both ways. Same result when plug into my car usb port. Not the 12v plugin port
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, there are two kinds of usb cables for cell phones, one only charges
and the other is for both charging and data/sync.
However the only difference in the two types of cables is that the the charging
only cable has one less wire connected to both ends of usb cable connectors.
The two wires which actually charge are the same in both kinds of cables.
(common ground and 3.7 volts)
It takes only 2 wires in the usb cable for charging while the data/sync and charging
cable needs 3, one for common ground, one for 3.7 volts and one for data/sync.
But as far as different brands of usb cables charging more or less that's just not true.
Just think, if what what you are saying is true then that would mean that if we plugged
a 50 watt lamp into a heavy duty extension cord it would make the 50 watt light bulb
brighter than if the extension cord was a 99 cent cheap import. LOL

I talked with my father, who has been an electrician for about 40 years, regarding this and he pretty much said the same thing. I remember seeing on the external Samsung battery charger that I have said it charges at a rate of 700mAH, so I guess the same goes for charging it in the phone within a slight tolerance.

The only concern on charging cable is the resistance. Chop some cheap eBay cables in half - you will be hard pressed to find the copper. If you lose two volts from one end of the cable to the other - you will not charge fast. Also some cables are not wired correctly for high speed charging.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------
Yes you are right - the 50 watt light bulb would be dimmer if your power cord is too small a gauge. You might also start a fire.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

re: volts
rmm200 said:
The only concern on charging cable is the resistance. Chop some cheap eBay cables in half - you will be hard pressed to find the copper. If you lose two volts from one end of the cable to the other - you will not charge fast. Also some cables are not wired correctly for high speed charging.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would need about a 500 feet of wire or cable to lose 2 volts out of 3.7 volts. LOL
All chargers only use and only has two wires, a volt+ and a volt-
There is no such thing as usb cables wired differently for charging.

Misterjunky said:
You would need about a 500 feet of wire or cable to lose 2 volts out of 3.7 volts. LOL
All chargers only use and only has two wires, a volt+ and a volt-
There is no such thing as usb cables wired differently for charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realize there is a lot of ignorance in the world. We cope as we can. Just search xda for USB fast charge.

Misterjunky said:
You would need about a 500 feet of wire or cable to lose 2 volts out of 3.7 volts. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you missed the part of the statement which referred to "copper." Some imitations using other conductive materials have resistivity as much as 30 times that of copper.

I did cut one open and it looked like it was stands of tin wire, not copper.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

i think you are ???????????????????????
Misterjunky said:
You would need about a 500 feet of wire or cable to lose 2 volts out of 3.7 volts. LOL
All chargers only use and only has two wires, a volt+ and a volt-
There is no such thing as usb cables wired differently for charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes there is cables for charge only cable
you may please understand if the charger have 2 amp , phone is capable to take 1.5 amp but the cable .....
in this condition if the cable is not good one the phone will not get the correct amp but it will give the correct volt you can check your self
like this drain the phone to 10% put it in to off condition then charge it with a 2 amp charger with good cable (Samsung 2 amp charger cable or original charger cable of Htc ) switch on and check after 10 minute do this with cheep china made cable then you will get the result :silly:

jowelvjoy said:
yes there is cables for charge only cable
you may please understand if the charger have 2 amp , phone is capable to take 1.5 amp but the cable .....
in this condition if the cable is not good one the phone will not get the correct amp but it will give the correct volt you can check your self
like this drain the phone to 10% put it in to off condition then charge it with a 2 amp charger with good cable (Samsung 2 amp charger cable or original charger cable of Htc ) switch on and check after 10 minute do this with cheep china made cable then you will get the result :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are responding to a 5 month old post.

Opinions are often spoken as facts on the Internet.
The quality of the cable has a drastic affect on the charge rate. I can prove it with Screenshots if any of you would like.
Verify the charge rate using this app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abmantis.galaxychargingcurrent.free
While travelling in the Philippines and Thailand I found very VERY many fake Samsung chargers and fake Samsung cables that could only output low MA during the charge cycle. Since then I've been searching for inexpensive cables and chargers that can run at the full 1900ma as indicated by the above mentioned app.

