[Q] Which is better for the battery trickle or mains? - Eee Pad Transformer Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I tend to charge my transformer by leaving it plugged into my pc via usb for most of the day.
Does anyone know if this is bad for the battery compared to using mains to charge?
Obviously with the transformer it takes a very long time to fully charge via usb so it is plugged in for hours and hours.

The battery is a Lithium Polymer (Lipo) so it doesnt have a memory like the old Nicads and its even better than NiMH or Li-ion. Newer Lipos can be charged at upwards of 2-3C. There is no benefit from trickle charging these batteries. The internal charging circuit wont allow it to happen anyway. Once the battery hits 4.2v per cell it will stop the charge. So to answer your question; no it doesnt matter which you use to charge it. Might as well use the main charger and have it done faster.

Interesting, but do we know the transformer uses the newer battery and could you provide a reference to the info for this newer type of li-ion battery?

Well in this case the 2-3C charging is irrelevant since we have no way of charging it that fast anyway since the TF has some sort of internal charging circuit. I was just trying to make the point that the main charger is not nearly putting out enough current to cause the battery any harm or for that matter a shorter life than the USB would. Looking at the AC charger it says 15v 1.2A so it should charge at about 2.5 times faster than a typical USB port if it were putting out 15v (it doesnt...it only puts out 5v 500mA). Im actually surprised that at 5v it manages to charge it at all....guess thats why it has to be off and sit there for 2 days.

carrera0to60 said:
Well in this case the 2-3C charging is irrelevant since we have no way of charging it that fast anyway since the TF has some sort of internal charging circuit. I was just trying to make the point that the main charger is not nearly putting out enough current to cause the battery any harm or for that matter a shorter life than the USB would. Looking at the AC charger it says 15v 1.2A so it should charge at about 2.5 times faster than a typical USB port if it were putting out 15v (it doesnt...it only puts out 5v 500mA). Im actually surprised that at 5v it manages to charge it at all....guess thats why it has to be off and sit there for 2 days.
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I had the general impression that slower charging of batteries is usually better. You usually don't get something for nothing. If the newer batteries are different that great but where did you read this?

Related

[Q] got a generic charger....it says-5v 500mah,original is 5v 1a(amper)is this ok?

