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Do wireless chargers' power output depend on the power adapter?

I want to buy a wireless charger to use with my Nexus 5 / Nexus 7. When I read the specs of each wireless charger they show a different current output, but they don't come with a power adapter to plug into the wall. If I were to use the power adapter that came with my phone / tablet would it be out putting the equivalent amount of power (not taking account power loss from wireless charging)? Or would they only output the amount of power as listed in the specs? Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Electric current in the spec means maximum current the adapter can provide. How much your phone will take depends on charging circuit and the battery (more precisely on its electrical resistance). Higher current limit means faster charging (but also more heat produced).

[Q] Disagreement between USB power measurements

While charging via the OEM charger and cable, I measured power to my Samsung Exhibit II 4G T679 in three different ways:
- Kill A Watt P3 P4400 from Amazon, with the charger plugged into it
- "AboveTek" USB volt and power meter purchased from Amazon, plugged in just after the charger
- CurrentWidget app installed on the phone
Once it reaches steady state:
- Kill A Watt says 3.6W (if all this was preserved, then at 5V it would be 0.72A)
- USB meter says 0.55A at 5V (this is 2.75W)
- CurrentWidget says 1.1A (with the 3.7V battery this would be 4.07W
Needless to say, I am at a loss as to how these readings could be so different. I have tried it two ways -- with all three measurements going at once, and with only one at once. I always get the same results.
Which reading should I trust? Why do they appear so different?
For the record, I have also noticed similar phenomena with my Nexus 7. I could post those results in more detail if anyone would like.

[Q] Xiaomi 16000mAH Power Bank Needs Charge-only USB Cable to Work with Z3

Hello!
The Xiaomi 16000mAH power bank, using its original USB cable, didn't work on my Z3. Though, to my surprise, it worked on other smartphones (have tried samsung and lenovo). So I tried my friend's power bank USB cable albeit blindly (since the Xiaomi unit worked with other phones, there should be no problem with the cable right?), and strangely, it worked!
So what gives? Later on, I found out that the other cable is a "Charge-only" cable (cannot use for data transfer).
So why do you think exactly does this Xiaomi 16000mAH needs a charge-only USB cable in order to work with Z3 but not with other device? Also, do you think it safe to use it that way in the long run?
Lastly find it strange that I cannot seem to find (I mean Google) any case similar to mine (I don't think I'm the only Z3 user who purchased this power bank), but I also think it is genuine (there are a lot of youtube and websites that gives numerous pointers to this). I've already contacted the supplier about these, I think I can still send it back, but I really had it on a good deal (from Malaysia, below $25, including everything, if converted).
What do you think?

Now this gets more interesting..
I've also purchased a Sony wireless speaker SRS-BTV5, and guess what, the same happens! Using a charge+data cable won't work, but a charge-only cable would!
I guess there is a protection circuit on these Sony device that disconnects the charging (at least for this Xiaomi 16000mAH power bank), but I can't seem to imagine what would be the problem that would only be present on charge+data cable and not on a data-only cable. After all aren't power banks also do what AC charger does namely short the data pins (I just guess this since both of them is indicated "AC mode")? If this is the case, then difference between charge+data and data-only cable seem to become more non-existent!
Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm really trying to wrap my head around this (which is hard given only the facts without relevant techincal knowledge!).
What I considered facts:
1) USB cable only have 4 wires, two for power and the other two for data (presumably the inner two pins).
2) The only difference between the charge+data and charge-only cable is that the latter had its data pins shorted presumably to signal the phone that it could do a "AC mode" charging which means it could draw greater than 500mA which is not permitted on "USB mode".
3) That's presumably is what AC adapters also do (short the inner 2 pins), and that's why we have slower charging on laptop, presumably.
4) This (shorting of 2 inner/data pins) is also how "AC mode" and "USB mode" charging is indicated/differentiated.
5) Power bank also do this data pin shorting that's why they are also indicated as "AC mode" charging
Now if the said power bank also do this (since it is indicated as "AC mode" charging), then there's shouldn't be any funtional difference between the 2 cables (but, obviously, there is)!
So we are left with the case that the said power bank do not short the data pins, (which actually makes fact 4 and/or 5 false for how are power banks indicated "AC mode"), but what functional difference then could these 2 unshorted data pins make now when we are only dealing about a power bank, meaning power supply where only the 2 power pins should be relevant?

I think I also forgot to mention one important fact, that other power bank (Pineng for instance) works without any problem with my Z3 using any of the 2 types of cable I mentioned.
So in summary other phone works on Xiaomi and other power bank works on Z3 (and speaker) on both 2 types of cable. But there's a problem between Sony devices and the Xiaomi power bank when using charge+data cable. So what could be there in either or both of them that prevents the other?!

