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Charging unable to keep up?

When I'm using google navigation in the car and the screen is inevitably on full brightness I expect the battery to drain really quick. So I plug in the car charger expecting all to be fine - wrong! The battery still goes down - just not as quickly.
If I am on the road for about 6 hours the battery will go flat. My car charger is 800mA so it should be no problem.
Is it just mine?

My Epic was the same way under heavy load.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Never had that problem with my Nexus One and would be surprised if the Nexus S exhibited that behavior. But my Nexus One dock came with a 1000mA charger.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

It's pulling more than the charger can keep up with. A beefy charger like ones for the ipad might help but unknown how much. Griffin makes some that can output over two amps. Look at best buy. Make sure you check the output ratings. Some might be more than others. You will have to use a usb data cable as the cord because the one I'm talking about has standard usb female on the other end of the adapter. Griffin power jolt.
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This particular one has led that glows red when full charging and green when trickle. There's different models.

The Nexus S isn't even close to how bad the Epic was. A road trip with Google navigation on, and the screen low would eat at the battery. Heavy use in general would eat at the battery. All while the screen brightness was at like 15%. I felt like the phone was always in a constant state of charging, except overnight when I slept.
Nexus S isnt even close to that bad. I wouldn't even define it as bad at all. Just normal. I would just avoid maxing out the screen brightness. 25% is normally enough in 80% of your situations.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I use a 1.2A charger in the car and also have this problem. Only with Navigation + max brightness. If I drop the brightness (at night) I can stay ahead of the drain.
This was also an issue with my Vibrant so I was not surprised to see it on the NS as well.

I read in one of the posts about an app called battery monitor widget. It has been a helpful tool to monitor the charge discharge rates. I highly recommend it. You know when the phone is truly idling and when something is pulling down on the battery even when you're just sitting at the home screen doing nothing.
I haven't found a useful essential app for a long time until I stumbled across this.

I've had the same problem on the stock charger O.O! You would think that the one that came with the phone would be able to handle it running as a wifi hotspot but it doesn't. My old phone, an HTC Desire, never had a problem keeping up.

Yeah Samsung phones takes too long to charged I though my evo was bad cause I came from an ip
hone, which charges in an hour (80%) and now battery kills me in this phones
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

jmoney579 said:
I've had the same problem on the stock charger O.O! You would think that the one that came with the phone would be able to handle it running as a wifi hotspot but it doesn't. My old phone, an HTC Desire, never had a problem keeping up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the crappy 3G/4G/wifi is the culprit. I believe when they fix the signal issues battery drain will be reduced.
P.S. Come on Google... WTF!

I noticed the USB connection will not keep up, but the AC connection will. I know that doesn't help in the car, just an observation.

deputybubba said:
I noticed the USB connection will not keep up, but the AC connection will. I know that doesn't help in the car, just an observation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of car chargers output like ac chargers..like what came with my car dock.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

Guys, make sure it's charging in AC mode so charging can keep up with the discharge rate. You can see whether it's in USB charging mode or AC in About phone > Status. If your phone is in USB charging mode while plugged into the car charger, it means the D+/D- pins of the charger cable is not shorted.
You have several choices:
1) Open up the charger and find the USB wire solder point, short D+/D- (usually the middle two of the four pins) with a soldering iron.
2) Skin the USB cable/wire, cut the D+/D- wire (hopefully you know which two), and short the openings.
3) Buy a male and a female USB connector, solder the two together, but short D+/D- on each side.

Nokia DT-900 Qi charger Teardown & Review

I picked up the Nokia DT-900 from my local Verizon store for $49. When placing the device on the charger it will charge cycle a number of times before stabilizing into a charge. Last night I had a issue where I had to remove and replace the device because the charger was blinking after failure to charge 10+ times. The positioning doesn't matter as long as it's on the keystone, although the Nexus slides off rather easily.
The stock adapter is +12VDC 0.75A. I tried hacking in a +12VDC 1.75A transformer for faster charging rates but the device failed to do anything. I re-spliced the stock transformer and it still works. With daydream activated the keystone maintains to drains the battery as it cannot provide enough charge to power the device. For $49 this product is a compromise to failure in wireless charging technology due to charging rate and slick surface.
Battery Mix reports +/- 10%/hour charge
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Inside the device. The back pops right off with a proper tool. Notice the 3 temp sensors between the coils.
Underside of the circuit

The maximum charge rate is set for 789 mA and at 4ish volts this is less than 4 watts. When the battery gets full the rate goes down, so try again with an empty battery.
There is not much use in a bigger adapter.

This Qi charger isn't good, I tried it .
Bye!
! !