it says- output :5v 500mah
the original says-output:5v 1a(amper i guess)
will this screw up the battery?
chances are no, considering it is half what htc recommends you charge it with, either it will charge it very slowly (half the current of the original) or the voltage wont provide enough to kick the phone into charging mode and nothing will happen (i.e. the charger "wont work")
Thanks for the help
It'll work, but as panyan said, it'll recharge much more inefficiently than with a 1 amp charger.
Actually... It will charge the phone exactly as charging via USB, as USB is limited to 0.5A.
Yep, it will charge your phone just fine @ USB charging speed, I have a similar charger.
And some of you forgot to mention that the phone will struggle when for example you will play games or use gps. Charge will be insufficient and instead charging it will slowly discharge while using it.
Sent from my Desire HD uing XDA App
Well yes and no, in normal usage it will charge phone, but when you use your phone the way that you would drain the batty in two hours, then it will discharge.
Hey... Yeah if the charger is a car charger then it may not charge fast enough if using GPS software which can drain the battery fast. 1Amp reccomended for faster charging... other than that should charge fine but just slow like USB charging (which has a max of 500mA).
One question guys... I bought a car charger from ebay listed as for HTC phones. It looks like a cheap knock off product with a glowing blue HTC logo when used in the car. The device is rated at 2Amps. Now from what little I know about electronics I've been told that AC/DC Plug packs with more Amps are ok and the device just only uses what it needs. I'm not however familiar whith battery charing when you have a higher rated Amps charger... Would the battery on the phone just be greedy and "ask" for the full 2Amps? Would this then put strain or be dangerous by charging the phone too quickly?
Secondly while we are on the topic of electronics... I'm trying out a super cheap ebay battery supposedly rated at 1600mAH (I know these rating are usually fake). I've noticed the HTC battery is around 4.17V when fully charged. This battery charged up to 4.2V fully charged... Is that dangerous for the device?
2 amp is better, correct me if i am wrong. So the output is 5V and 2A, is that mean the power is 10W every hour ?
2 A charging current (if the phone takes in that much) will damage the battery in a long term use.
It is incredibly unlikely that the phone will discharge the battery faster than it charges unless you're doing something very wrong, e.g. Running a console emulator while downloading a large file over HSDPA with WiFi enabled (but not connected) and using GPS navigation with screen brightness at maximum!
Screen and background services take approx 150mAh, and I doubt radio will take much more than that combined. That puts drain 200mAh less than USB charging, 700mAh less than direct charging.
FYI: There's a spec for USB charging of mobile phones from supported USB ports which can pull up to 1500mA.
DeathJester said:
It is incredibly unlikely that the phone will discharge the battery faster than it charges unless you're doing something very wrong, e.g. Running a console emulator while downloading a large file over HSDPA with WiFi enabled (but not connected) and using GPS navigation with screen brightness at maximum!
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Hmm... not sure for Desire HD I haven't tested GPS with SatNav software using current widget... I do know that I'm pulling well over 200mA just with basic use at home with Wi-Fi on and GPS & Bluetooth off and I kill all backround apps. I do know that I've been in the car and seen TomTom app on my friend's jailbroken iPhone 3G (or 3Gs) and with the GPS on and not doing anything intensive... we were actually travelling down a long straight highway, the phone was chewing more battery than the car charger could charge, so he switched off GPS.
Ah also guys no need to worry about the 2Amp charger... It sh*t itself on the 3rd car use and no longer works at all. Junk! I also noticed on the 2nd car trip that opening Android SpareParts the charge is displayed as USB Charging not AC Charging so yeah I believe that the car charger was only a standard USB (max 500mA) power output and not 1Amp let alone 2Amps. Annoying how false advertising or labelling is part and parcel with cheap Chinese products.I was meaning to test the charger's output with Current Widget (which is what I'll do for my next car charger) but the charger crapped out and was useless before I got a chance.
One thing I did notice from looking at a log using Current Widget while charging my phone on the A/C charger in standby, the charge tapers off the power output the more the battery is charged. To get an accurate idea of if the car charger is going to be outputting 1Amp I'd be sure the phone battery is down to 40% (or in the 40s) then with all other stuff switched off I'd run a log on Current Widget and turn the screen off for a few minutes. You should have a reading of around +700 to +800mA if the car charger is rated at 1Amp.
Be wary of the cheap Asian knock of car chargers with the coil spring cord and the HTC logo that lights up blue.... Not worth the 3 or 4 bucks they sell on ebay for.
There's a spec for USB charging of mobile phones from supported USB ports which can pull up to 1500mA.
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There's commonly those double USB cables for laptop hard drives so yeah I can see that if the USB ports are actually giving you the full rated maximum of 500mA you can get 1Amp output with this kind of cable but 1500mA?!? The only way I'd see possible for this is either you have a tripple USB cable connected to 3USB ports that are all outputting the full 500mA (and that's if a triple cable even exists or lets say you solder another one onto a double cable) or you have a USB AC/DC charger or some other USB port/hub you've rigged up which provides more than the USB standards of max 500mA per port. How else is this possible?!? Has the max power output of 500mA changed since USB 2.0 standards?
yeah there are usb 2.0 ports with more than 500mA power supply.
some companys give some extra juice to their (or often only one) usb ports.
for example: i've got an Dell Studio XPS 16 Notebook here. it has 3 usb ports, 2 with normal 500mA supply and one with 1A (for charging your phone, etc).
DN41

