Quick and Inexpensive USB wall charger? - General Accessories

I just lost my USB wall charger and realized my spares don't charge as fast as my previous one...
My previous charger had my phone at +700ma while in sleep, two of my spares can do 400 and one can only do 200!
One time I used a car charger that had me at +900ma in sleep so I would like to try and find a new wall charger that can get me +900.
BTW all the chargers I have used have said they are 5v 1000ma, so clearly I can't just go by the specs they list- I need a first hand experience of a quality charger.
So I open it to the forums. Anyone here have experience of a particularly strong USB wall charger?

I got a good Motorola one on Amazon for pretty cheap and it's been going strong for a while.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Well, you do need one that's 1000mAh.
You just need one from a reliable manufacturer that's not mis-labelled crap.
I'd just look for a quality brand. I got lucky with one for $1.50 on eBay but the seller isn't selling them any more.

Hm so I guess OEM or genuine name brands should reliably be up to their specs, then? Well, I guess I'm going to shop around for one that maybe says 1500ma or more because I believe my phone can take more than a 1A charger can give it, and it probably won't disappoint

Samsung note II have a battery of 3,100mAh, the charger is 2000mA(2A). but my i can use the same charger for my S2. so i guess that the amphere doesn't really matter. just that the higher the amphere of the charger, the faster it charge. But you sure need a higher amphere charger for bigger battery. Hope this help.

seacreature said:
Samsung note II have a battery of 3,100mAh, the charger is 2000mA(2A). but my i can use the same charger for my S2. so i guess that the amphere doesn't really matter. just that the higher the amphere of the charger, the faster it charge. But you sure need a higher amphere charger for bigger battery. Hope this help.
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I've read that smartphones (at least android phones) have controlled charging circuits that will only allow for as much amperage as they are set to allow. So if you connect a 2000mA charger to the phone but it's limited to 1000mA then it will only draw 1000mA. However as I have noticed just because a charger says it can output 1000mA doesn't mean that it can. I have tried 4 different 1000mA chargers each with pretty different outputs- and if they don't output as much as your phone will take it WILL charge slower. The point of this thread was to gather information on which chargers are reliably fast and ideally economical ones (there's enough OEM chargers I can find for 10x the price of off-brand ones that would hopefully do the job right).

