[Q] Terrible charge rate? - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged. And unlike my SGSII before it, it could even gain a charge while being actively used for Waze. Really great.
With the 5 I'm back to where I was. And thanks to tools I picked up during the 4, I'm able to see why more easily. Seems on the exact same chargers I used my 4 on, I'm easily pulling 400+mA less than the 4 did from the same device and same cable.
I haven't had time to draw a correlation yet, but last night at home on a multi-out adapter from Monoprice I was able to pull over 1200mA which is more than I've ever seen ANY of my devices pull before. But today, on the same model at my office, but with a different cable, I'm pulling around 200mA. Same as what I was getting in my car, which would frequently dip into the negatives, and that was WITHOUT Waze running. Also of note, in ALL of these locations it's being listed as "USB plugged" instead of "AC plugged." I'd say that accounts for the difference there, but the 1200mA draw was listed the same way, so I doubt it.
So, has anyone else noticed this yet and found any correlations between devices, cables, etc., so we can figure this out? Using more power than it takes in will not be something I can survive with and will definitely make this phone a less-than-ideal upgrade over the 4 in the battery life department. But it's pretty clear it's not impossible to get a good charge.
(and yes, before anyone asks, all of my adapters have jacks with a minimum of 1A out, and each also has a 2.1A port. Surprisingly, unlike my 4 which tended to draw LESS power from the 2.1A port, the 5 appears to be unconcerned by the difference, pulling the same poor number from both)

Yes, i agree with you. I just check today, charging my phone from the pc and it seems fast charge isn't doing its thing.

duckied said:
Yes, i agree with you. I just check today, charging my phone from the pc and it seems fast boot isn't doing its thing.
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Well, I haven't even dared test it from a PC yet. All I can say is from wall warts and car chargers it's terrible. I can't imagine how bad it is from the limited PC ports. Although it's probably exactly the same, since it seems to be identifying all my wall outlets as USB connections.

using my lg g2 charger and it charges my nexus 5 super fast. 1 hour charge will give me almost full battery

spadeace9 said:
using my lg g2 charger and it charges my nexus 5 super fast. 1 hour charge will give me almost full battery
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Not too surprising. I've read other reports that it charges nice and fast with the stock charger, which is likely the same as the G2 charger since they share most of the same hardware. But that doesn't help with car charging or those of us who've consolidated into multi-port chargers.
When I get home I'm going to mix and match some cables and devices and try to narrow in a bit more. This sounds like the Nexus 7 (2012) goose chase all over again.

The USB/AC detection is done with a definied resistance. Some chargers don't meet those exact resistances (cheap resistors have a big tolerance) -> the phone detects it as USB.
The cable can make big difference, I've tested several different cables on the N4 once, charging rate was between 600mA and ~1100mA (which should be the max) on the same charger.
Maybe the resistance in the charger is right inside the resistance tolerance, so the slight difference in resistance between the cables is enough.
Since the N4 most probably uses a different charge IC than the N5 (I haven't checked tho), it could be that the N4 had a wider tolerance than the N5.
What should help are those charge cables , the one I'm using from Porta Pow can only be used for charging therefore ignoring the charger resistance -> phone should always detect it as AC(even on a PC). Another good thing about those cables is the big wire diameter. Or a kernel where you can force AC charging regardless of the actual source.("fast charge")

That all sounds pretty logical. Considering I got much better results with the Monoprice premium cables I used last night (which oddly, are much THINNER than the cheaper ones), I'm going to experiment with those this evening and see if that makes all the difference.
As for kernels, I'm not planning to root this one if I can help it. I managed to get through the life of my 4 without rooting, too. I know it's heresy on XDA not to root, and until I got Nexus devices I would have agreed. But since stock Jelly Bean I haven't felt that burning need to "take back" control of my phone. I seem to already have plenty.

I observed the same inconsistencies with the N5's charging behavior and did some qualitative tests. I've attached a screenshot with my findings.
The phone is clearly capable of charging rapidly. My primary focus is getting a high current off the car charger. Is there a way to force AC charging mode vs. USB charging, or should I focus on more quality cables / adapters?