Very true. They can also trash a battery. Our OE charger has a chip (I think its really a resistor) that aids the phone in controlling the current. It provides a steady current to the phone, then the phone lowers it to something within the batteries specs. Then again, the battery itself has a resistor also. Its all meant to give a steady current at the right voltage/amps. What comes out of your electrical outlets and car charger ports isn't steady.
This is where a "good" charger comes in. A crap one will not level the current and it'll fluctuate constantly. This causes bad/dead cells, swelling, overheating, ruptures, or even fires and explosions.
Sometimes even using a charger meant for another phone will mess things up. It won't hurt the battery usually but it'll cause random reboots and the real vs assumed charge will be way off. There's a lot more that goes on when charging these phones than simple + and - terminals moving electrons between an anode and cathode.
Sent from inside the matrix

/thread and just recommend me a pretty cool cable to purchase for charging my phone!!!!!

Blackberry chargers. No lie.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=171194805237&alt=web
Seeing a stupid comment on Google Play about an app you love and marking it as "spam". You've done it too.

TheLastSidekick said:
Blackberry chargers. No lie.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=171194805237&alt=web
Seeing a stupid comment on Google Play about an app you love and marking it as "spam". You've done it too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to buy one and try it out.
Thanks
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

First, the cable makes a HUGE difference. Get " current widget " from play store. I use "portapow" cables from amazon. From the same charger, I get 1.3 milliamps from portapow cables, and .75 milliamps from stock data/charging cables. You will never get the full 2 amps from stock charger. But I swear by these cables.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088HTYUE?pc_redir=1404994591&robot_redir=1
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Monoprice Premium USB Cable Charging Speeds

Hi,
I'm looking at purchasing some monoprice premimum mico usb charging cables but before I spring AUD$26 for shipping plus cables, I'd like to know what sort of charge people that people are getting in mA .
I know the N5 charger maxes out at 1.2A and the N5 is limited to 1.65A itself, however I'd like to know if anyone is getting between these two figures by using a monoprice cable.
I'm getting the following using CurrentWidget
Stock N5 charger and cable - 1,012mA
HP Touchpad charger (5.3V/2A) and cable - 1,015mA
Apple 10W charger (5.1V/2.1A) and 28AWG/2C cable - 930mA
It would be great if people could post what charger they are using with the monoprice premium cable together with the mA they are getting with their N5.
Also, if your using another type of cable that allows for charging between 1.2A and 1.65A that would be great too.
Thanks

I ordered some of the 6ft premium usb cables ,will let you know when i get them. My original usb cable that came with the phone has a bad connection wobbles. Using Battery Monitor Widget the highest i got was
980mA - OEM Nexus charger and cable. Charging from 60%, will test more when battery depletes.

ACHILLES R32 said:
I ordered some of the 6ft premium usb cables ,will let you know when i get them. My original usb cable that came with the phone has a bad connection wobbles. Using Battery Monitor Widget the highest i got was
980mA - OEM Nexus charger and cable. Charging from 60%, will test more when battery depletes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the offer to test the monoprice cables and report back.
In the interim I've ordered some Motorola Ecomoto cables which from a video review on xda showed a charge of around 1,480mA on a N5 using current widget. I'll also report back once I get these.

Was looking to try either Ecomoto or the Monoprice premium cables. Looking forward to hearing both your opinions on them.

I have the 6ft Premium cables and did a quick comparison using Battery Monitor Widget suggested above. Both screenshots are using the OEM wall wart and at ~80% battery.
OEM Cable
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"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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MonoPrice Cable
Not much of a difference, but a more thorough comparison might show a bigger difference. I'll leave that to the others in the thread.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Thanks Native89.
I heard the best time to do a test is when the battery is between 20% and 70%.
Try that and see if you get better results

I have the 6ft Premium Cable from Monoprice and I see up to 1050 mA using the stock charger.

raptir said:
I have the 6ft Premium Cable from Monoprice and I see up to 1050 mA using the stock charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
raptir, that doesnt seem to be good news.
Are there any markings on the cable to tell whether it has 28AWG/2C or 24AWG/2C power conductors?
From what I've read it appears that you need 24AWG/2C power conductors to be able to handle charging above the 1,000mA mark.
I'm still waiting on delivery of the Motorola Ecomoto cables, but for those who are interested I purchased them from this US based seller on ebay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/360885775315?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
I also purchased this cable from another ebay seller http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111292267460?var=410287001944&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649. The cable states it supports a 2.1A fast charge and the cross section in the ebay listing shows 24AWG/2C power conductors, so it looks promising.
Its going to be a few weeks until I get these cables and provide a review, so please subscribe to this thread to get updates when I do.