Related

Travel charger

I had a question about a charger - I'm interested in getting a second charger for the Vibrant. I see that the charger that comes with the Vibrant says it has an output of 5.0V and 0.7A.
If I have an old LG charger that has an output of 5.1V and 0.7A, would that work. Could it damage the battery in my Vibrant, in anyway.
Thanks.
Not sure about your old charger, but it should work. Try it out at your own risk though.
I did want to comment on the chargers for the Vibrant. The phone seems to want a lot of current to charge properly. I was using an older 5V 500mA charger that served me well with my G1 and older BB Pearl. I had the Vibrant on it and it wouldn't charge fully. I also noticed the same thing when I would hook-up the vibrant to my notebook (typically 500mA max per port).
The good news is that there are a lot of cheap 5V 1A chargers on eBay. Just make sure to check a charger's spec before buying one.
$1.75 wall charger - http://cgi.ebay.com/US-AC-Power-USB...er_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item4aa03f4b9a
I also bought 5V 1A car chargers and mini USB to micro USB adapters so that I can use my old USB to mini USB cables when I am on the go.
$2.40 car charger - http://cgi.ebay.com/1000mA-1A-USB-C...er_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item4399e189d1
Charge only $1 - http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=...r&_dmpt=PDA_Accessories&_trksid=p3286.c0.m301
Charge + Data $2 - http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=mi...adapter&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
I have used my iphone charger a couple times. Very small letters on the back but I think it says it is 1.0A. Worked fine bit I went back to my vibrant charger. I also found a car charger at a circle K for $9.99. Probably could of got one a little cheaper on ebay but it was there and i needed a charge...lol
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
Vegastouch said:
I have used my iphone charger a couple times. Very small letters on the back but I think it says it is 1.0A. Worked fine bit I went back to my vibrant charger. I also found a car charger at a circle K for $9.99. Probably could of got one a little cheaper on ebay but it was there and i needed a charge...lol
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
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Tried my old charger .. it works but is really slow compared to the one that came with the Vibrant. Probably going to end up purchasing an extra one for when I travel.
Personally I don't mind something charging slower when I travel as long as I'm getting more power to the phone than I'm using of course.
Monoprice has 1000mA
Anyone has experience with this wall charger from monoprice? (can't link, please look up Product ID: 6767)
It's rated at 1000mA. The stock charger that came with the vibrant is 700(I think). Will extra 300mA damage my phone?
sonnyg95 said:
Anyone has experience with this wall charger from monoprice? (can't link, please look up Product ID: 6767)
It's rated at 1000mA. The stock charger that came with the vibrant is 700(I think). Will extra 300mA damage my phone?
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The extra 300mA will not damage the phone. Most smart phones require 700mA-1A to charge properly. But be careful, cheapo charger has potential to fry your phone. Anytime I buy a charger from ebay or cheap vendor, I plug it in to my old MP3 player for a week before I use it with my newer devices.
I have the same one that you see on monoprice. I've been using it for almost 2 years with no problem at all, YMMV tho.
I'd recommend this one. Looks identical to the charger that comes with my 3GS. Works well, I use it every day at work for more than 6 months now. Again, YMMV.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26446#open full view
sonnyg95 said:
Anyone has experience with this wall charger from monoprice? (can't link, please look up Product ID: 6767)
It's rated at 1000mA. The stock charger that came with the vibrant is 700(I think). Will extra 300mA damage my phone?
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Click to collapse
the max charge rate for a Li-ion battery is 1C. So you could charge at up to 1500mA.
I ordered that exact charger a few days ago.
sonnyg95 said:
Anyone has experience with this wall charger from monoprice? (can't link, please look up Product ID: 6767)
It's rated at 1000mA. The stock charger that came with the vibrant is 700(I think). Will extra 300mA damage my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The amperage rating only tells you the *maximum* possible output. The device (your phone) controls the current draw. As long as the voltage matches (5v), you can use a charger with any amperage rating which is 700mA (0.7A) or higher.
(Note that this only applies to chargers that your phone plugs into. You have to be more careful with the self-contained spare-battery chargers (where you remove the battery from the phone and put it into the charger). But those are normally battery-specific anyway.)
Also, you *might* risk damaging the battery through long-term usage of a charger that can't supply at least the minimum amperage (such as the sfsilicon's 500mA transformer). The end of a charge cycle draws the most power which is probably why sfsilicon couldn't fully charge his battery.
MV10 said:
.......
. The end of a charge cycle draws the most power which is probably why sfsilicon couldn't fully charge his battery.
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that might explain why my laptop wouldn't always charge to 100% - first few times it did, and i'd find the notification msg when i'd close the laptop, but last few times it didn't
learn something every day
as i use the vibrant tethered every nite while browsing (which is when it was charging), any problem with finishing the charge with the samsung wall charger? ie interrupting the charge when i take it off the laptop?