Nokia Qi charger and magnet
Hi, I'm sorry if the question is a nonsense but.... would a usual magnet, attached to the plastic cover of the charging plate, interfere with charging capabilities of the plate? or is there any Qi standard wireless charger, which would hold the phone with a magnet? would be a good charging accessory of the car.
thank you

Ended up returning mind and going with the WCP-300. Had little to no luck with these, zero issues with WCP-300.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

I got one of these.. and the 1st few times I tried it, it was working great.. no issues at all...
now I can't get my N4 to stay charging for more than 5 minutes (then it stops, beeps, tries again, fails, etc)... I leaning towards returning it.

Does anyone know what the thickness without the casing is?

I've got some new tear down pics I will post soon. I just ended up using this charger in my car based on your review and a few others. thanks for posting this.

lukihnio said:
Hi, I'm sorry if the question is a nonsense but.... would a usual magnet, attached to the plastic cover of the charging plate, interfere with charging capabilities of the plate? or is there any Qi standard wireless charger, which would hold the phone with a magnet? would be a good charging accessory of the car.
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also like to know this!

I've heard no but it goes against the physics, so I'd say yes. It's not a good idea to have magnets next to a phone anyway, unless it's a weak case one. That ought to be OK on the charger too
By backwards engineered alien technology.....

feanor3 said:
Does anyone know what the thickness without the casing is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://imgur.com/b6S52RE
6 mm
You can open it up like this to make it thinner:
http://imgur.com/x5QyghB
4 mm PCB with power plug
3 mm PCB without power plug (if you solder your own power supply to it from car cigarette lighter for example which also regularly uses same 12 volts as this Qi charger takes as input)
4 mm coil
All measurements are approximate.

$40 USB "Qi" charger found

Couldn't find this in a forum search
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1215400
Says Qi and works with N4, but can't find it in the Qi site and there's no Qi symbol on it, so probably not approved (but neither are all the N4's currently out there [pre-rev 12])
$40 shipped and could be the basis of an in-car solution...
Anyone tried it?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2074862
Same item it looks like just different description and what not - from the same vendor.

parker09 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2074862
Same item it looks like just different description and what not - from the same vendor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I (re)found the USB version.

Fasttech USB Qi Charger
Ordered mine today, says 10-14 days shipping directly from fasttech. When I get it ill throw up some pics and a review on how it works.

WibblyW said:
Couldn't find this in a forum search
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1215400
Says Qi and works with N4, but can't find it in the Qi site and there's no Qi symbol on it, so probably not approved (but neither are all the N4's currently out there [pre-rev 12])
$40 shipped and could be the basis of an in-car solution...
Anyone tried it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On an unrelated note, I've never heard of this website before, it looks very promising! I have a feeling I will be throwing my money at my screen soon.

Looking forward to a review!

wow. this looks very clean OP.
anticipating some pictures and review.

More detail and N4 references here
http://mcpower2012.en.ecplaza.net/2013-5v-usb-qi-wireless--356088-2839504.html

Found another thread for something very similar: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2074862

Efficient output is just 500-700mA? Too small to charge N4?
I thought the standard one is around 1A or over.
Thanks.

500-700 mA is perfectly ok for charging. When you charge from a computer via USB, the max current is 500 mA unless you use kernel tweaks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

ma678 said:
Efficient output is just 500-700mA? Too small to charge N4?
I thought the standard one is around 1A or over.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's got to depend on the output (mA) the USB power adaptor has to offer too. They even show it connected to a laptop USB port. So I think it WILL charge, but maybe significantly slower than a direct power connection.
By using a lower output USB power supply, sounds like you might be able to trade charge speed with temperature rise. If so it may be ideal as a charger to keep your phone topped up. Kind of like a low power trickle charger, which would be fine if my phone is on it most of the day... I actually don't like the idea of Qi chargers that make the phone get hot - seems to be trading convenience and wear on the phone's USB connector with reduced battery service life as it keeps going through nasty heat cycles?
Decided to risk it and order one
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

jkoljo said:
500-700 mA is perfectly ok for charging. When you charge from a computer via USB, the max current is 500 mA unless you use kernel tweaks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure about that, it might charge If your not doing anything, but say if using gps it might not supply enough juice to charge fast enough
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

BrianDigital said:
not sure about that, it might charge If your not doing anything, but say if using gps it might not supply enough juice to charge fast enough
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, Used in a car with GPS on, maybe pulling 3G data for maps, bright screen, etc., it's likely that despite this charger, the phone will slowly go flat. And get hot doing so... All that energy from the battery/charger has to go somewhere - mainly heat once the battery is charged. If the phone's consuming, say 750mA at around 4.1v battery voltage, that's around 3W of heat to dissipate.