[Q] Faster Charger? Please advise

Hey,
I noticed that the droid charge has a bigger battery but it take a lifetime to charge.. is there a better charger I can get other than the one that came stock with the phone? Please let me know. I would really appreciate it.
The stock actually charges fast compared to USB...use a higher amperage charger with the stock usb cord (so it doesn't limit to 500ma). I use my Galaxy Tab charger...works great
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
kvswim said:
The stock actually charges fast compared to USB...use a higher amperage charger with the stock usb cord (so it doesn't limit to 500ma). I use my Galaxy Tab charger...works great
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
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Well I am using the USB in the pc and the battery has not moved once notch ... has to be the rom (gingerbread) or the combnation of usb cord and charger.
stepinmyworld said:
Well I am using the USB in the pc and the battery has not moved once notch ... has to be the rom (gingerbread) or the combnation of usb cord and charger.
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PC USB ports do not do a good job charging phones. they don't have a lot of power going to them. In addition, if you're using your phone while its charging from your computer you will not likely see it charging at all since all the power its getting is going to whatever it is your doing.
The same is true of car chargers. I had mine plugged in in the car for 45 minutes using the GPS. It charged 2%. The point is, the only real effective way to charge your phone is by using a regular outlet.
streetlightman said:
PC USB ports do not do a good job charging phones. they don't have a lot of power going to them. In addition, if you're using your phone while its charging from your computer you will not likely see it charging at all since all the power its getting is going to whatever it is your doing.
The same is true of car chargers. I had mine plugged in in the car for 45 minutes using the GPS. It charged 2%. The point is, the only real effective way to charge your phone is by using a regular outlet.
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Correct about the pc charging; it only runs at .5 amps (500 ma) while the stock charger has 1 amp. However, the car charger really depends on what kind you're using. I use a 2A and it charges fine.
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
streetlightman said:
PC USB ports do not do a good job charging phones. they don't have a lot of power going to them. In addition, if you're using your phone while its charging from your computer you will not likely see it charging at all since all the power its getting is going to whatever it is your doing.
The same is true of car chargers. I had mine plugged in in the car for 45 minutes using the GPS. It charged 2%. The point is, the only real effective way to charge your phone is by using a regular outlet.
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ok cool. so i could just look for a charger will higher voltage being delivered. I hope i get the right one that is compatible to the droid charge. Dont wanna burn the battery out etc
No, not voltage. Amperage. Big difference. Just get a charger with a USB port and a high amperage...I don't think you'll find a higher amp charger specifically compatible with the Charge.
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
kvswim said:
No, not voltage. Amperage. Big difference. Just get a charger with a USB port and a high amperage...I don't think you'll find a higher amp charger specifically compatible with the Charge.
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
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ok thanks!
You need a charger that won't be seen as a USB connection on the phone. If the phone thinks that it is plugged into your computer, it will charge at roughly half the rate of the wall charger. Wall charger will charge at ~700mA I believe, and the USB/Computer connection will charge at ~400mA. You can find the actual numbers in the power regulator driver in the kernel source though.
I have a motorola 950 amp car charger I got off amazon for $5. It works well but if the screen is full bright and I'm running navagation I have seen the battery level drop. To keep up you need a 1+amp charger. That being said the harder you charge the batteries the quicker they will wear out.
imnuts said:
You need a charger that won't be seen as a USB connection on the phone. If the phone thinks that it is plugged into your computer, it will charge at roughly half the rate of the wall charger. Wall charger will charge at ~700mA I believe, and the USB/Computer connection will charge at ~400mA. You can find the actual numbers in the power regulator driver in the kernel source though.
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This is pretty interesting. I'm not a phone dev or an electrician, but I assume these mA numbers are something that are 1) lower than what is actually safe and 2) might be able to be tweaked by a dev with nothing better to do. Not that you are even close to falling in that category, but I think many users would be quite interested in being able to get more charge out of shorter durations, albeit at the risk of burning out their phones.
Search for my responses here on charging cables... Sorry but I'm at 35,000 feet in an airliner and can't search very well to include a link. The "magic" to allow a charge current greater than 500ma is either in the stock AC charger or in a "charge only" cable. The data wires to the phone have to be shorted otherwise the phone will think that it is plugged into a computer and will start USB services and will limit the charging current. Cheapest to fabricate your own adapter!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
So it wont harm my battery at all to use my galaxy tab charger on my phone? What about in the long run will it degrade faster?
I think the phone has intelligent charging logic (like the newest iphones) so if you keep it cool it will take care of itself. YMMV however!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
You could have a 10 amp charger, and if it is picked up as a computer/usb connection, the phone is going to pull the same amount of current as it would just plugging it in to your computer. The same goes for car and wall chargers that get picked up as a computer/usb connection. It doesn't matter what charge rate the charger supports, the phone is going to pull the same current as it is regulated to via the kernel. The only time it won't pull the full charge current it is setup to pull is if you have a charger that is rated for a slower charge rate than what the phone wants AND it won't allow charging above its stated capacity (any good charger should do this).
I have looked around (not much though) at how to make the charge rate faster before, but couldn't see how to do anything besides make the phone charge as fast over USB as it can via the wall charger. However, from what I have read, Li Ion batteries do better if they receive a slower charge to full and will not die as fast compared to being rapidly charged.