Charger Concerns

I see that the wall charger for the Galaxy Nexus outputs 5V and 1A. Unfortunately, none of the extra chargers I'd like to use as additional chargers have this output. Some of them are 5.1V, and some of them all put out under 1A.
From what I understand, using a charger w/ a higher voltage could potentially damage the phone. I know that this unlikely considering it's only an extra .1V in my case, but I don't want to risk it.
As for the amps, I believe that using lower amps isn't dangerous, but may result in charging taking longer than normal.
Are these two assumptions correct? Also, does anyone know of any cheap chargers that put out 5V/1A? If you put in "phone charger" in Amazon, the second hit is a Samsung OEM charger that puts out 5V/0.7A, but I'd rather get one that is going to be an exact match.
700-800mah are fine and acceptable for charging. But if wanting to play games on a charger and still get some kind of charge, go with a 1000 mah charger. 1000 mah charger is also best to use while using mhl so you can hopefully not lose battery charge while streaming video over hdmi.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
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http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Micro-Travel-Charger-M540/dp/B002HJBM04
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Travel-Charger-Adapter-MicroUSB/dp/B0049IE70I
Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
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I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
alee said:
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
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it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
Dmw017 said:
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
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Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
alee said:
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
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...you say it folds too huh :/ ....
but for that price, i wonder if there are any samsung chargers that are just as good if not better..
that is Apple, after all
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Dmw017 said:
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
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Same one.
Good question on whether it's putting out a full 1A. I guess what I do is check the charge times tomorrow with a few different 1A chargers to see if it measures up.
I use this for home:
http://www.amazon.com/Cellet-Charger-Retractable-Cable-myTouch/dp/B004XVM1T0
And this for the car:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Powerjolt-Dual-Universal-Micro/dp/B0042B9U8Q
Both are dual-USB and put out 1amp. Charges my GNEX and iPhone 4 (work) at the same time without issues.
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
I've read that the wall charger drops the battery down to 90ish % after it hits 100% and just goes between the two levels until you unplug your charger
While a USB charge is slower and charges your device up to a "fuller" charge
...I may be unfathomably wrong though
---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------
man that little Apple charger is so damn cute ... lol , ill probably end up buying it once the 1A volt charge is confirmed
edit: just bought it lol, oh well.. it will probably maybe more or less somewhat possibly work like it should at 1A :}
assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
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I'm not an expert on the subject but I was under the impression that cycles (charge + discharge) were a bigger factor on battery life than something like this. The longer a current is running through the battery (charge or discharge) is detrimental to it's life span.
Leaving a laptop plugged in all the time ruins its battery is my source on this one. I would say it's because it has a constant charge running through the battery.
qreffie said:
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
rashad1 said:
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
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True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
[hfm] said:
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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500mA is the max before the PC will disable the port. So your actually get less current.
There are some ports, depending on the motherboard that have a option of outputting more power for charging devices, and also have the port powered when the computer is off. But a normal usb 2.0 port is limited to 500mA max per spec... so a normal usb 2.0 port charging a phone is drawing less then 500mA, or it would get and over current condition and disable the port.
I design electronics and work with USB and batteries often, so let me clear some stuff up in no particular order:
- PC ports are limited to 500mA so will only ever output a max of 500mA
- You can use a wall charger that outputs 1000mA but on most devices the data pins on the micro USB need to be shorted to tell the phone it can try to draw more than 500mA. This is true for HTC devices for example. That means if you get a cheap charger that doesn't short the data pins, when you plug your standard micro-usb cable into it, it will still only charge your phone at 500mA.
- The charging controller is actually in the phone. It decides based on temperature (there's a sensor in the battery), current, voltage across the battery (current charge) and characteristics of the type of battery to figure out how much current to allow into the battery. Although its true that a 500mA charger may have different affects than 1000mA chargers, there usually is very little perceivable difference. Which is (slightly) better really depends on the charging controller and how it decides when to stop charging.
- When the battery is full, the phone continues to 'trickle charge' for a period of time. This isn't a bad thing. Overcharging a Lithium battery can be extremely dangerous, so normal charging occurs at a high speed and then slows down at a safe limit below the 'true' 100%. After that the phone continues to trickle charge to top up the battery. This is the reason you read in phone manuals you should charge the phone for 8 hours or overnight for its first charge.
- When charging at 500mA, the battery does not get as hot. This usually means you get closer to the true 100% before 'trickle charging' starts. With a 1000mA charge the battery heats up a lot more so charging may switch to trickle much sooner. Here's an example with made up figures.
Lets say you charge your battery with a 500mA charger, and it takes 2 hours. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 99%, and trickle charging. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to its full capacity.
Now, lets say you charge your battery with a 1000mA charger, and it takes 1 hour. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 98%, and trickle charging - It stopped sooner because the battery was hotter. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to full capacity.
Conclusion.. the 500mA charger took 2.5 hours, while the 1000mA charger took 1.5 hours. However if you unplugged both when the phone showed 100%, the 500mA charged battery may last longer, and so you think the 500mA somehow resulted in a more thorough charge!
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which you use. the absolute charge cycles is what counts. Charge to 100%, then dont charge till its 0 for best battery care. Constantly plugging into a charger or dock all day on and off is bad. But having said that, your phone is there to be used, so a sensible balance of the two is the best bet.
Thank you so much for the detailed response, kam187. Would you recommend avoiding using a 5.1V charger, considering the phone came with a 5V charger?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I wouldn't use it. The 0.1v probably won't make any difference, but it may not be regulated. Chargers with these odd values sometimes don't have any regulator inside them. That could damage your phone as the voltage could shoot up and down as the current draw changes.
Just search amazon/ebay for any MicroUSB charger, and pick one from a reputable manufacturer like Motorola, HTC, Samsung etc. Since all phones now use MicroUSB, there's loads of these chargers around from previous phone models etc.
Here's just one I saw on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Trave...E70I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1322808220&sr=8-3