Humprey Fetalvero said:
I think I also forgot to mention one important fact, that other power bank (Pineng for instance) works without any problem with my Z3 using any of the 2 types of cable I mentioned.
So in summary other phone works on Xiaomi and other power bank works on Z3 (and speaker) on both 2 types of cable. But there's a problem between Sony devices and the Xiaomi power bank when using charge+data cable. So what could be there in either or both of them that prevents the other?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Xiaomi 16000 without problems with USB data cable and my Z3...
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

ondrejvaroscak said:
I use Xiaomi 16000 without problems with USB data cable and my Z3...
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you! But are you sure your Xiaomi is genuine (since there are s lot of counterfeits)? If you haven't checked yet, you can search in Youtube and other websites there is a lot of pointers on how to almost definitely identify fake from genuine.
Thanks for your input!

Humprey Fetalvero said:
I'm really trying to wrap my head around this (which is hard given only the facts without relevant techincal knowledge!).
What I considered facts:
1) USB cable only have 4 wires, two for power and the other two for data (presumably the inner two pins).
2) The only difference between the charge+data and charge-only cable is that the latter had its data pins shorted presumably to signal the phone that it could do a "AC mode" charging which means it could draw greater than 500mA which is not permitted on "USB mode".
3) That's presumably is what AC adapters also do (short the inner 2 pins), and that's why we have slower charging on laptop, presumably.
4) This (shorting of 2 inner/data pins) is also how "AC mode" and "USB mode" charging is indicated/differentiated.
5) Power bank also do this data pin shorting that's why they are also indicated as "AC mode" charging
Now if the said power bank also do this (since it is indicated as "AC mode" charging), then there's shouldn't be any funtional difference between the 2 cables (but, obviously, there is)!
So we are left with the case that the said power bank do not short the data pins, (which actually makes fact 4 and/or 5 false for how are power banks indicated "AC mode"), but what functional difference then could these 2 unshorted data pins make now when we are only dealing about a power bank, meaning power supply where only the 2 power pins should be relevant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difference might be in "nonstandard charger" detection.
There are various methods by which some Android devices try to handle nonstandard chargers (ones that don't properly short D+/D-) more gracefully than just "no charging" or "USB only" - some work better than others, all have potential tradeoffs since, after all, it's trying to deal with an unknown "nonstandard" charger.
By "nonstandard charger" that means "Apple charger". Apple is notorious for not following standards.

Entropy512 said:
The difference might be in "nonstandard charger" detection.
There are various methods by which some Android devices try to handle nonstandard chargers (ones that don't properly short D+/D-) more gracefully than just "no charging" or "USB only" - some work better than others, all have potential tradeoffs since, after all, it's trying to deal with an unknown "nonstandard" charger.
By "nonstandard charger" that means "Apple charger". Apple is notorious for not following standards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. So maybe Xiaomi 16000mAH is one of such non-standard charger (they also market it by something like it can automatically adjust output based on the device), and Sony may also have it's own way of handling these things (since other device would charge, though via USB mode only, to the said power bank using charge+data cable).
This would make it sensible now (though drifting from standard doesn't make sense to me). Thanks really for the input, have a good day!

MobilePal Gen-2 Wireless Charging Pad [Detailed Review]