raptir said:
I have the 6ft Premium Cable from Monoprice and I see up to 1050 mA using the stock charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get around 850mA~1,050mA depending on the % i plug the phone into charging.
And i got this one http://amazon.com/gp/product/B003L18S0E/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rambler76 said:
raptir, that doesnt seem to be good news.
Are there any markings on the cable to tell whether it has 28AWG/2C or 24AWG/2C power conductors?
From what I've read it appears that you need 24AWG/2C power conductors to be able to handle charging above the 1,000mA mark.
I'm still waiting on delivery of the Motorola Ecomoto cables, but for those who are interested I purchased them from this US based seller on ebay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/360885775315?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
I also purchased this cable from another ebay seller http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111292267460?var=410287001944&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649. The cable states it supports a 2.1A fast charge and the cross section in the ebay listing shows 24AWG/2C power conductors, so it looks promising.
Its going to be a few weeks until I get these cables and provide a review, so please subscribe to this thread to get updates when I do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's "not good news" then it's bad news about the charger, not the cable. You said you get slightly less from your stock cable with the stock charger. A 1.2A charger is never going to actually give you 1.2A charging speed. They're just not 100% efficient.
Edit: Fast charging is also not the best thing for your battery, and that's why they don't just ship every phone with a 2A charger and let you have at it. A higher charging rate leads to increased battery degradation.

Mmmm... Not sure about that... Battery damage?
NEXUS 5

raptir said:
If it's "not good news" then it's bad news about the charger, not the cable. You said you get slightly less from your stock cable with the stock charger. A 1.2A charger is never going to actually give you 1.2A charging speed. They're just not 100% efficient.
Edit: Fast charging is also not the best thing for your battery, and that's why they don't just ship every phone with a 2A charger and let you have at it. A higher charging rate leads to increased battery degradation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have another charger perhaps a 2A one to test the cable with so that we can confirm that it definitely isn't the cable.
I know that the stock charger is limited to 1.2A so even if the charger is 80% efficient you'd be getting just below a 1A charge which probably explains why everyone using a stock charger is getting this.
I don't quite agree with the battery degradation due to fast charges. I've always been of the opinion that it has to do with chargers that have a higher voltage spec, eg higher than 5V rather than the amps they're pushing out.
For instance the 1A Apple charger has been measured to provide a current of 1.79A and the 2A charger provides 3.4A
I really haven't come across any that are way over 5V in my time. Seeing that Apple's 2A charger uses 5.1V and the HP Touchpad charger which is one of the best chargers out there uses 5.3V, I don't think that any of these would be causing accelerated degradation or damage to the battery.

I've had the monoprice cables for over 5 months and they charge fast and great, one problem is that the tips start separating from and you can start seeing the inside. It'll still charged fast and without problems, I have 2 in my car and 4 in my house only 2 don't have this problem. Overall these cables charge fast partnered up with my HP touchpad and nexus 7 chargers.

Noriega813 said:
I've had the monoprice cables for over 5 months and they charge fast and great, one problem is that the tips start separating from and you can start seeing the inside. It'll still charged fast and without problems, I have 2 in my car and 4 in my house only 2 don't have this problem. Overall these cables charge fast partnered up with my HP touchpad and nexus 7 chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Noriega813.
Any chance of a test with the cable and the HP touchpad charger using CurrentWidget?
I dont know which N7 charger you have but I do note that the 2013 edition is rated at 1.35A so you be limited to about 1A with it. The 2012 edition should be OK as that outputs 2A.

Rambler76 said:
Thanks Noriega813.
Any chance of a test with the cable and the HP touchpad charger using CurrentWidget?
I dont know which N7 charger you have but I do note that the 2013 edition is rated at 1.35A so you be limited to about 1A with it. The 2012 edition should be OK as that outputs 2A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, soon as I get home I'll test it out. I have two of them and post results of both to show how they're doing.

Noriega813 said:
Sure, soon as I get home I'll test it out. I have two of them and post results of both to show how they're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers. Thanks for the help.