Better 1.0AMP Rapid Charger recommendations

Has anyone had any success with after market rapid charging solutions? I see the OEM model number of the charger that came with the phone is ETA0U61JBEGSTA.
Has anyone found a generic equivalent for this charger? The last 2 amazon ones I bought were really slow charging & took over 4hrs to fully charge.
I use the monoprice 2.1 amp charger it works great. It may damage your battery but to me it doesn't matter I'll buy a new battery in a year for $15 if I have too.
http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/Pro...Id=108&categoryId=10851&subCategoryId=1085102
It has 4 ports 2 of them are 2.1amp and the others are 500mah I believe so I can plug in my ipod as well
Also bought their 2.1 amp car charger
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B00822J004?c=n&qid=1365830047&sr=8-2
Got it for $6.50 from Planet Mobile and fulfilled by Amazon. Looks and works perfectly.
Razorblood said:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B00822J004?c=n&qid=1365830047&sr=8-2
Got it for $6.50 from Planet Mobile and fulfilled by Amazon. Looks and works perfectly.
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6.50? very cheap
After seeing this article http://www.androidcentral.com/acces...mium-charger-rapid-charges-android-phones-too last year, I picked up a couple for $10ea. from an online source that was going out of business. They are available for ~$15 today. This is the only thing BB offers that rocks.
For an inexpensive but quality solution, try Monoprice.
Edit: If I forget to plug in at night, in the time it takes me to get ready to leave for work, I am at 90% or better.
Just FYI, for those commenting about using chargers higher than 1A (1000 mAh), the stock kernel will only allow 1A of current to reach the battery regardless if the charger is of a higher capacity. However there are custom kernels (such as Perseus) that allow this value to be overridden, so that the battery can be charged with more than 1000 mAh of current. It is recommended to not charge the battery with a value higher than 0.7 of the battery's total capacity. For the stock 2100 mAh battery, you will want to set the charging value to 1470 mAh or less.
n023b said:
I use the monoprice 2.1 amp charger it works great. It may damage your battery but to me it doesn't matter I'll buy a new battery in a year for $15 if I have too.
http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/Pro...Id=108&categoryId=10851&subCategoryId=1085102
It has 4 ports 2 of them are 2.1amp and the others are 500mah I believe so I can plug in my ipod as well
Also bought their 2.1 amp car charger
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Click to collapse
It wont damage your device. If you havent altered stock parameters than it wont draw more power than 1 amp
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I seem to remember seeing there was a cable mod to make the S3 charge faster? actually pull in more juice quicker? As I recall you had to modify the USB cable with a resistor in the right place?
I have plugged my S3 in a 2.1amp charger and I don't see it charging any faster than the 1.0amp charger. My wife's iPhone 4S however charges MUCH faster on the 2.1amp charger vs the 1.0amp charger
I'd like to figure out a way to make the S3 charger more quickly using a 2.1amp (or 1.0amp) charger if that's possible.... but I didn't book mark the thread when I saw it and can't find it again

Review of Anker Astro E5 15000 mAh external battery w/pics!!!