I am investing time looking for a Qi charger but that problem appears to be present on several cheap alternatives, the current they supply is not enough, or you might expend a couple of extra hours charging your phone

Just a quick update, ordered from fast tech on Jan 29th and received shipping notification today (Jan. 31st), registered airmail with tracking from Hong Kong post.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I do have this wireless charger. Ordered from aliexpress, it's always the same with different branding and logos.
It does the job, charging.
But:
Need to be very precise when positioning it
Back glass make the phone sliding, and cancel all the effort offered in the above point, making the phone not charging
I recommend to wait for a charger with more than only one wireless charging chip/antenna.

Ok I have this charger now. On first charge and working ok so far... Seems to be best in this position. Has now cut off an an indicated 99%...
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Lining up the edge of the charger with where the bottom of the LCD is, seems reliable. Using an XtremeGuard style protector on the back, which gives enough friction to stop sliding if the charger is horizontal and the phone vibrates.
Above is FastTech image. I'm using stock N7 charger and cable at the moment because it was handy. Unit came with a USB charger and cable (with EU plug - I'm UK based)
----
Picked up phone and used it to 98%. Returned to charger and it charged back to 99%, but didn't beep this time when charging started. Maybe it needs to be more discharged before this happens....
----
Now at 100%. Charger seems to poll the Nexus about every 30 secs (solid blue light for a few secs) to see if it needs charging. Then light goes off. When it charges, the blue light flashes slowly but continuously.

Did anybody try the Large models?
For some reason they are cheaper even though they come in black or white and have the Qi logo/writing on it.

facetubespam said:
Did anybody try the Large models?
For some reason they are cheaper even though they come in black or white and have the Qi logo/writing on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are reported to work. I wanted the flexibility of being able to use alternate sources of power (car, pc, wall adaptor). have yet to try limited power available from a PC's USB port...

QI charger in UK

I picked this charger up and it works great with my N4.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ANA8TA0/ref=wms_ohs_product
Its a tiny bit picky with a case on, and if you put the phone down on the white LEG panel at the top, but otherwise brilliant.
I'll try and run the phone down low, and get a screen shot showing charging time. I don't think its that much slower than the wire (and I leave my screen on when charging)

Thanks. I bought one and it even works with the official bumper and stick on plastic cover on the back. However, the flashing blue light is annoying. I might have to open it up and disconnect it.

bbilko said:
I picked this charger up and it works great with my N4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same as this one I think:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1197503
They ship to the UK for free, so about £22 delivered.
Sent from my MOMO12 using xda app-developers app

footboydog said:
... However, the flashing blue light is annoying. I might have to open it up and disconnect it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just had to say I feel your pain... I don't understand why the manufacturer decided to fit an LED that lights up the entire room to show the thing is charging
I'm using it as a stop gap until the Orb is released here, I use to have a Galaxy Nexus with the desk top dock, really miss not being able to tell the time from a glance during the night.

andynx1 said:
Same as this one I think:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1197503
They ship to the UK for free, so about £22 delivered.
Sent from my MOMO12 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I have:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1197504
The USB one is tempting, will be much slower I imagine.

bbilko said:
This is exactly what I have:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1197504
The USB one is tempting, will be much slower I imagine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not expert in electrical matters, but would it be possible to use the USB version in conjunction with the Nexus 4 USB power adapter?

esskayy said:
I am not expert in electrical matters, but would it be possible to use the USB version in conjunction with the Nexus 4 USB power adapter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1215400
5V is 5V, but the USB Qi charger asks for 2A in and that's more than the N4 charger gives (I think)
Its also more than a USB 2 port can give, they are limited to 500mA normally.
USB3 can give that kind of output.
Less Amps = slower charge

bbilko said:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1215400
5V is 5V, but the USB Qi charger asks for 2A in and that's more than the N4 charger gives (I think)
Its also more than a USB 2 port can give, they are limited to 500mA normally.
USB3 can give that kind of output.
Less Amps = slower charge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm...fortunately I have a USB 3 port, would that mean I'll get a similar charge time as using the mains version?

Damn, sadly my memory failed me and it seems USB3 can only give 900mA.
Sorry to get hopes up, but I think you'd get a faster charge from a wall socket.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

OK I opened the sucker up and had a look. There are 4 screws under the rubber pads on the bottom and another four under the white sticker:
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There's a semi-circle of tiny LEDs at the top marked D1-D12. I tried desoldering D9 and D10 but in the end I just ripped them out with tweezers because my soldering skills are seriously lacking. After putting it all back together surprisingly it still worked and it doesn't light up anymore! The LEDs must have been connected in series to each other but in parallel to the rest of the charger.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible if you open up your qi wireless charger and electrocute your cat or something. Follow these instructions at your own risk.
EDIT: Nope it still lights up, just less so. Why won't it die!?