I have the monoprice 3 and 6 foot premium cables. I've also got an inline USB current meter so I can test current directly.
According to an email from monoprice they are 28 gauge. I also got some 24 gauge monoprice USB extension cables (3 foot) that i planned to use with some adapters.
For testing I used a 2A Samsung power adapter (belonging to the Note 10.1 tablet) and either my Nexus 5 or my Samsung Note 10.1 tablet. The Note 10.1 when around 50% charge pulls slightly under 1.7A from it's own charger using the OEM cable. I have an adapter to allow me to charge the Note 10.1 using any micro USB cable so it's a better test for the cable as it pulls more current than the Nexus 5. The Nexus 5 with a good cable pulls under 1.3A from the 2A charger.
Interestingly, I had no problem getting full current (up to 1.7A) from any of the Monoprice premium USB cables. I've read good reviews of these cables but was a little skeptical since they are 28 gauge but they do seem to work well for fast charging. I don't have a device that pulls more than 1.7A so I can't test its limits.
In contrast, when I add the 24 gauge extension (3 foot with a 3 foot cable so the total length is the same as a single 6 foot premium cable) I can't get any higher than 1A. I don't understand why it's so limited. I've used a number of additional adapter on the end such as a right angle adapter or the micro usb to Samsung connector without any noticeable loss in current. So either there is something wrong with monoprice's 24 gauge cables or they are using some seriously bad connectors.
I haven't had the premium cables for very long but have been using them happily in the car (3 foot) and at home (6 foot) for when I need to charge while using the phone (otherwise I use a Qi wireless charger). The connectors at the phone end could be a little slimmer - they do fit all the cases I've tried but it's a bit tight for some of them. The fact that the cables aren't too thick is nice for storage and flexibility. Only time will tell how durable they are.
I also have some older monoprice standard 26 gauge USB cables which also seem to be limited to 1A. (Correction: these are 28AWG not 26/28)
I've got some Startech right-angled USB cables which are convenient for my car due to the right angle but can't support currents above 500 mA. These are 30 gauge cables.
In summary:
1. The cable's gauge doesn't tell the whole story.
2. Monoprice premium USB cables do seem to be a good buy.

Rambler76 said:
I don't quite agree with the battery degradation due to fast charges. I've always been of the opinion that it has to do with chargers that have a higher voltage spec, eg higher than 5V rather than the amps they're pushing out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Charging voltage determines that final charge capacity. And yes, overcharging the battery does cause additional degradation. So does keeping the battery in too warm an environment. And charging speed. And discharging speed. And percent charge during storage. It's not just a single factor.
---------- Post added at 12:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------
tmagritte said:
According to an email from monoprice they are 28 gauge. I also got some 24 gauge monoprice USB extension cables (3 foot) that i planned to use with some adapters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess it that they didn't give you the whole story on the cable gauge. The data lines are always 28 gauge, only the power lines are 24 vs 28.
That said, a 28 AWG wire can carry 2A without too much of an issue. Your only problem is going to be an increased voltage drop which may lead to incomplete charging of your battery.

I finally received the USB cables from monoprice, shipping was slow took over a week. Here are the results I got with Battery Monitor Widget.
Stock USB Cable 90% charge.
922mA
927mA
953mA
919mA
930mA
Monoprice 6" Premium USB Cable 90% charge.
873mA
710mA
805mA
714mA
863mA
This was just a quick comparison, will do another comparison when the battery discharges more. I'm not sure how accurate the battery monitor apps are. For most accurate results we probably need one of theses USB Volt Meters.

ACHILLES R32 said:
I finally received the USB cables from monoprice, shipping was slow took over a week. Here are the results I got with Battery Monitor Widget.
Stock USB Cable 90% charge.
922mA
927mA
953mA
919mA
930mA
Monoprice 6" Premium USB Cable 90% charge.
873mA
710mA
805mA
714mA
863mA
This was just a quick comparison, will do another comparison when the battery discharges more. I'm not sure how accurate the battery monitor apps are. For most accurate results we probably need one of theses USB Volt Meters.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am curious if the differences have to do with length of cable. 6 feet is a long way to travel.