This is a review of Anker Astro E5 15000 mAh external battery: http://www.ianker.com/product/79AN15K-WA
Being familiar with footprint of their E4 battery, when Anker announced a new E5 model with higher capacity I was expecting to see bigger and heavier model with a typical 30% efficiency loss. I know I bring it up in a lot of the reviews, but labeled capacity of ANY external battery is not what your phone battery going to see. Its a total capacity of cells inside of external battery which gets converted to 5V usb interface output and then back to your cell phone battery while charging - the efficiency loss during the conversion reduces the actual capacity by approximately 30%, with some batteries close to 40% and others maybe slightly better to 25%. On top of that, a lot of no name ebay HK sellers have batteries with super exaggerated capacity where you will be lucky to get even half of what they advertise on the label. That is why I only trust a few brands, Anker being one of them.
Once I received E5 unit for review to my surprise, the footprint stayed almost unchanged and difference in weight was negligible in comparison to previous E4 gen. But you actually get 2000 mAh more in capacity to bring it up to 15000 mAh. The battery cells are changing and improving, and I'm glad to see that Anker is keeping up with a new technology. E5 external battery is not exactly feather light, but at about 11.1 oz and 5"x3"x0.9" is manageable and actually the same as Note 2 with Zerolemon battery. The exterior is solid plastic, no flex, and comes in either white or black. For this review I chose a white unit and found it to be great to cover up any fingerprints. The top has a large power button with dual functionality to also turn on built-in led light. At full charged battery capacity, the light could last up to 700 hours if you only use it for that purpose. Next to power button you have 4-led capacity/charging indicator in 25% increments. Charging input to the battery is a standard micro-usb and has 1.5A charging speed for a fast charging of this battery. Output is a dual full usb port, rated at 2A and 1A both of which can be used simultaneously to deliver 3A of combined current. Each port current output is regulated where I confirmed charging Note 2 from one gave me max 2A and from the other one only up to 1A.
This extended battery comes with usb cable and interchangeable tips for micro-usb, mini-usb, and apple 30-pin connector. Also, it comes with a convenient storage pouch for a battery, cable, and attachment. It also comes with a detailed manual and 18-month warranty card. But there is also a big surprise. I have been reading other independent test reviews of this module and it turned out to have an actual capacity close to 11,800 mAh. We are talking about 21.5% efficiency loss which is very good considering typical batteries of such capacity have it at 30% or higher. This mean you can charge your Note 2 with a standard battery almost 4 times, or easily charge Zerolemon and have some juice still left - all this at a max 2A speed. Overall, I'm very impressed with this battery and its performance!
Here are the pictures.
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Awesome! Thanks for this! What are you using to measure the charge that is going in to the Note 2? I have an external battery rated at 12,000mah, that has both 1A and 2A ports, and would like to see what it's actually putting out, as well as check some wall adaptors that I have. Thanks for the review! Anker is also one of the few brands that I trust as well!
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium
stanglifemike said:
Awesome! Thanks for this! What are you using to measure the charge that is going in to the Note 2? I have an external battery rated at 12,000mah, that has both 1A and 2A ports, and would like to see what it's actually putting out, as well as check some wall adaptors that I have. Thanks for the review! Anker is also one of the few brands that I trust as well!
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium
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it says it in the last screenshot dude, really? LOL
Galaxy Charging Current
Galaxy Charging Current *Lite* (free version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/...hbnRpcy5nYWxheHljaGFyZ2luZ2N1cnJlbnQuZnJlZSJd
I actually found it to be relatively accurate by comparing charging time versus charging percentage. Ignore "Now" value. Just look for Max/Avg as your charging currents. This app comes very handy for those without root, like myself, to measure your charging current.
vectron said:
Galaxy Charging Current *Lite* (free version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/...hbnRpcy5nYWxheHljaGFyZ2luZ2N1cnJlbnQuZnJlZSJd
I actually found it to be relatively accurate by comparing charging time versus charging percentage. Ignore "Now" value. Just look for Max/Avg as your charging currents. This app comes very handy for those without root, like myself, to measure your charging current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!! Just tested it out. Like you said, the Now value isn't what the charging rate actually is. Took me reading some reviews on the Play Store to figure that out. The Now value is what the device recommends, while the Average value is what rate you're actually charging at.
I'm not sure how accurate it is though. While using my HTC wall chargers that came with my both my black Evo LTE and white one, the values are Maximum 900, Now 1798, and Average 900. I'm getting the same numbers while using the Samsung wall charger that came with my Note 2. I assume that 900 is correct for the HTC chargers, as they're only 1Amp chargers so I'm getting .9Amp from them. The Samsung charger is 2Amp though, so it should be twice as high as the HTC chargers.
EDIT : Just tested my 12,000mah PowerBank. I got 500 out of the 1Amp port, and 1700 out of the 2Amp port! Very happy with those numbers!! Especially it considering that it appears to be charging at a higher rate than my OEM Samsung wall charger!!!
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium
:good:Solid review bro! Something that powerful could almost charge the ZL battery twice, haha.
stanglifemike said:
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I'm not sure how accurate it is though. While using my HTC wall chargers that came with my both my black Evo LTE and white one, the values are Maximum 900, Now 1798, and Average 900. I'm getting the same numbers while using the Samsung wall charger that came with my Note 2. I assume that 900 is correct for the HTC chargers, as they're only 1Amp chargers so I'm getting .9Amp from them. The Samsung charger is 2Amp though, so it should be twice as high as the HTC chargers.
EDIT : Just tested my 12,000mah PowerBank. I got 500 out of the 1Amp port, and 1700 out of the 2Amp port! Very happy with those numbers!! Especially it considering that it appears to be charging at a higher rate than my OEM Samsung wall charger!!!
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Click to collapse
Mike, which 12kmAh charger are you using? I know Anker stuff is universal for Apple/Android, while some other ones will drop your charging current to max 0.5A when connected to "apple" port. Another question, which usb cable are you using? Unless if its original Sammy cable that came with OEM charger or a cable like from monoprice with 24AWG/28AWG rating (thicker power wires to handle up to 3A of current), the cable itself its a bottleneck if its designed for a lower charging current. So for example, if you are using HTC charger/cable and then used their cable to connect to Samsung wall charger - you could be current limiting your phone (thinner wires, more resistance). And even if you are using OEM Samsung wall charger and cable - I noticed that in our house some outlets can't supply enough current depending on what other stuff is connected to the same shared power branch.
vectron said:
Mike, which 12kmAh charger are you using? I know Anker stuff is universal for Apple/Android, while some other ones will drop your charging current to max 0.5A when connected to "apple" port. Another question, which usb cable are you using? Unless if its original Sammy cable that came with OEM charger or a cable like from monoprice with 24AWG/28AWG rating (thicker power wires to handle up to 3A of current), the cable itself its a bottleneck if its designed for a lower charging current. So for example, if you are using HTC charger/cable and then used their cable to connect to Samsung wall charger - you could be current limiting your phone (thinner wires, more resistance). And even if you are using OEM Samsung wall charger and cable - I noticed that in our house some outlets can't supply enough current depending on what other stuff is connected to the same shared power branch.
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Click to collapse