imnuts said:
You could have a 10 amp charger, and if it is picked up as a computer/usb connection, the phone is going to pull the same amount of current as it would just plugging it in to your computer. The same goes for car and wall chargers that get picked up as a computer/usb connection. It doesn't matter what charge rate the charger supports, the phone is going to pull the same current as it is regulated to via the kernel. The only time it won't pull the full charge current it is setup to pull is if you have a charger that is rated for a slower charge rate than what the phone wants AND it won't allow charging above its stated capacity (any good charger should do this).
I have looked around (not much though) at how to make the charge rate faster before, but couldn't see how to do anything besides make the phone charge as fast over USB as it can via the wall charger. However, from what I have read, Li Ion batteries do better if they receive a slower charge to full and will not die as fast compared to being rapidly charged.
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Slow charging is true to some extent, but there is no need to charge our battery's under 1.5amp.
And shorting the two data pins on the USB doesn't work it looks for a specific resistance, I saw the ohm load somewhere, but now of course I can't find it lol..
When I get really bored tonight I will edit this and figure it out. But yeah our phones can easily pull 800ma or more with full screen brightness and maxed out processor. So that would result in no charging at all on some chargers. I use a 2a wall charger that came with my evo and it charges very very quickly. Never more than 1 hour to full charge unless I am gaming on it while it charges lol. This is using the cord that came with the phone of course so that it knows it isn't in a data enabled usb slot.
MasterRy88 said:
So it wont harm my battery at all to use my galaxy tab charger on my phone? What about in the long run will it degrade faster?
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In electronics, when given a voltage source (as opposed to a current source) the Voltage is set to a fixed value. That is what our wall USB outlets are. Voltage sources
Think of Voltage like a waterfall. The water is always dropping from the same height. The voltage is always set to the same value.
The mA rating (the current) is determined by how much juice the phone can pull. Just because a charger is capable of supplying more current (say 1 or 2 amps), it doesn't mean that the Droid is going to draw that much current. However, if the droid is capable of pulling more current, it will benefit by charging faster.
Does that help at all?
*edit* Dang it. Didn't scroll down enough to see that imnuts posted already. Oh well, screw it. I'm leaving my post. lol. People who don't know about Voltage and Amperage need to hear the waterfall example at some point in their lives.
lane32x said:
In electronics, when given a voltage source (as opposed to a current source) the Voltage is set to a fixed value. That is what our wall USB outlets are. Voltage sources
Think of Voltage like a waterfall. The water is always dropping from the same height. The voltage is always set to the same value.
The mA rating (the current) is determined by how much juice the phone can pull. Just because a charger is capable of supplying more current (say 1 or 2 amps), it doesn't mean that the Droid is going to draw that much current. However, if the droid is capable of pulling more current, it will benefit by charging faster.
Does that help at all?
*edit* Dang it. Didn't scroll down enough to see that imnuts posted already. Oh well, screw it. I'm leaving my post. lol. People who don't know about Voltage and Amperage need to hear the waterfall example at some point in their lives.
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I don't really understand this because voltage and amperage are different things...
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyFroyo 1.9.1
skydeaner said:
When I get really bored tonight I will edit this and figure it out. But yeah our phones can easily pull 800ma or more with full screen brightness and maxed out processor. So that would result in no charging at all on some chargers. I use a 2a wall charger that came with my evo and it charges very very quickly. Never more than 1 hour to full charge unless I am gaming on it while it charges lol. This is using the cord that came with the phone of course so that it knows it isn't in a data enabled usb slot.
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Did you read anything I posted The phone is only going to pull a set charge rate, depending on what type of connection it sees. It doesn't care what power rating the connection has, it will pull as much power as it can, up to the limit defined in the power regulator of the kernel. You can use a 1A charger, or a 2A charger, doesn't matter, the phone is still only going to pull a set. The phone will pull 475mA via USB connection (your computer) or 800mA via an AC adapter (wall charger). Unless you figure out how to hack the battery driver to allow a faster charge, those are the two rates you get, regardless of how much power the wall charger can supply.
kvswim said:
I don't really understand this because voltage and amperage are different things...
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A charger is going to provide a set voltage (5V I believe) and that is the only constant in the charging process for what is going into the phone. The amperage is going to be determined by the phone or the wall charger. The only time the wall charger will be the limiting part in charging is if its circuitry is setup to cut off charging over a certain level, and if it is rated for a lower charging rate, odds are, it probably won't cut it off and instead produce a fire hazard.
Something else people don't realize is that the charging rate isn't just bad for the battery if you charge to fast, pulling to much power in to charge the battery, especially while using the phone, creates a heat problem as well. While the phone will shut itself down before any major damage can occur, why would you even want to create a situation that could potentially damage the phone hardware?
imnuts said:
Did you read anything I posted The phone is only going to pull a set charge rate, depending on what type of connection it sees. It doesn't care what power rating the connection has, it will pull as much power as it can, up to the limit defined in the power regulator of the kernel. You can use a 1A charger, or a 2A charger, doesn't matter, the phone is still only going to pull a set. The phone will pull 475mA via USB connection (your computer) or 800mA via an AC adapter (wall charger). Unless you figure out how to hack the battery driver to allow a faster charge, those are the two rates you get, regardless of how much power the wall charger can supply.
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what about car chargers? i have one that I think is 2A and it seems to charge my phone a bit faster than my wall charger
blazing through on my VZ Droid Charge 4G