[Review] Choetech QC 3.0 10400 mAh battery pack

Disclaimer: I was sent these items at a heavy discount in exchange for my fair & honest review
Choetech 10400 QC 3.0 Enabled Battery Pack:
Overview
Choetech took their old QC 2.0 battery and made some improvements to it while also adding QC 3.0.
Ports/Charging:
There are a variety of ports offered on this battery which serve different functions. First the battery can be charged on of two ways: you can either use a microUSB cable (like the one included in the box), or a lightning cable if you happen to also have an Apple device. Both cables will allow the battery to be charged at 5V/2.4A; however, I found the battery charges via QC 2.0. I tested it via my multimeter which show the battery drawing ~9V/1.8A which is closer to 16.2 W of power. I’m not sure why the battery doesn’t list this as an input because it certainly takes all of the power.
On the output side you are given the option of using 2 USB-A standard ports. One of these ports will charge at 5V/1A which is also known as QC 1.0, while the second one charges via QC 3.0. The voltage range is variable as is the current. The ranges for the QC 3.0 port are: 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2A (18W), 12V 1.5A (15W). All of these outputs are consistent with the QC 3.0 standard which allows the voltage to step in smaller increments thus reducing the overall heat and increasing charging efficiency.
Design/Build Quality:
This battery has a very nice, solid aluminum housing that really makes it feel nice. The top/bottom edges are chamfered, while the sides are black anodized aluminum. This is the perfect pairing for the HTC 10 given its nice chamfered edge, and similar aluminum construction. I have another Choetech battery pack that is equally well made and feels like a tank. I don’t foresee this battery buckling under normal use, or even some drops given how well made it feels.
To use the battery, you first need to hit the power button that in turn lights up a series of 4 bright LED’s. These LED’s will indicate the current charge left on the battery while also looking great. When you are charging the battery pack the LED indicating its current level of charge will blink as an indication of how much power is currently store in the battery.
What’s in the Box:/B]
-Choetech 10400mAh power bank
-microUSB cable
-Documentation
Charging Multimeter test:
Charging Ports:
Here is breakdown of the voltages/rates the battery can be charged at:
Output: 5V/1A (5W)
QC 3.0 Port: 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2A (18W), 12V/1.25A (15W) [/SIZE]
Battery I/O Rating Pictures
Given the battery’s two output ports, you will be able to charge two devices simultaneously, although I would only use it to charge one at a time personally.
Overall This is a great small QC 3.0 enabled battery pack that will keep everything working on the go. I own battery packs from EasyACC, Choetech, Aukey, and Anker, but this one is still one of my favorites for what it offers. I plan on using this battery to charge my HTC 10 while at school, and on the go in general.

Nice review, I've done a similar thing on amazon, also found the charger to be great. I did a quick charging test and it was averaging around 1500mA, whereas the htc one main plugs charger was 1600mA, so to charge that close to a main plugs socket is great. Specially for a portable charger where you want it charging fast!

Phil750123 said:
Nice review, I've done a similar thing on amazon, also found the charger to be great. I did a quick charging test and it was averaging around 1500mA, whereas the htc one main plugs charger was 1600mA, so to charge that close to a main plugs socket is great. Specially for a portable charger where you want it charging fast!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This battery will output the rated (18W) if the phone can handle that much current. I posted a picture in my review using a multimeter to measure the power (16.8W at the moment I took the picture). I don't know what the phones peak input current is, but I know it's higher than than S7 Edges 15.03W input, and Neuxs 6P's 15W. I've seen similar ranges of 15-17W using the stock HTC charger which means this battery is outputting the proper current for the phone to charge as fast as it possible can via the QC 3.0 port.

How many full charges can it deliver to the phone?

Lurien said:
How many full charges can it deliver to the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just over 2 from my experience, but that's 0 to 100 so not bad.
It is damn fast though for a portable charger. For example I've gone from 33% to 100% in a little over an hour

Phil750123 said:
Just over 2 from my experience, but that's 0 to 100 so not bad.
It is damn fast though for a portable charger. For example I've gone from 33% to 100% in a little over an hour
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not bad at all.. that's like having 2 spare batteries and change... I'm considering getting this. Thanks for the feedback.

Lurien said:
How many full charges can it deliver to the phone?
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Phil750123 said:
Just over 2 from my experience, but that's 0 to 100 so not bad.
It is damn fast though for a portable charger. For example I've gone from 33% to 100% in a little over an hour
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Lurien said:
Not bad at all.. that's like having 2 spare batteries and change... I'm considering getting this. Thanks for the feedback.
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If you account for the efficiency external batteries have (not very high due to heat losses) the 2 full charges is about right in my experience.