I think PowerBank is the brand, and Long March is the model. There is a long thread in the Evo LTE Accessories subforum (my other phone), and that's how I heard about it. I normally wouldn't buy an off brand accessory, but with many XDA members giving great feedback, and some have had it close to a year, I decided to try it out. Very happy that I did!! I looks a lot like your Anker actually. It has 2 USB ports for charging other devices, a 1 Amp and a 2 Amp, and also has a little LED flashlight as well. It works great and this app you mentioned showed me that the 2 Amp port is charging at 1.7 Amp(while using my HTC micro USB cable, so it may charge at an even higher rate using the Samsung cable), so I'm happy with that.
For the Samsung wall charger, I'm using the Samsung wall charger and Samsung micro USB cable. I do have it plugged in to a power strip though, so I'll have to try it plugged directly in to a wall outlet with nothing else plugged in. Thanks for the info!
EDIT : Update - after trying the Samsung charger in a wall outlet instead of the power strip, I'm still getting 900(.9 Amp). Maybe my charger is just not putting out the Amperage it should anymore, and I should just buy another Samsung wall charger if I want to get the correct Amperage. I rarely use my wall charger though, as I just use my external battery charger to charge my extra Samsung battery. When I do plug in the phone, it's usually in to my PowerBank while I'm sitting outside playing on my phone and drinking/smoking (never smoke in my house!).
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium
stanglifemike said:
I think PowerBank is the brand, and Long March is the model. There is a long thread in the Evo LTE Accessories subforum (my other phone), and that's how I heard about it. I normally wouldn't buy an off brand accessory, but with many XDA members giving great feedback, and some have had it close to a year, I decided to try it out. Very happy that I did!! I looks a lot like your Anker actually. It has 2 USB ports for charging other devices, a 1 Amp and a 2 Amp, and also has a little LED flashlight as well. It works great and this app you mentioned showed me that the 2 Amp port is charging at 1.7 Amp(while using my HTC micro USB cable, so it may charge at an even higher rate using the Samsung cable), so I'm happy with that.
For the Samsung wall charger, I'm using the Samsung wall charger and Samsung micro USB cable. I do have it plugged in to a power strip though, so I'll have to try it plugged directly in to a wall outlet with nothing else plugged in. Thanks for the info!
EDIT : Update - after trying the Samsung charger in a wall outlet instead of the power strip, I'm still getting 900(.9 Amp). Maybe my charger is just not putting out the Amperage it should anymore, and I should just buy another Samsung wall charger if I want to get the correct Amperage. I rarely use my wall charger though, as I just use my external battery charger to charge my extra Samsung battery. When I do plug in the phone, it's usually in to my PowerBank while I'm sitting outside playing on my phone and drinking/smoking (never smoke in my house!).
SwiftKey'ed from my White Sprint Note 2 using XDA Premium
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Click to collapse
What you refer to is Yoobao brand power bank model "Long March". Unfortunately, there is only one official reseller of Yoobao brand in US and its KeviKev (I reviewed Yoobao Thunder 13000 mAh from them before - http://kevikev.com/Samsung-Galaxy-NOTE-II-2-N7100-Cases-and-Accessories_c47.htm). Long March is 11,200 mAh model. Did you get it from Amazon or eBay? It's a Chinese knock off of Yoobao, but it doesn't matter since it works for you. They all use the same battery cells anyway, and original Yoobao stuff might be a bit more robust and have more durable plastic shell. But listen, if the one you have works - its all good and don't worry about it!!!
Strange about Samsung wall charger. Sounds like something is gone south. Btw, don't even bother buying anything labeled as "original OEM Samsung wall charger" from Amazon or eBay - it's all fake knock offs as well. For the fun I just look on Amazon reviews, and everybody complaining about Samsung OEM wall charger not even being able to supply 1A. That's a problem with Amazon, anybody can create a merchant account and list their product under original manufacturer listing. And the rest is history because you will never be able to find original Samsung part since everything else will be a fake copy But I assume you are using your original wall charger and cable which came from Samsung when you bought N2?
flynnchen said:
Yoobao brand is quite good. I had one before. Is anker battery stable now ? I just found out this post on xda
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1361749
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That explosion has nothing to do with Anker batteries. That was highly/almost 100% due to the black cheap/low amp charger. I had a random cheap black USB charger similar to that for charging low amp Emerson bluetooth headphones, which was 400 mAH output, and we charged my brother's IPAD 2 with it, and it started to smoke. Same issue happened when charging his S3 with that cheap charger. I think it was their mistake for providing such a terrible charger, which is why it seemed the white one was probably better. The lesson is: don't charge anything that has a higher capacity/requirement with something far below it's capacity - otherwise, you're just asking for a dangerous situation to occur. That's just my two cents and observation from what I have seen, read, and personally experienced
how to charge
Excellent and informative review! 2 questions (I am a novice...). How do I charge the charger...can I use either my iphone 5 plug (output 5V/1A) or ipad2 plug? And, when charging my devices, is it the 1A socket for iphone 5, and 2A socket for ipad 2? Thank you!
---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------
Excellent and informative review! 2 questions (I am a novice...). How do I charge the charger...can I use either my iphone 5 plug (output 5V/1A) or ipad2 plug? And, when charging my devices, is it the 1A socket for iphone 5, and 2A socket for ipad 2? Thank you!
maestrojohn said:
Excellent and informative review! 2 questions (I am a novice...). How do I charge the charger...can I use either my iphone 5 plug (output 5V/1A) or ipad2 plug? And, when charging my devices, is it the 1A socket for iphone 5, and 2A socket for ipad 2? Thank you!
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Click to collapse
To charge the charger you can use any wall charger with micro-usb output. Since this is Android forum and Note 2 section, I assume you have one of those. Otherwise as you aware the charging cable for iPhone 5 is not micro-usb. But to charge your device, you can do that with any phone or tablet since charging/data cables have usb on one side (that will go into a charger) and whatever connector you are using on your device on the other side of the cable. In theory you can use either outputs.
Hello! Great review, I purchased it for 50 bucks on amazon 5 minutes ago because of the review. I am a noob, sorry in advance, I made this account to ask these two questions: 1: I just wanna use it for my iPhone 5, do i plug it in on the 1A or 2A? If both is ok, which one is better for the battery in the phone? 2: I will need an adapter, which one is better? Micro Usb to Lightning or 30pin to Lightning? I dont like the size of the 30 pin to lighting, so is it ok to purchase a micro usb to lighting instead? Does this affect anything like charging time?
Thanks for answering, have a nice day
flotschi13 said:
Hello! Great review, I purchased it for 50 bucks on amazon 5 minutes ago because of the review. I am a noob, sorry in advance, I made this account to ask these two questions: 1: I just wanna use it for my iPhone 5, do i plug it in on the 1A or 2A? If both is ok, which one is better for the battery in the phone? 2: I will need an adapter, which one is better? Micro Usb to Lightning or 30pin to Lightning? I dont like the size of the 30 pin to lighting, so is it ok to purchase a micro usb to lighting instead? Does this affect anything like charging time?
Thanks for answering, have a nice day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use either 1A or 2A outputs. Your phone has a fixed charging speed and will not draw more current that it's limited to. So for example if iPhone can charger at a speed of 1A per hour and you connect it to an output that can supply 2A per hour - it will only draw at 1A per hour speed. BUT, if you have Note 2 which takes advantage of 2A per hour charging and you plug it into 1A port, it will be charging at half the speed.
Regarding cable, try to minimize number of connecting adapters. For example, you get a cable with 30pin connector and you can add 30pin to Lighting adapter to it, but with every connection you add resistance which going to affect total amount of current and can slow down the charging, etc. You want to have point-to-point cable. So I would recommend using USB to Lighting connector cable. Not micro-usb, but usb because charing ports on this external power supply are full size usb. Only the port to charge this battery is micro-usb because of a common connection with other charging cables.