another battery tip.

not sure if this is just a coincidence, but I did something by accident that has has improved my battery life. After trying many tips and apps like Battery Dr+ and with modest results. I tried charging with the HP touchpad charger that I recently got. It puts out higher voltage than the standard USB AC adapters. To my surprise , my battery charges super quick and holds a charge even better. Again, it could just be nothing, but my Triumph is experiencing extra battery life as well from the touchpads charger. Just thought I'd throw it out to see if anyone has any thoughts on it.
We should ask the mythbusters lol
Sent from my Droid Charge 4G running Gummy Charged 2.0
USB is 5V, so I'd like to know how it is putting out more than that without damaging anything. Also, as I've stated numerous times (does anyone ever read around here?), the amperage output listed on the charger will have almost no effect on how fast the phone charges. The only time it will affect it is if the output amperage is less than what the phone will accept and the charger will limit output, but I doubt any charger with a power output below what the phone will take would be complex enough to do that.
Your phone will detect if you are getting power from a USB port or the stock charger. It will accept higher current with the stock charger. If you are charging from other charger, it will charge slow. To fix that, buy a new and cut open your USB cable. Short the 2 data cable.
orateam said:
not sure if this is just a coincidence, but I did something by accident that has has improved my battery life. After trying many tips and apps like Battery Dr+ and with modest results. I tried charging with the HP touchpad charger that I recently got. It puts out higher voltage than the standard USB AC adapters. To my surprise , my battery charges super quick and holds a charge even better. Again, it could just be nothing, but my Triumph is experiencing extra battery life as well from the touchpads charger. Just thought I'd throw it out to see if anyone has any thoughts on it.
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The stock charger is rated at 5.0V/1.0A.
What is the HP Touchpad charger rated at?
I too have an HP touchpad and have noticed quicker charge times. Not sure about battery life though since it varies on my use. I cant use my samsung charger to charge the Touchpad, it says its not powerful enough.
Ted A said:
The stock charger is rated at 5.0V/1.0A.
What is the HP Touchpad charger rated at?
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from what i read, the HP charger is 5.3/2.0 Amps.
Not really sure why this would make a difference, since usb voltage is standardized and the kernel controls how much amperage goes to the phone. I once thought my Gtab charger did this, but imnuts pointed all the above facts to me.
Sent from my Droid Charge running GummyCharged 2.0

Battery charging, 500mah (slow) or 1000mah (fast) any difference in performance?

I've noticed that charging with 500mah charger, charges the battery MUCH slower than a 1000mah (1amp) charger, which charges really fast. I'll need to time it, but I'm thinking the 1000mah charger charges the stock battery in less than 2 hours, where as the 500mah charger takes many hours, I usually let it charge overnight.
My question is, is there any performance gain to slow charging vs fast charging? ie: slow charging giving a deeper charge, vs fast charging?
any opinions?
i use a 2amp charger i had already that fully charges the O3D in around half an hour/45 mins. get the same runtime whether i use that or the stock charger.
hefonthefjords said:
i use a 2amp charger i had already that fully charges the O3D in around half an hour/45 mins. get the same runtime whether i use that or the stock charger.
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Any chance of a link to this charger, I'd really like that sort of charging speed.
Pete
My guess would be anything that would charge an iPad... those require like 2.1amp, so that would be a 2amp usb charger.... I've seen 2.1amp home chargers, car chargers, etc... all because of the ipad I'm guessing.
Its not that simple. Any device that uses USB for charging can only pull 500ma, that's a universal agreement. To get around this each manufacturer uses a method of "informing" their device that it is connected to a charger that can supply more current (HTC shorts the data leads in the supplied charger I don't know what LG does). I have a 1amp car charger but it still only gives 500ma but the genuine LG charger gives an amp because the phone "knows" it can supply more.
I'm going to stick a test meter into my LG chargers over the holidays to see how the data leads are connected.
Pete
Sent from my LG-P920 using xda premium
The charger i have is a noname brand. I bought it from walmart for 6 quid. It also came with a 2amp car charger and a micro usb cable.
Micro usb cables are not standardised like that. Ive never heard of such a thing at all. As far as i know most phones will "fast charge" if they dont detect a data connection and dump as much current as they can into the battery so you can pretty much present them with whatever current you like and the charge time will just get faster. There is probably a hardware limit to that somewhere in the charge circuit but i dont know what the limit is. 2amps is the highest power usb charger ive seen but its not exactly aomething i regularly keep an eye out for.
Sent from my LG-P920 using xda premium
Slow charging is always better as this will allow the optimal number of battery cycles before the battery's capacity will start to degrade.
So if you only ever slow charge then your battery will have a longer life cycle.