Before I start my review, I just want to mention that I didn't pay for this unit. I've been offerred this as a review unit and I'm going to put my honest review here, highlighting the good and the bad. Since we're clear with that lets start.
No, I'm not new to PowerBanks, I've had several other powerbanks before and I currently own 4 different ones. However, what made this one catch my eye was its QI Wireless charging capability backed by a 10,000 mAh battery. Since I bought a Galaxy S6 Edge+ with built in wireless charging, I had to get my hands on this one. And just so that we are on same page, I got the MobilePal Gen-2 10000mAh Qi Wireless Power Bank, not the Gen-1 (don't know what's new though).
Like most of my reviews, I'll split this up in following four categories and go through each of them, one at a time:-
- Boxing & Contents
- Build Quality & Design
- Functionality & Performance
- Pros & Cons
Boxing & Contents
Not much to say here, it comes sealed up in a regular cardboard box printed with all of it's specifications on it. The box highlights quite a few features of this unit which you may or may not want to read.[Check the uploaded images].
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On opening, you can atleast expect the following items inside:-
- MobilePal QI Wireless Powerbank
- 1 x 2-in-1 Charging cable (Micro USB & MFi Certified Apple Lightning port)
- 1 Anti-Slip Mat
- User Manual
One thing to notice here is, only 1 USB cable (although 2-in-1) is provided in box even though it has 2 USB Outputs. That's pretty much it in this one. Heading to the next section.
Build Quality & Design
As soon as you pick this unit up, you would notice its weight. At 263 grams (9.3 oz), this unit is a bit bulkier but it feels very solid and nicely made. The top and bottom surfaces have this nice stiched faux leather texture (made of plastic) with metallic side frame. It'got 5 LED indicators on top surface, a power button on left edge and 2 USB output / 1 micro USB input on top edge.
The 2-in-1 USB Cable provided is of descent quality and doesn't feel cheap like many USB cables that come with other power banks. The inclusion of Apple Lighning port is very handy and one of the big plus about this unit.
Since wireless charging works on induction, plastic would be the most appropriate choice to be used for the surface. And this makes the surface of this unit a bit slippery too even with the textured surface. Specially if you have a phone with a glass back, you might want to use the in-box anti-slip mat provided. I didn't have this problem since I use a well textured SGP case which sits very nicely on top of it, although I probably wouldn't have used the anti-slip mat either way, the powerbank wouldn't look that good if I did. Overall, I personally have no complains with its aesthetics and this product looks and feels really good on the desk. Accepted that it weights quite a bit, but given the 10,000 mAh battery, it's not much different from any other 10,000 mAh battery available in the market.
Functionality & Performance
Perhaps, this is the most important section for most of us, so I've taken my time to review the unit (2 weeks) before I started jotting down this review. The
MobilePal Gen-2 10000mAh Qi Wireless Power Bank boasts about its 2 x USB output powered at 5V/2.1A and 5V/1A Wireless Charging capability. Specification also
states that both the output ports carry Smart Charging which means, the powerbank would detect the connected device and the output power would be set
according to the maximum input the connected device can handle. To test these specifications, I've used the following phones:-
- iPhone 6 Plus
- Galaxy S6 Edge+
- Nexus 4
- Asus Zenwatch (To Verify Smart Charging)
The unit has 5 LEDs, 4 of which are blue and denotes 25% of the battery status each. So, if you have 2 LEDs on, you can safely assume that the battery pack
is still holding around 50% of the total capacity. 1 Red LED denotes if the wireless charging mode is ON or OFF.
You would need to know only the following instructions to be able to use the power bank:-
1. To check the power left, press the power button once and Blue LEDs will glow (If wireless mode is on, RED will glow too)
2. To start the cable charging, just connect the device and press the power button once. While charging, the LEDs will remain turned ON
3. The Power Bank supports two charging modes, [USB] and [USB + Wireless]. To switch between the modes, keep the power button pressed for 3 seconds while the charging unit is turned ON.
4. Connect any micro USB Cable in the micro USB input on top edge to charge this Power Bank with a wall adapter (highly recommended) or from your PC/Notebook.
5. Connect any micro USB / Lightning Port Cable to its regular USB output on top edge to charge your USB devices
Following the instructions manual, first thing that I did was charge this unit to full before it's first use. It took almost 3-4 hours to charge it from 2 LED glowing (around 50%) to full using a 5V/2A adapter. Ideally speaking a 10,000 mAh should take 5 hours from 0% - 100% charging using a 2A adapter, but we don't live in an ideal world so its acceptable to me. Mostly because I just leave it on at night and disconnect it in the morning at its full power.
Next, I connected my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ via USB and used a USB amp meter to check the current drawn. Even though it says that the output is 5V/2.1A, my s6 Edge+ could only draw upto 5V/1.76A and this is when the power bank is full charged. Now, S6 Edge+ is powered by a 3000 mAh battery and when I connected my phone, it had 20% battery left. So basically, the challenge for it was to charge 80% of 3000 mAh which is about 2400 mAh. It took almost 90 minutes to complete that challenge which is approximately what it should be taking at the rate of 5V/1.76A (ideally it should have been 82 minutes). I won't say I'm highly dissapointed here since 90 minutes ain't that bad for a power bank to bring a phablet from 20% - 100%.