			
				
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I wonder if you could try something for me.
Could you find out if the Anker will supply a phone/device while it is itself being charged? Also, whether it will keep supplying the phone/device without interruption when its own charging supply is connected and disconnected?
I want to use it like a mini-UPS for my phone while charging it from my bicycle dynamo, but for this, it needs to cope with a charging supply which stops and starts, while continuing to supply any connected devices.
I think I tried it before, and it didn't work. These external battery devices are not intended to work in pass-through mode. I think there are some other ones (I'm 100% sure if that was NewTrent), but the vendor will not guarantee the device under warranty because of an additional overheating and cut of the efficiency. This will really complicate the controller of such ext battery where it has to keep balance between charging and discharging of the same battery at the same time. I'm pretty sure Anker stuff will not allow that because they have smart current monitoring functionality built-in in order not to overcharge or over-drain the device.
But it would be an interesting experiment where you connect ext battery to the outlet and to the phone. I wonder if it starts charging battery first until it's full, and then switch to charging the phone
vectron said:
I think I tried it before, and it didn't work. These external battery devices are not intended to work in pass-through mode. I think there are some other ones (I'm 100% sure if that was NewTrent), but the vendor will not guarantee the device under warranty because of an additional overheating and cut of the efficiency. This will really complicate the controller of such ext battery where it has to keep balance between charging and discharging of the same battery at the same time. I'm pretty sure Anker stuff will not allow that because they have smart current monitoring functionality built-in in order not to overcharge or over-drain the device.
But it would be an interesting experiment where you connect ext battery to the outlet and to the phone. I wonder if it starts charging battery first until it's full, and then switch to charging the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did just that yesterday, and it worked fine. Now, the anker would not actually increase its charge due to simpe physics: it charges with 1.5A from the wall, and my nexus 10 used 1.2A of those, and adding some inefficiencies on that it would likely mean that it would just hold a charge level in the anker battery, not increase it. But as soon as the tablet ramps its current draw down the anker would suck up any left over juice. This becomes even worse of course if you charge a phone at the same time.
One little note: The battery in this is not the most awesome (also the capacity measurement is a simple voltage-based instead of counting coulumbs). While charging with ~1A from the 1A port, when I added my nexus 10 to the 2A port the charge indicator actually went from 50% to 25%. When removing the tablet the LEDs indicated 50% charge again. This is due to voltage sag which is itself due to internal resistance of the batteries. Meaning: The faster you charge the more heat will be wasted in the batteries. So to really prolong the battery life you should actually charge slowly, at least as far as the Anker is concerned.
Thanks for the review, I will probably be getting one now.