[q] Wireless Charging Vs Wired Charging - Impact on Battery

Hey guys,
I was looking for some clarification on this topic.
So I heard on a youtube video (can't remember which, for the life of me, I just know it was an S8 video) that Wireless Charging has a better impact on battery in the long run.
They had stated that the battery would continue to hold a better charge over time, where as, if you used wired charging, the amount of charge the battery can hold over time would be much less to when you first got it.
Now I do know that battery gets worse over time, however, I have never heard anything about how wireless charging can increase the longitivtiy of the battery.
Maybe someone on here might have more information on this?
I will try to find that youtube video but if this is the case, then I will definitely need to get a wireless charger.
Regards
Unless this youtuber tested 2 phones for a year, charging one with a cable and another with wireless charging i wouldn't listen to what they're saying.
peachpuff said:
Unless this youtuber tested 2 phones for a year, charging one with a cable and another with wireless charging i wouldn't listen to what they're saying.
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Yeah I agree. A believe a charge cycle is the same regardless of how it is being charged.
Would never think wired charging puts more stress on battery life.
I think though that with wireless charging once the phone is fully charged the pad cuts out so it won't over charge
With a wired connection when the phone is charged its still consistently trying to charge which can end up damage battering the long term
craigels said:
I think though that with wireless charging once the phone is fully charged the pad cuts out so it won't over charge
With a wired connection when the phone is charged its still consistently trying to charge which can end up damage battering the long term
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This is also what I have been wondering. If this is true then I may get a nice wireless pad for charging overnight (maybe the new official samsung "convertible" one but its damn expensive). I would have thought that the phone itself knows when a battery is charged and stops drawing the current from the cable though, so it would make no difference either way if that is true (but perhaps its not?).
But I did hear the exact opposite to op, that wireless charging was worse for the batteries, possibly due to the heat generated. But I don't know how true that is.
True
It's better for the battery because it charges it more slowly than a direct wired connection. There is no more heat buildup than using a wired charger, in fact likely less since the charging rate is lower.
As for the other comment that a wired charger doesn't shut off but keeps charging once the battery is full is patently false. The charging circuits whether wired or wireless are quite intelligent and gradually ramp down the charging current as the battery approaches capacity, ultimately delivering just enough current to keep the phone running. In a closed system the energy has to go somewhere and if the charger didn't do this you'd have 18W of power being dissipated as heat and a serious problem on your hands.
craigdamey said:
It's better for the battery because it charges it more slowly than a direct wired connection. There is no more heat buildup than using a wired charger, in fact likely less since the charging rate is lower.
As for the other comment that a wired charger doesn't shut off but keeps charging once the battery is full is patently false. The charging circuits whether wired or wireless are quite intelligent and gradually ramp down the charging current as the battery approaches capacity, ultimately delivering just enough current to keep the phone running. In a closed system the energy has to go somewhere and if the charger didn't do this you'd have 18W of power being dissipated as heat and a serious problem on your hands.
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For wireless I believe the heat generated is more, it is about the method of delivering the power, not the speed. The induction used to transfer power wirelessly is obviously going to be far less efficient and will generate more heat to get even a slower transfer rate then getting the power straight down a cable (but if someone knows otherwise then feel free to correct me). But then I guess the slower charging rate might also put less stress on the battery which is probably good.
For the wired, what you are basically saying is that leaving a phone plugged in to a wired charger will not harm it since the current will have been reduced in the same way a car battery charger might reduce it to a "maintenance" mode once it is fully charged. So people are believing the old myths that you can overcharge a phone, which would seem to be impossible (although I do wonder why they keep slapping up notifications saying things like "FULLY CHARGED! UNPLUG CABLE!" as if leaving it plugged in would in some way damage it!).
Just saw this which explains the overcharging possibility (or lack of)
http://www.androidauthority.com/leave-phone-plugged-overnight-703078/
ewokuk said:
For wireless I believe the heat generated is more, it is about the method of delivering the power, not the speed. [/url]
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The coils themselves don't generate a significant amount of heat, it's the battery itself that causes the phone to get hot. Slower charging means less heat, which is better for your battery so wireless charging will increase your battery life. As the article notes it is also best to keep your phone above 40% charge, partly because fast chargers slow down significantly after 50% to save the battery. That initial burst from 0-50% is done to save you from a dying battery but it takes its toll.
