Develop Bugs

So why is my battery draining while charging?

I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.

TheBiles said:
I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.
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Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).

Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sprocket87 said:
Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).
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I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
gtkansan said:
Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
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3rd year CmpE.

I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"

TheBiles said:
I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
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When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
kwilbur3 said:
I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"
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See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.

sprocket87 said:
When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.
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I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?

TheBiles said:
I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?
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This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?

OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.

sprocket87 said:
This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?
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That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
berardi said:
OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.
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I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.

Sprocket - stupid question here... do these Rocket Fish charging cables also handle data transfer just as well as the stock micro-usb cable that came with the phone or would someone want to have one JUST for charging and keep their stock cable for data transfer purposes?

TheBiles said:
That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.
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Sorry I was unclear - the other cable I have that is the problem is one from another phone but the same type, and up until recently it worked perfectly.

[Q] Rapid Chargers - Not Really Rapid?

i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.

voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
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Click to collapse
Maybe you should try this one.

Install the battery monitor widget. Monitor the battery for about 20 minutes while charging. Tell us what the charge current is.
Does the Motorola charger include a cable? If not, you may just have a weak cable. I have seen cheap cables with wire so thin that the charging current is no better then charging off a weak USB port.

My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.

loonatik78 said:
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
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Click to collapse
No need for that.
Cut a small piece of aluminum foil. Carefully place it where it shorts the two center conductors in the charger. Plug the USB cable into the charger. Make sure the foil stays in place over the two center conductors.
It is now a high rate charger. (assuming it can put out 1 amp.)

The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower

squeakyl said:
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
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The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.

doodlebro said:
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
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To meet the USB charging spec (which the TB uses), the two inner (data) contacts should be shorted with no more that 200 ohms.
But, the cable can also be an issue for rapid charging. The voltage drop for a 1A/5V source, across only .5 M of 28 gauge copper is ~220 mV. If you use a longer cable, there's more voltage drop. The TB likely current limits itself when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. Best to buy 24 gauge USB cables, if you can, especially if getting longer ones (monoprice has them).

voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
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Click to collapse
I think its a matter of rated output current. BUT on the other side, the phone must be capable of drawing/using that much current. If the adapter is rated for more current than the phone can charge, the "extra" current wont be supplied.
Initially, Moto's standard car chargers output 5V and up to 550ma max (just like a standard PC USB port) so they didn't charge phones all that fast. Moto then came out with chargers that had higher current output, so they were capable of charging the phones "faster" than the original car chargers (but on par with the home/travel/AC chargers) and called them "rapid car chargers"..
Today, the current output on the Moto SPN5400A car charger is 0-950mA, and I've seen it sometimes referred to as "Rapid Car charger."
But as far as I know, Moto no longer makes/sells the lower current car chargers, and their web site only shows one MicroUSB and one MiniUSB car charger for sale, both of which appear to be of the 0-950mA output variety.
voxigenboy said:
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
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Click to collapse
Just because someone makes such a charger for the iPhone, doesn't mean one must exist for the TB, or other phones, does it? I know the iPad uses a 2A charger. What happens if you connect an iPhone to that? will it charge faster? I guess that depends on if the iPhone is capable of drawing more than 1A to charge it.
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
And btw, the Moto SPN5400A car charger DOES charge my TB in about the same amount of time that it takes me to charge my TB at home with the stock HTC charger. So while its not "rapid" compared to the stock home/travel/AC charger, its "rapid" compared to PC USB Port charging, or a plain lower current car charger.

KidJoe said:
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Also, even with about 850ma in, not much over 500ma is getting to the battery. So a totally dead battery is still going to take between 2 and 3 hours to charge, no matter what charger you have. And twice that long if the charger looks like a PC USB port.

worwig said:
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was asking because of the OP's statement about knowing "they must exist" because they are out there for the iPhone.
I'm perfectly happy with my Moto car charger, and how fast it charges my phones.