Just did some additional testing of my own and found some interesting results. I didn't take perfect notes, but here's what I got:
With the Monoprice 4-port Wall Charger 2.1A 8856:
Cheap Monoprice cable: bad charging, fluctuating between -80A and 200A.
Cheap unknown cable: same as above.
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 900-1200A.
Monoprice premium 6ft cable: 700-900A.
With the Monoprice 1A car charger 6765:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With the Monoprice 2.1A car charger 8858:
Bad charging with all cables tried, with exception of Monoprice premium 3ft cable which had same low end, but occasionally bumped over 300A.
With 3.1 (split between two ports) charger purchased on Amazon (my standby for my Nexus 4:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With Monoprice 2-port USB Car Charger 3.1A 10071:
Cheap Monoprice cable: Bad charging
Cheap unknown cable: Bad charging
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 700-900A
So it looks like high-end Monoprice paired with high-end Monoprice pays off. Unfortunately there's a rather serious catch with model 10071: it KILLS GPS. At least it did on my Nexus 4, and other reviews reported it as well. I can't be certain yet about it on the 5, but the little experimenting I did in the parking lot showed some anomalies I didn't like. Which means I apparently get to choose between GPS killing my battery, or charging my battery killing my GPS.
Also tried Nexus 7 2012 charger with its own cable and got bad charging, too.

TurboFool said:
Just did some additional testing of my own and found some interesting results. I didn't take perfect notes, but here's what I got:
With the Monoprice 4-port Wall Charger 2.1A 8856:
Cheap Monoprice cable: bad charging, fluctuating between -80A and 200A.
Cheap unknown cable: same as above.
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 900-1200A.
Monoprice premium 6ft cable: 700-900A.
With the Monoprice 1A car charger 6765:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With the Monoprice 2.1A car charger 8858:
Bad charging with all cables tried, with exception of Monoprice premium 3ft cable which had same low end, but occasionally bumped over 300A.
With 3.1 (split between two ports) charger purchased on Amazon (my standby for my Nexus 4:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With Monoprice 2-port USB Car Charger 3.1A 10071:
Cheap Monoprice cable: Bad charging
Cheap unknown cable: Bad charging
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 700-900A
So it looks like high-end Monoprice paired with high-end Monoprice pays off. Unfortunately there's a rather serious catch with model 10071: it KILLS GPS. At least it did on my Nexus 4, and other reviews reported it as well. I can't be certain yet about it on the 5, but the little experimenting I did in the parking lot showed some anomalies I didn't like. Which means I apparently get to choose between GPS killing my battery, or charging my battery killing my GPS.
Also tried Nexus 7 2012 charger with its own cable and got bad charging, too.
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There's a pattern obviously, the 6ft to 3ft drop seems high but is ok I guess.
I've never seen such a picky device when it comes down to charging, usually it just works as expected ^^
Have you tried your cables on the carger it came with ? Or the cable it came with on your other cargers ?
Is there something with "AWG" written on your cables ?
@random_dgp: Well you basically have 2 choices: get a kernel with (force) fast charge support (don't know if there is one yet) or get a charger/cable combo which works.
If you're planning on rooting your N5 anyway I would go for the kernel way I guess, since the charger and the cable are fine most probably, they just aren't in the specs the N5 requires.

maisi said:
There's a pattern obviously, the 6ft to 3ft drop seems high but is ok I guess.
I've never seen such a picky device when it comes down to charging, usually it just works as expected ^^
Have you tried your cables on the carger it came with ? Or the cable it came with on your other cargers ?
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Click to collapse
The first-gen Nexus 7 was at least this bad. Actually its biggest problem was it refused to even ADMIT it was charging (even though it was) off of most devices. In fact everything I just listed it would claim wasn't even connected to it. A few hours later it was full, but it refused to recognize it. 4.2 fixed that, but it was still slow off of most devices. This at least admits it's being charged, but barely is.
And no, I haven't tried the stock charger yet. I guess I will, but it's not a high priority since it doesn't cover my issues.