Pilz said:
If you account for the efficiency external batteries have (not very high due to heat losses) the 2 full charges is about right in my experience.
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Yup when looking at mah of portable batteries I always take off about 30%. Assuming it's good quality that about what you get. I. E in this case 10400mah you get about 7000mah actually usable. Obviously that goes down with time too.

Phil750123 said:
Yup when looking at mah of portable batteries I always take off about 30%. Assuming it's good quality that about what you get. I. E in this case 10400mah you get about 7000mah actually usable. Obviously that goes down with time too.
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Plus when quick charging you could lose some of the ~7000 you might expect, regardless of that I still find it to work as well as my other 1000mAh battery packs.

Things I miss in your review:
How much does it cost, and how are competitive products placed?
How long does it take to charge the Battery with a QC2.0 Charger?
How much is really inside?
You'd have to use a constant 1.5A load and check How long it lasts... ?
Except from that. Nice review Thanks.

Choetech has stated they're using Samsung Li-Ion cells so they're likely these. I'll crack open mine when I receive it, haven't ordered it yet.
http://gamma.spb.ru/media/pdf/liion-lipolymer-lifepo4-akkumulyatory/ICR18650-26H.pdf
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Samsung ICR18650-26H 2600mAh (Pink) UK.html
-26H is the successor to -26F
http://data.oomipood.ee/kasutusjuhend//ICR18650-26FM.pdf
http://dampfakkus.de/akkutest.php?id=120
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Samsung ICR18650-26F 2600mAh (Pink) UK.html
I personally have these -26H's inside my 4x18650 5V2A power bank case.
They're great cells for indoor use and low current draw (per cell) use.
They'll happily dump over 90% of the specified Whours even at a full 5A discharge. (which is 2600*3.63/1000=9.44Wh)
At a more sane discharge current of 1A/2A they'll be able to provide ~ 99/96% of the specified Whours.
So how much is really inside? Spec sheet says 10200mAh's assuming 0.2C discharge and 2.75V cut-off.
In practice? ~10200-10600mAh's depending on the discharge current. (this is of course fresh cells, capacity will drop over time)
This of course does not take into account the power loss which occurs when you boost the voltage up.
Assuming a nice, above average 90% efficiency inside the power bank you'd be looking at ~9200mAh's.
Then taking into account the voltage stepdown happening inside the phone, let's assume 90% efficiency again and we'd be looking at ~8150mAh's.
Aaand then taking into account the cable loss (- connector losses), let's assume you have an average 26AWG 1 meter cable and you transfer 18W of power at 9V2A, loss is 6%.
We're down to ~7550mAh's.
Saying it can charge a 3000mAh battery twice plays nice with that calculation.
One thing to note though and like I said, great for indoor use but if you look at the spec sheet, you can see the capacity vs temperature table.
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tl;dr if you wish to extract every little ounce of power you can from these cells (or this power bank)
if you go hiking in really cold weather, make sure it stays close to room temp (25C), so not in the outermost compartment of your backpack but neither touching your body which could then warm it up higher than room temp - no es bueno.
if it's a really warm, sunny summer day and you go have a beer outside sitting in the porch, don't leave the power bank in direct sunlight, place it in shade instead
This is pretty much business as usual and has to do with the design of the cell and cathode material used.
Cells [like the -26H] intended for laptops, power banks etc. are going to have different discharge characteristics compared to cells [like INR18650-25R] intended for electric vehicles, power tools and so on.
So it's good that the power bank has an aluminium chassis. It's going to be able to dump some of that heat generated by the boost circuitry in to the air and so on and so forth.
The cells themselves won't really heat up that much. You know, there's 4 of them in there and they are in parallel = current load is being split pretty much equally.
At 3V under load which is pretty close to fully discharged (cut-off = ~2.75V), if the power bank circuitry is prodiving 18 watts of power and drawing 21.6 watts (18+20%) from the 1S4P battery pack because of inefficiencies, it would still be just 7.2A of current total and 1.8A per cell.
Well within the capabilities of these Samsung cells and so low power wise per cell they're not heating up much.

I recently added this one to my arsenal and now prefer it over others I have. I can charge it off anyone's charger i'm with on longer trips so cable management is nill. Love the fact you can tell it's in qc mode versus normal charge mode.