Automobile Quick Charging Solution

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

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

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

ellisz said:
I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY
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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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this one and it charges just like it does from the home outlet and its says "AC" charging. I bought another 8 for family and friends and they all love it.

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

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

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

USB from computer and car charging really slow....

Hi Guys,
I have a thinkpad which has regular USB and also a fast charge USB port. They have worked fine in the past on other phones and I used to see at least 1 amp charge rates. (on the fast charge port)
Using either port on the 20 X I only get about 200 ma charging rates?
I'm using "Ampere" to get the charging rates, it is definitely charging slower than normal...
Have you guys noticed this?

Also of note, It charges really slow from my car as well. On the hour drive home the phone only went up 4%. (This is a VW using android auto)

I think all bets are off when your using 3rd party chargers. I think Huawei might have some official accessories that you may need to buy.

jeradjohnso said:
I think all bets are off when your using 3rd party chargers. I think Huawei might have some official accessories that you may need to buy.
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I have a bunch of phones and every single one of them charges at normal charging rates off my laptop and in my car, this is pretty strange...

Huawei uses a completely different setup from QC 3 from charger to cable . How does it charge with the supplied charger and cable that you received with your phone? If you buy extra chargers for home or car make sure they say they do Huawei "Supercharge". They are a little hard to find but they are out there. Make sure the USB cable is rated for 5a(amps)

Cccmachins said:
Huawei uses a completely different setup from QC 3 from charger to cable . How does it charge with the supplied charger and cable that you received with your phone? If you buy extra chargers for home or car make sure they say they do Huawei "Supercharge". They are a little hard to find but they are out there. Make sure the USB cable is rated for 5a(amps)
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I haven't even used the included charger and cable, but plugged in at the house I do see 2 amp charge rates which is great.
The downside is that in the car with android auto I can't really plug it into anything other than the car's USB and that give me a really slow trickle charge. This is where a bulk of my charging occurs since I drive for work so much. Basically I have never charged my other phones outside of the car, I just use android auto all the time and the batteries are always topped off. So not being able to charge from car or laptop is not a deal breaker at all, but it certainly means I need to start carry a charging cube around everywhere.
Just seems odd for such an expensive flagship phone to not charge correctly via USB like every other phone I have ever had.

Try the supplied charger and cable just to make sure you do not have a defective phone. When you plug in the cable to charge watch your screen. It should show your battery percentage and a short lighting bolt. Then in just a second it should change to a long lighting bolt and say super charging. If it does that you know your phone is charging correctly. Take your Huawei supplied cable and use it on your laptop and car and see if that doesn't increase your chances speeds.

Cccmachins said:
Try the supplied charger and cable just to make sure you do not have a defective phone. When you plug in the cable to charge watch your screen. It should show your battery percentage and a short lighting bolt. Then in just a second it should change to a long lighting bolt and say super charging. If it does that you know your phone is charging correctly. Take your Huawei supplied cable and use it on your laptop and car and see if that doesn't increase your chances speeds.
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I gave the original cable a shot and it still basically charges at 200-250ma from my laptop. Very odd indeed. Not even seeing the normal 500ma that you would get on a regular USB port. (Tried both standard and high charge rate USB ports on my lenovo)
Anyone else seeing this behavior?

Car charging issues (standard S20 5g)

So i've had this phone for a few days and took a road trip and camped this weekend. To say the least, I had a good feel of battery usage of this phone for my typical tasks.
During my road trip, my phone started with about 92% when i threw it on the charger and started driving. I noticed it was charging up to 96% and it started to discharge slowly after about an 45 minutes of driving The phone indicated it was being charged. When I purchased this phone I also purchased a 6a car charger (dual port, 3a each), and also some USB-C to USB-A cables rated at 18w. If I disconnected the power for a little bit, and reconnected, it would charge maybe 3-8% before stopping again and I would repeat the cycle to ensure I had enough battery to allow navigation to take me to my destination. Luckily, I made it to my campsite with 82% battery to spare.
Now the strange thing- when I left this morning to come back home, I had 100% on my phone as I charged it with a battery bank fine. I left the phone plugged in to my car charger as I left, and it stayed at 100%. I even let the phone discharge to 94%, and plugged it in and it was able to charge to 100% with the navigation on as well as pandora.
Am I doing something wrong? Am I supposed to be using a USB-C type charger? Maybe I need a better rated cable?
Would love some help. I'm coming from an S7 edge so a lot has changed. thanks!