Also note that the S8/S8+ have new battery technology that provides much improved battery life. They're saying 5% loss of capacity after two years compared to 20% for previous generations.
As a bonus not continuously plugging/unplugging a cable from your USB port will make that last longer too. I hardly ever plug my S7 Edge into a physical cable, and I know quite a few people who have killed their USB ports and can no longer charge and or transfer data from them.
craigdamey said:
The coils themselves don't generate a significant amount of heat, it's the battery itself that causes the phone to get hot. Slower charging means less heat, which is better for your battery so wireless charging will increase your battery life. As the article notes it is also best to keep your phone above 40% charge, partly because fast chargers slow down significantly after 50% to save the battery. That initial burst from 0-50% is done to save you from a dying battery but it takes its toll.
Also note that the S8/S8+ have new battery technology that provides much improved battery life. They're saying 5% loss of capacity after two years compared to 20% for previous generations.
As a bonus not continuously plugging/unplugging a cable from your USB port will make that last longer too. I hardly ever plug my S7 Edge into a physical cable, and I know quite a few people who have killed their USB ports and can no longer charge and or transfer data from them.
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Yeah I am torn at the moment between using cable and getting a wireless charger. I like my stuff charged asap but that's partly because i never leave it plugged in overnight and want it charged before bed (which I now know is not a problem anyway) and partly because i want to be able to unplug it to use it if i get a message or email, which isn't an issue with wireless as I can just pick it up and put it back on there after. I assume taking it off the charging pad and putting it back on will not have any detrimental effects to the battery. I am just trying to weigh up the pros and cons of each. All things considered I am leaning towards wireless, particularly if it isn't worse for the battery (although lets face it the difference in degradation between wireless and wired, is going to be so small it's probably not even noticeable after a couple of years by which time I would have a new phone anyway). I wonder if there is a better wireless charger which will be more future proof than the new convertible samsung one (in case I ditch samsung in future) and still give max speed, I would like one that is tilted so I can see the screen though.
My s5 is 3 years old and has only ever been charged by the massive double width "micro USB" cable which takes some force to get in and out of the socket. Still works perfectly though. Never had any usb port of any kind on any device fail, no idea what these other people are doing to kill them!
ewokuk said:
Yeah I am torn at the moment between using cable and getting a wireless charger.
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Having the dock by my bed is very convenient. Just place it on at night and pick it up during the morning. If I need to grab it for anything I can without getting tangled up in wires and it even sits at the right angle so that the always on display becomes my nightstand clock/alarm clock. Once you've gone wireless you won't go back.
craigdamey said:
Having the dock by my bed is very convenient. Just place it on at night and pick it up during the morning. If I need to grab it for anything I can without getting tangled up in wires and it even sits at the right angle so that the always on display becomes my nightstand clock/alarm clock. Once you've gone wireless you won't go back.
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I always turn my phone off at night anyway so I don't get disturbed by some spam message or something (I know I can probably set it up to be silent at certain times, but then why leave it on at all, using the battery for nothing). £70 for that Samsung charger though!! I know there are much cheaper ones but I am not sure they will charge at the same rate, the new samsung one charges faster than any previous wireless charger AFAIK and I would want one where the phone can sit up, and most are just flat. Hmmmm although the do have it for £50 on amazon sold by "fonejoy", still steep though.
This one looks good https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHOETECH-W...=UTF8&qid=1492192247&sr=1-9&keywords=choetech but not sure if itll charge at the same speed as the new samsung one and doesnt use a USB-C connector which probably rules it out. May as well just get the samsung one.
I use the US version of this and it works fine. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Mobile-P...d=1492192742&sr=1-5&keywords=rav+power+qc+2.0. The Fast Charging Dock comes with a cable so that should be all you need.
And yes, I have my Do Not Disturb settings to suppress notifications 10:30PM to 6:30AM. Wife complained she couldn't sleep with all that noise going on
craigdamey said:
I use the US version of this and it works fine. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Mobile-P...d=1492192742&sr=1-5&keywords=rav+power+qc+2.0. The Fast Charging Dock comes with a cable so that should be all you need.
And yes, I have my Do Not Disturb settings to suppress notifications 10:30PM to 6:30AM. Wife complained she couldn't sleep with all that noise going on
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Thats a wall charger? I'm talking about the charging pad itself. I believe the new Samsung one outputs 15w so is faster than any previous ones which are all 10w I think.
ewokuk said:
Thats a wall charger? I'm talking about the charging pad itself. I believe the new Samsung one outputs 15w so is faster than any previous ones which are all 10w I think.