The real dissapointment came when I connected my iPhone 6 Plus to the other USB Port simultanously. The USB Amp meter reading of the current drawn by S6 Edge+ (on other port) dropped to 5V/0.93A. I tried disconnecting the iPhone and the current reading went upto 5V/1.76A again. Trying vice versa, when I checked the current drawn by an iPhone, while S6 Edge+ is still connected to other port, the reading was 4.88V/0.94A and once I disconnected the S6 Edge+, the reading went upto 5.12V/0.99A. Similarly, when I connected a Nexus 4 along with the S6 Edge+, the Edge+ tends to draw power at 4.88V/1.22A. Unless my review unit is defective, it looks like charging multiple devices at once is affecting the output of each port. It is very much likely that the user will use 2-ports quite often to charge multiple devices simultanously and that is why, this was a big bummer. And frankly, this is the biggest negative factor that I'll consider while rating the product. I definitely saw fluctuations in other multi-port power banks on parallel charging, but not upto this extent. One good thing among all this is, even after 2 consecutive charging from 20% - 100%, the third charging rate wasn't any different from the first two charges which gives a vague idea that the power output isn't falling off all that much with decrease in charge which I've seen in my past Power Banks.
Coming to the unique feature of this unit, the wireless charging works pretty well. The charging is definitely slower than USB Charging but it took almost same time as any non-oem wireless charging pad. I got from 22% - 100% in about 3 hours charge time which roughly comes to around 0.78A charging rate while being left with 2 Blue LEDs glowing. I'm still happy with it as long as I can keep it on my desk and I can just place my phone on top of it to start the charging, all wirefree. I was able to charge my phone twice easily while on wireless mode although I didn't try the third time (1 LED was blinking after 2 charges). If you're worried about the case, it is important to mention that wireless charging worked fine with my SGP Neo Hybrid Case and another cheaper TPU Case.
To verify the Smart Charge feature of the unit, I connected my Asus ZenWatch and the current drawn was just 5V/0.20A which is exactly what it draws with its OEM charger. So, the Smart Charge isn't just a marketing gimmick afterall and this Power Bank is safe with any of the USB chargeable devices.
The Power Bank also features auto-off system. So if no device is detected to be charging within 100 seconds of turning it, the Power Bank shuts itself off which is a nice feature to have.
About the battery life, I was able to charge my device S6 Edge+ twice from 20% - 100% and once from 19% - 91%. Simple maths would tell that the efficiency of the battery is 6960 mAh, which is approximately 70% of the battery size. Please note that these readings were taken while charging only 1 device through USB Cable and Wireless Charging mode was disabled. The efficiency would have probably drop further if I had been charging wirelessly.
One of the coolest feature of this Power Bank is, it can be used with wires or wirelessly even if while the Power Bank itself is charging. In other words, it can replace a desktop charger (with 2 USB Outputs) and a Wireless Charging Pad simultanously and, whenever required, it can just be popped out and taken along for on-the-go charging.
While reviewing the unit, I also went through some of the negative reviews on Amazon so as to focus my review on those particular points too, but I didn't find most of them with my unit. Like the Power Bank didn't make any high pitched noise, the wireless charging feature didn't turn on/off frequently or the battery didn't die early as mentioned by any user. So, I'm assuming they either received the defective units or these were the problems with MobilePal Gen-1 QI Power Bank but definitely not with my unit.
Pros & Cons
Pros:-
- Wireless Charging
- Good Build Quality & aesthetics
- Big Battery Size
- Can be used as desktop charger
- Can be used as QI Pad
- 3 simultanous charging output
- Smart Charging
- 2-in-1 USB Cable
Cons:-
- Power fluctuation while parallel charging
- Lower output than mentioned
- 1 in-box USB Cable
Overall, if you're looking for a high capacity Power Bank with Wireless Charging capability, currently this is the best product you can get. Backed by 1 Year warranty and MobilePal Quality assurance, you really have nothing much to worry about.
Please visit following url for quick video review:-
https://youtu.be/ndkdMSZwTTA

Thanks for the review!
Getting this for sure. Will be nice to have a completely wireless charging pad on my coffee table in front of the tv in my living room.

Hello there,
Could you please give me an advice? What's the best PowerBank for samsung devices? My powerbank with 2.1A charges iPhone 6 really fast but when I plug it to Edge+, it's pretty slow... Is there a way to fast charge the phone without wall charger?
Thank you

There are power banks that have quickcharge 2.0 working.
Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

Can you give an example please

I use this one to fast charge my s6 edge +
http://www.amazon.com/Aukey-10400mA...641454&sr=1-6&keywords=aukey+quick+charge+2.0
Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

Thanks!

My MobilePal Gen-2 it's on the way

what do you think about 3 in 1 car charger power bank with LED flashlight

Nowadays, i saw a new special item from the website: 3 in 1 car charger with emergency power bank and LED flashlight[/URL],i am interested in this item. Seems it can be used in a car for charging your mobile device and also can be used everywhere, so it acts as a power bank, the battery is from 2200 to 3000mAh can charger mobile phone, iphone via the usb cable. And also a emergency LED torch, seems so useful. What do you think about this? what do you think about i buy this one?