I have the latest tasker beta setup to vibrate when wireless charging goes on and off, makes it easy to tell when its working when you can't see the leds
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

bbilko said:
This is exactly what I have:
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1154/10001946/1197504
The USB one is tempting, will be much slower I imagine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the specs are right it looks like the USB one puts out ~3.5W vs the more normal 5W, so is a bit slower.
Its not really clear why it is lower power (even if the losses are higher a 1.5 or 2A 5v charger would be powerful enough). Maybe the limit is whatever step up conversion they use to increase the 5v for transmission.
Google's help site says the nexus 4 charger is 1.2A (I thought it was 1.5), but this should still work fine with this Qi charger. If it turns out it can put out more like 5W then you would be slightly better off with a 2A charger.
I am quite tempted by this USB one anyway because it is a bit more flexible - you can use other sources such as batteries or even a pc. Most of the other ones (besides the nokia) use 19v so you cant use much besides the included mains adapter.
Anyway, thanks for the links in this thread - I had been considering buying the same one as you but from mobilefun for more money.

Anyone tested this with a bumper? Also, has the phone to be centered to work with it?

RyDeRgr said:
Anyone tested this with a bumper? Also, has the phone to be centered to work with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a little fussy about positioning and it might take a few seconds before it "notices" the phone but yes it works with the bumper

This charger does NOT work with the Rearth Ringke Fusion case.

Choetech NEW Fast Wireless Charger Review

Hey guys, here's my review of the Choetech Fast Wireless chargers.
I was provided these chargers at a discount for my fair and unbiased review. 1st I'd like to thank Choetech for their customer support and openness with my feedback. In my experiences with these chargers I had a bit of mixed feelings. I really really really wanted to like them. And while they worked fine some of the time, I still have been experiencing many issues which I will list below.
I was provided the round charger and Choetech charging adapter, then provided the newer version, the square charger. This was for my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
1. Overheating (round and square) - there have been a number of times I've picked up my phone off of these chargers and it's been 103 degrees Fahrenheit. In my opinion that's too hot and I worry about phone/battery damage.
2. Charging stopping/starting (round and square) - I have mainly experienced this with the round charger. The newer square one still did this but not near as much. The charging would continuously pause and restart as much as 5-6 times in a minute.
3. Not charging at all (round) - sometimes I'd place my phone on the charger and nothing would happen. I'd move it to dead center and still nothing. It wasn't until I unplugged the unit then back in until it started working again.
4. Slow charging (round) - multiple times I'd place my phone on the charger and it would only go up 4 percent in 2 hours...
5. Charging seemed to stop at around 75% sometimes and just stay there. (round)
6. Charging light blinked (round) - not sure what this was about but many times it would just sit there and blink green.
7. Overnight charging seemed to stop (round) - I'd wake up to a blinking light and my phone would not be at 100%. Usually between 75%-95%
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In all I definitely feel the square charger worked better, however at this point I can only give it a 6 out of 10. Choetech seems to have great customer service and the build quality of their products look to be great. There just seems to be a few technical bugs that need to be worked out.
That being said, I will say that my Samsung Wireless Charger also experiences a few of the above mentioned issues mainly numbers 6 and 7. So who knows if it's the chargers, my phone, or just bad technology in wireless charging. I will say I'm pretty bummed and was expecting better for a phone I've paid so much money for.

I have been using this pad for a few days now, and I love it. Compared to my OEM Samsung charging pad it is spot on.
Love the build quality and ergonomic design. I appreciate the fact that is very thin and has very sticky pads on the bottom that don't allow it to slide around on my nightstand.
I've even used this in my car and the pad did not slide around or move.
Another great feature is the non-intrusive LED light, because of this it has earned the coveted spot on my nightstand. The Samsung one as well as another QI pad I have both have really bright and obnoxious LED lights. This makes use of them on my nightstand very unlikely. I can't stand that bright LED in my face. Choetech pad has one small LED that can be pointed away and doesn't bother me one bit.
Furthermore, the cable that came with the unit is superb, seriously something as simple as this can really enhance a product. The cable is thick and solid feeling yet very soft and flexible, this is a big plus in my book.
Can't say enough good things about this charging pad, it looks great, charges fast and works well with my S6 and Note 5. Even the packaging was very well thought out, like something you'd expect from Google or Samsung.
Solid thumbs up from me, I highly recommend this product.

Thread closed. Duplicate.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/s6-...choetech-wireless-fast-charger-brief-t3216087