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There are only two types of charging dock, standard and fast-charge. None of them output 15W to the phone. The expensive Samsung is just a fancy fast-charge dock so it will charge at the same rate as the Seneo and others that support fast-charge. The Samsung fast-charge adapter only provides a maximum output power of 15W (9V @ 1.67A) so it would require 100% transfer efficiency to charge the phone at that power, and in reality it's only about 65% so at most you'll see 10W versus standard Qi charging at around 7W.
All of the Seneo chargers I have coupled with RavPower or Samsung Fast-Charge adapters charge at the same rate (10W to begin with tapering off to 7W above 50% charge).
craigdamey said:
There are only two types of charging dock, standard and fast-charge. None of them output 15W to the phone. The expensive Samsung is just a fancy fast-charge dock so it will charge at the same rate as the Seneo and others that support fast-charge. The Samsung fast-charge adapter only provides a maximum output power of 15W (9V @ 1.67A) so it would require 100% transfer efficiency to charge the phone at that power, and in reality it's only about 65% so at most you'll see 10W versus standard Qi charging at around 7W.
All of the Seneo chargers I have coupled with RavPower or Samsung Fast-Charge adapters charge at the same rate (10W to begin with tapering off to 7W above 50% charge).
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Ahh ok, I will have to check out a few seneo pads.
If your using fast charging AKA Adaptive charging it shouldn't matter either way. The Fast charging port on the phone, and the wireless charging should go through the phone and the phone should automatically stop all charging going to the battery. This is the reason why if you were to leave your fast charger on all night whether it be Wireless or wired, you can pick your phone up at 99% or 98% instead of 100%. The phone stopped charging, then when it drops to a certain % it starts to charge up again.
As far as which is actually best for strain, it shouldnt matter because afaik to the battery its the all the same. Wireless charging just has some coils almost that send the charge wirelessly, but it still goes to the same place.
This is what I have read from google, so I am no expert on the subject, but it seemed pretty legit, and makes sense to me, a person with a Tech background. If anyone knows better please be my guest.
I'm going with wireless charging pads at home but a magnetic cable for in the car.
Not found a good car holder that has the wireless pad built in so I will stick with my ibolt for a bit longer
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
There is no correct answer to this question. Battery life is function of many things -
1. Every battery has specified charge cycle. One full charge from min to max is 1 cycle. Two full charge from mid to max is also 1 cycle. So the more you use your device, charge cycles will come to an end more quickly. For example if you use two similar spec phones; first one you use heavily requiring full cycle charge everyday vs second which you use less and requires full charge every alternate day (or to phrase in other way, first is almost completely discharged by evening, second is half discharged). So the theory goes that second phone battery will last double the time than first.
2. Every battery articles you read, you will find recommendation to charge battery in specified current or usually slow charging. Today's battery technology should be immune to this but I still turn fast charging off. It is likely that not all the batteries are immune.
3. Heat is bad for battery. Some wireless chargers heat up. The TYLT VU that I use get uncomfortably warm when I place phone vertically (possibly coils do not align and multiple of them gets activated). Heat build up is there during fast charging too. If you play CPU intensive games and charge at the same time, phone gets warm. All this heat is working negative to the life span of battery.
4. Lithium ion batteries have less chemical stress when they are not fully charged or fully discharged. If you research you will find articles telling one to keep battery between 40% to 90%. Hence I usually do not charge to 100% and if I do, I watch or play games to bring battery level down. Search for best charge level to store lithium ion batteries, I think it is from 45% to 50%. This I guess keeps batteries at the least chemical stress state. So do your maths if you are type who likes to keep battery at 100% charge at all the times.
As you can see there is no straight answer to this question. Battery life is function of all these factors.
Added: I didn't read full article but you can check this link which speaks about impact of heat and leaving battery to full charge state.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Thanks for everyones input on this!
By the way, not sure if it has been mentioned, but this is a pretty cool read:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/0...ill-degrade-less-quickly-than-the-galaxy-s7s/
So looks like the S8 won't deteriorate as much over time!
I got the OEM samsung convertible fast charging pad but it doesn't come with a wall plug as I read somewhere (I guess thats just us in the UK getting screwed over yet again). The manual says "Use only Samsung-approved chargers that support fast charging (9v/1.67A, 9v/2A, 12v/2.1A).". So I need a wall plug that will be able to provide the fastest charging speeds from it (which I am guessing is one that does 12v/2.1A??). I dont think all the standard plugs with 2.4a sockets are going to do it right? The "30w" RAVpower one that craigdamey linked says it can do 12v/2A but only for QC3.0 (which I obviously wont get since its just being plugged straight into the charging pad), otherwise its 5v/2.4a. Not sure what one to get now. Theres an Anker 24w one but that says 2.4a per port (I know little about electrics and how these things work!).

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