Original Charger

The retail charger that comes with the Moto X charges the phone three to four times faster than after market or other phone's chargers. Two questions:
Why is this?
What technical information about the phone/charger do I need to buy replacement chargers that have the same fast charge capacity?
Thanks!
Taken from Anand's review:
"The Moto X comes with a dual-USB port 850 mA charger, like the previous revision of Motorola devices. In practice I've seen the Moto X reliably pull closer to 1 A from the Moto X bundled charger.
What's interesting however is that the Moto X can charge up to the maximum BC1.2 rate of 1.5A. If you use that kind of charger, it charges impressively fast, around 2.3 hours. "
So when I look for chargers I want one that can provide up to 1.5A? Are there any other caveats needed to make it draw that much? I have a feeling my other chargers theoretically can pull that much but don't for compatibility reasons?
Nope. Just look for one that outputs at least 1.5 amps. More amps will not hurt the phone as the phone will only 'request' the amperage or can handle. Ipad certified chargers are typically rated for 2 amps or greater. Be aware though that if it's a dual USB charger and you plug something into the second plug, you most likely won't be getting the full amperage on both.
Sent from my XT1058 using xda app-developers app
Thanks a lot! On a similar note, I have a usb car charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle. Do I also want to find I one with 1.5A+ output?
Charging faster isn't necessarily always a good thing - remember that a byproduct of quicker charging is more heat - and in the car, especially if you're running Gmaps, etc you can hit the thermal limits so it'll actually stop charging until the battery cools.
I figure there's gotta be a reason besides price that Moto didn't ship a charger without 1.5a support.
I have the "andru" charger that is like $25 on amazon and its one or the fast type chargers. Probably not the cheapest but its a cool looking charger. Lots of friends have them too and love them since Google gave them out at Google I/o
Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk
If you can afford the time, I'd recomend a slower charger. Slower charger means less heat which is better for the (non-replaceable) battery.
Hy everybody, I think this is the first time I'm posting in the forum. I don't know if this is too old for a thread, but I've lost my charger (feel really bad about it) and I'm now charging with an universal 0.7A charger. However I'd like to find a Motorola branded charger again, id anyone knows a place where I could buy in Europe? I've checked ebay and couldn't find one that I can be sure it's coming form Motorola. If I cannot find one like that, I guess it'll be ok to buy a 1A charger also universal, based on the discussions here?

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