Just recently got this power bank for my hTc 10 - as from my experience 10Ah looks impressive on the computer screen - but in real life we actually need 20Ah backup battery .. ?
Spoiler
And it states that output is 12V x 1.5A what actually implies 18W... ?
Sent from quite brutal hTc 10 ..

dottat said:
I recently added this one to my arsenal and now prefer it over others I have. I can charge it off anyone's charger i'm with on longer trips so cable management is nill.
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Well, not exactly nil, right? You can charge from micro-usb or from lightning, which is a great addition, but you can't actually charge from the cable you're most likely to be carrying with your HTC 10, which is a USB C cable, right? I looked at the description on Amazon, and thought that was an interesting omission.

Andyw2100 said:
Well, not exactly nil, right? You can charge from micro-usb or from lightning, which is a great addition, but you can't actually charge from the cable you're most likely to be carrying with your HTC 10, which is a USB C cable, right? I looked at the description on Amazon, and thought that was an interesting omission.
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It can be charged via a microusb cable that is included. Since they are as common as can be I don't see how that would be an issue. I have piles of them laying around, spare one in my car etc.. I know it's not ideal to have more than one type of cable, but I use them to charge my S7 Edge, Bose QC 20's , LG Tone Platinum's etc.. that's why I personally have them just about everywhere. I also have a time of Type-C, C-C/A-C cables because of my Nexus 6P. Ideally I would like 4 type c poets for in/out but no one makes anything close yet.

Pilz said:
It can be charged via a microusb cable that is included. Since they are as common as can be I don't see how that would be an issue. I have piles of them laying around, spare one in my car etc.. I know it's not ideal to have more than one type of cable, but I use them to charge my S7 Edge, Bose QC 20's , LG Tone Platinum's etc.. that's why I personally have them just about everywhere. I also have a time of Type-C, C-C/A-C cables because of my Nexus 6P. Ideally I would like 4 type c poets for in/out but no one makes anything close yet.
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I never suggested it would be hard to find a cable to charge the battery pack.
But dottat wrote that cable management issues were nil, so I was merely pointing out that for those of us with HTC 10s that really isn't quite the case, since if we want to travel with a single cable, the single cable we are going to travel with -- a USB C cable -- can't charge the battery. This means bringing two cables, at a minimum.
This was not a huge complaint or indictment of the product. I was just making a point. The product would be even better if it could charge via a USB C cable.

Andyw2100 said:
I never suggested it would be hard to find a cable to charge the battery pack.
But dotat wrote that cable management issues were nil, so I was merely pointing out that for those of us with HTC 10s that really isn't quite the case, since if we want to travel with a single cable, the single cable we are going to travel with -- a USB C cable -- can't charge the battery. This means bringing two cables, at a minimum.
This was not a huge complaint or indictment of the product. I was just making a point. The product would be even better if it could charge via a USB C cable.
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I completely agree, unfortunately there are only a handful of battery packs that support QC 3.0 and even fewer that offer Type-C (if any yet) on top of that. The interesting part is their QC 2.0 version has a Type-C port to charge the battery along side the microusb. I'm not sure why they changed that (maybe to appeal to a larger crowd), but it's odd nonetheless. I can post a picture of it later today since its 0103 right now so the lighting wouldn't be ideal to see it.

Andyw2100 said:
...dottat wrote that cable management issues were nil, so I was merely pointing out that for those of us with HTC 10s that really isn't quite the case, since if we want to travel with a single cable, the single cable we are going to travel with -- a USB C cable -- can't charge the battery. This means bringing two cables, at a minimum.
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But within a large company someone is definitely with iPhone - what somehow suggests carrying one more cable.. ?
I opted to carry my original hTc 10 Type C cable and a small interface which converts Type C into the lightning connector.. ?
Sent from quite brutal hTc 10 ..

jauhien said:
But within a large company someone is definitely with iPhone - what somehow suggests carrying one more cable.. ?
I opted to carry my original hTc 10 Type C cable and a small interface which converts Type C into the lightning connector.. ?
Sent from quite brutal hTc 10 ..
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They make one that charges via Type-C as I mentioned earlier; however, it uses QC 2.0 as opposed to QC 3.0

Has anyone compared this Choetech 10400 QC3 (currently unavailable on Amazon) with the Anker 20000 QC3? Pros? Cons?