TurboFool said:
One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged. And unlike my SGSII before it, it could even gain a charge while being actively used for Waze. Really great.
With the 5 I'm back to where I was. And thanks to tools I picked up during the 4, I'm able to see why more easily. Seems on the exact same chargers I used my 4 on, I'm easily pulling 400+mA less than the 4 did from the same device and same cable.
I haven't had time to draw a correlation yet, but last night at home on a multi-out adapter from Monoprice I was able to pull over 1200mA which is more than I've ever seen ANY of my devices pull before. But today, on the same model at my office, but with a different cable, I'm pulling around 200mA. Same as what I was getting in my car, which would frequently dip into the negatives, and that was WITHOUT Waze running. Also of note, in ALL of these locations it's being listed as "USB plugged" instead of "AC plugged." I'd say that accounts for the difference there, but the 1200mA draw was listed the same way, so I doubt it.
So, has anyone else noticed this yet and found any correlations between devices, cables, etc., so we can figure this out? Using more power than it takes in will not be something I can survive with and will definitely make this phone a less-than-ideal upgrade over the 4 in the battery life department. But it's pretty clear it's not impossible to get a good charge.
(and yes, before anyone asks, all of my adapters have jacks with a minimum of 1A out, and each also has a 2.1A port. Surprisingly, unlike my 4 which tended to draw LESS power from the 2.1A port, the 5 appears to be unconcerned by the difference, pulling the same poor number from both)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OOC what sort of dmm/ammeter are you using to measure this?

TurboFool said:
One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged
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Click to collapse
i dont know if you're making this up, or if i have a defective nexus 4 lol
before i optimized my N4 i was getting about 4-5 hours of screen time, but it took at least 3 full hours to charge. that charge time to usage time ratio was killing me.
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too

TurboFool said:
The first-gen Nexus 7 was at least this bad. Actually its biggest problem was it refused to even ADMIT it was charging (even though it was) off of most devices. In fact everything I just listed it would claim wasn't even connected to it. A few hours later it was full, but it refused to recognize it. 4.2 fixed that, but it was still slow off of most devices. This at least admits it's being charged, but barely is.
And no, I haven't tried the stock charger yet. I guess I will, but it's not a high priority since it doesn't cover my issues.
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Click to collapse
Oh that's bad , I didn't know that!
Would just be the "reference test" since the stock charger should meet all the specs (and works fine here with every cable).
@cutterjohn: "Currentwidget" can display those values.
Enddo said:
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too
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Click to collapse
The problem he's having isn't about a computer USB port at all, the problem is that the N5 thinks it's plugged in a computer and limits the current to 500mA to meet the USB specs (and don't blow up some usb ports without a fuse somewhere) but in reality it's plugged in a wall charger.
His phone should be fine since it's working as expected on some carger/cable combos.
Btw. the N5 isn't pulling more current than the N4(both 1,2A), so it should charge almost exactly as fast/slow as the N4. It should even be a bit slower since the battery is slightly bigger I think.

cutterjohn said:
OOC what sort of dmm/ammeter are you using to measure this?
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Click to collapse
I'm simply using the app Battery Monitor Widget. Really handy tool that solved some problems for me on the 4 with some weird charging situations. While I'm sure it's not insanely precise, it reflects my draining or charging rate well enough to show me what's going on.
Enddo said:
before i optimized my N4 i was getting about 4-5 hours of screen time, but it took at least 3 full hours to charge. that charge time to usage time ratio was killing me.
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too
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Click to collapse
I think you're missing the fact that I'm comparing it directly to how well these same devices charged the 4. So they're clearly not defective so much as the 5's requirements have changed completely. And USB 1.0 (I think you mean 1.1) isn't relevant here, as I'm not charging off a computer, I'm charging off a wall and/or car adapter. But sounds like we had very different experiences with the 4. I could charge my 4 off my Monoprice pocket battery in crazy fast time, and my phone was always full by the time I reached my destination in the car, even with Waze running (once I figured out I couldn't use the long cable I was using initially).
maisi said:
Oh that's bad , I didn't know that!
Would just be the "reference test" since the stock charger should meet all the specs (and works fine here with every cable).
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Click to collapse
Absolutely. A control of sorts. Might as well.
Btw. the N5 isn't pulling more current than the N4(both 1,2A), so it should charge almost exactly as fast/slow as the N4. It should even be a bit slower since the battery is slightly bigger I think.
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Exactly. That's why I was surprised. There's no way it SHOULD be this much slower. Yes, I can see percentage adjusting slightly for the larger battery, but that's why I'm going by mA input instead, and my 4 was getting WAY better in the car. Although I don't think it ever got the 1.2 I'm getting with the Monoprice wall combo, so THAT's impressive. Now if I can just get that in my car without the RF interference and I can call it a day.