liberalswine said:
When I purchased this phone I also purchased a 6a car charger (dual port, 3a each),
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I'm going to guess the charger just isn't that good, which one was it?

peachpuff said:
I'm going to guess the charger just isn't that good, which one was it?
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It's a qualcomm based charger. https://www.amazon.com/AILUN-Charger-Qualcomm-Adapter-Compatible/dp/B01N8PPY1H

Sometimes while driving these things can work loose in the lighter socket, a slight touch fumbling around near it (my dash cam does this), or some bumps in the road.
I suspect on your outbound trip the charger might have been getting intermittent power from being not quite pushed "home", but on the return trip you could have pushed it in harder and it stayed put.

yrp888 said:
Sometimes while driving these things can work loose in the lighter socket, a slight touch fumbling around near it (my dash cam does this), or some bumps in the road.
I suspect on your outbound trip the charger might have been getting intermittent power from being not quite pushed "home", but on the return trip you could have pushed it in harder and it stayed put.
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this wasn't the issue as I tried unplugging it and tried various 12v sockets in my car. However I think I did figure out my issue. The new charger i'm using does not use the "PD" protocol that the newest samsung phones use. Also, although the car charger i have is a qualcomm 3.0 protocol, and 36w- it's actually at 18w per usb A socket. The s20 wall charger is rated at 25w- so I'm now looking for a usb car charger that has a dedicated usb c socket with at least 25w of power and supports PD and pps

I'm using this one, no issues https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VP3HLGW/

jonboi said:
I'm using this one, no issues https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VP3HLGW/
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is "super fast charging" enabled with that charger? I just ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZRBPNB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I read somewhere that the newer samsung devices require PPM protocol in order for super fast charging rates to be active (as well as PD)

liberalswine said:
this wasn't the issue as I tried unplugging it and tried various 12v sockets in my car. However I think I did figure out my issue. The new charger i'm using does not use the "PD" protocol that the newest samsung phones use. Also, although the car charger i have is a qualcomm 3.0 protocol, and 36w- it's actually at 18w per usb A socket. The s20 wall charger is rated at 25w- so I'm now looking for a usb car charger that has a dedicated usb c socket with at least 25w of power and supports PD and pps
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I've reconsidered using fast chargers after the purchase of the S20, we've started using old 7.5W and 10W AC power adaptors. The 7.5W charger brings the phone up from about 30% to 80% in about 75min and I am fine with that. I have also used the 5W S3 charger but I think I'm happy with using the 7.5W charger.
If I need a fast boost I can always pull out the 25W charger.
I did buy a Belkin 18W PD car charger with the phone thinking "yeah, I need this" but now I will only use it for emergency charging. Tomorrow I'll pull out an old 10W car charger and plug the phone into the 10W socket while I drive around, see what happens.

Well I got into the car at 10:55 with the battery around 26%, plugged it into an old car charger I bought for our S4s (Pleomax, apparently OEM for Samsung) which has 2A & 1A outlets. It's not obvious on the charger which outlet is which but turns out I used the 1A outlet (AccuBattery showed the charging current hovering around 1000 mA).
Anyway, after 1hr of driving to my destination with a 5min break to fill up, the battery reached 66% so the 1A car charger raised the battery by 40% in about 60min, which I think is quite acceptable.
Car connected by BT for phone/SMS, received 1 call only. GPS/NFC etc are usually kept off.