maisi said:
@cutterjohn: "Currentwidget" can display those values.
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Click to collapse
Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
Subjectively, the n5 takes longer to charge, but not that much longer that I've noticed, again batt cap, etc. so...
Both USB/AC adapter chargers I know supply a max of 1.2A...
...(from last so) ask for a replacement n5, after they've been replacing them for a single dead pixel...
[/EDIT]

My n5 charging real fast fatter t than my n4!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

cutterjohn said:
Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
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Neither I think, we don't need any mA values to see that something is wrong, android is telling us that it thinks that it's connected to a usb port while it isn't.
Of course if we would want to measure exact mA values we would need a different equipment, for cable comparisions in order to see a tendency, the values from the charge IC should be good enough.(IMO)
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
Subjectively, the n5 takes longer to charge, but not that much longer that I've noticed, again batt cap, etc. so...
Both USB/AC adapter chargers I know supply a max of 1.2A...
...(from last so) ask for a replacement n5, after they've been replacing them for a single dead pixel...
[/EDIT]
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Click to collapse
Just saw your edit ^^
Well it looks like the N5 has a very low tolerance for AC/USB detection, I'm sure that neither his chargers or Phone are defective, the chargers just aren't 100%in the spec which is obviously enough. I'm sure that the stock charger would be fine.

cutterjohn said:
Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clearly neither is the case from my testing. The N5 charges beautifully off of the right combination of chargers, and all of those chargers charged the N4 beautifully. Neither is defective, but the N5 apparently has a different tolerance requirement than the N4.
Really, as opposed to anything being defective, it sounds more like a design flaw in the N5. It's WAY too picky about its power sources.

Mine charged REALLY slow the first day and that night. It also drained really quickly during that same time. I am now on my third day and it has long battery life plus it charged about 20% in 30 minutes on a car charger. Seems quicker than my S3.

Related

Got a New Charger, Now the Screen Doesn't Work While Plugged In!

Hello all,
So I just bought a new charger (just a wall charger) and now when I plug my TB in, the screen does not respond to anything! I have to take the plug out to work my screen. It is completely unresponsive (regardless of where I'm at on the screen) while charging. As soon as I unplug it, it's fine.
Any ideas?
Where did you buy the charger from? Some crappy no-name/ebay/cheap chargers do that because they are crap. I had bought a cheap charger for my HTC Touch Pro 2 and that same thing happened, used the regular charger, no problems at all.
I know when I used the charger and cable that came with the thunderbolt, it used to become laggy or less responsive. Not terrible, but I could notice it. It was like all the memory was tied up. It doesn't do it anymore though. I rarely use the original cable and charger anyways.
g00s3y said:
Where did you buy the charger from? Some crappy no-name/ebay/cheap chargers do that because they are crap. I had bought a cheap charger for my HTC Touch Pro 2 and that same thing happened, used the regular charger, no problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. The cheap $1.00 chargers may also harm your battery.
daniel178 said:
Hello all,
So I just bought a new charger (just a wall charger) and now when I plug my TB in, the screen does not respond to anything! I have to take the plug out to work my screen. It is completely unresponsive (regardless of where I'm at on the screen) while charging. As soon as I unplug it, it's fine.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today I tried to charge my phone at work using my original.al charger that I always use and while it was plugged in, the screen wouldn't respond at all. I thought the phone was the problem but I later troubleshot it to low voltage from the extension cord, not my charger.
There are in fact quite a few micro-usb chargers that cause the screen to become unresponsive when plugged in.. This doesn't necessarily mean that the charger is crap, but it's best to use your manufacturer-approved (oem) chargers whenever possible. I work in wireless, and although our supplier is reputable, their generic chargers don't work well with the Atrix & a few other smartphones. I use them only when necessary, but do your phone a favor & stick to manufacturer chargers.
I had this problem, when I use a properly grounded surge protector the problem doesn't happen any more. It also happens to me when I charge out of my old macbook pro which tends to have a 'staticy' feel to it.
zoso28 said:
There are in fact quite a few micro-usb chargers that cause the screen to become unresponsive when plugged in.. This doesn't necessarily mean that the charger is crap, but it's best to use your manufacturer-approved (oem) chargers whenever possible...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're two months late with your incorrect post. There's a well defined standard for USB chargers, which the TB follows. Non-OEM ones work every bit as well as the HTC one as long as they, too, follow the standard and provide clean power.
mike.s said:
You're two months late with your incorrect post. There's a well defined standard for USB chargers, which the TB follows. Non-OEM ones work every bit as well as the HTC one as long as they, too, follow the standard and provide clean power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry my timing bothered you I was just browsing around for info about the touchscreen issues i've seen. I'm well aware of the standard, 5 +/- 0.25 volts 500–900 mA, and they all seem to charge perfectly well but certain phone/charger combos cause some screens to lag & I just wondered why. For example the motorola adapters all seem to be 5.1 volts @ 850mA, whereas samsung adapters are 5.0 volts @ 700 mA, and the samsungs charge fine on our standard 5/500's while the moto's lag.
zoso28 said:
SI'm well aware of the standard, 5 +/- 0.25 volts 500–900 mA, and they all seem to charge perfectly well but certain phone/charger combos cause some screens to lag & I just wondered why. For example the motorola adapters all seem to be 5.1 volts @ 850mA, whereas samsung adapters are 5.0 volts @ 700 mA, and the samsungs charge fine on our standard 5/500's while the moto's lag.
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Click to collapse
It's not clear where the "500-900 mA" and "standard 5/500" figures you give come from. Neither is from the USB Battery Charging Specification.
The spec supports up to a 1.5 A current from a Dedicated Charging Port. The HTC charger is rated at 1 A, and it seems the TB will use all of it. I've seen charging rates of 800 mA, with the phone also running screen, GPS, and more.
Cheap ones, regardless of output, may be poorly filtered with a significant AC component. Those are the ones which will really cause problems.

Skyrocket can't function as GPS Navigator?

This weekend I went on a trip and decided to try out using my Skyrocket as a GPS navigator using Google Navigation. I had my phone mounted and plugged in the whole time for about a 2 hour trip. The screen was on the whole time usually at high brightness (it would dim every once in a while.) When I removed my phone from the mount I noticed the power was down to the low 60's, which struck me as slightly odd since it was plugged into the charger the whole time. The next day I tried to use it as a GPS system again, but even as it was plugged in, this time I literally saw the battery gauge draining. When I turned off navigation and the screen the phone would finally start charging.
Is this a common thing or is there an issue with my phone or possibly my charger? Does doing all those things really drain the battery faster than it can charge it? One last note is that I was not in an LTE area during this, or at least not the whole time (I only noticed it was LTE at one time during the trip.) When I saw my battery draining in front of me I definitely was not in an LTE area.
Might be your charger. I'm having no problems using it as my primary driving, hiking and general outdoor GPS unit. When on car charger, it's charging faster then it drains.
I believe my charger is an old Motorola car charger that came with my wife's old dumbphone. It's actually not even a Micro-USB charger, but rather a Mini-USB with an adapter.
This may be a dumb question, but the actual charging port shouldn't be the issue right? I'm assuming those are always the same standard.
Check the car charger amperage output. I have an old car charger to USB that only puts out 750mA and another thats puts out 1A. Anything less than 1A with the navigation running (which means the screen and GPS stay on, of course), and it'll still drain the battery (and even at 1A it may still drain).
I've been putting off getting a powerful enough car charger myself. You'll need one that puts out 1-2A I would think. Most of the common ones off the shelf are 1A or less, and I've heard that some chargers reported max output is not as good as reported.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
jslanger said:
Check the car charger amperage output. I have an old car charger to USB that only puts out 750mA and another thats puts out 1A. Anything less than 1A with the navigation running (which means the screen and GPS stay on, of course), and it'll still drain the battery (and even at 1A it may still drain).
I've been putting off getting a powerful enough car charger myself. You'll need one that puts out 1-2A I would think. Most of the common ones off the shelf are 1A or less, and I've heard that some chargers reported max output is not as good as reported.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i second this...my phone won't even charge on some wall chargers, unless 700mAh or higher. let alone do any battery heavy functions like GPS. get something with at least 1a output
I'll try swapping the chargers. I have an overpriced AT&T one that I got for free that is collecting dust.
If the charger has 1A output then it should be OK
I'm having the same problem with my Skyrocket and cheapy charger that I bought at Fry's. Use the navigation with screen on and my battery is less than when I plugged it in.
Going to buy this combo 2A and 1A charger.
http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-..._1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329796381&sr=1-5
Its the amount of mah your charger is putting out. Not the phone. The charger is not supplying enough power
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
CZ Eddie said:
I'm having the same problem with my Skyrocket and cheapy charger that I bought at Fry's. Use the navigation with screen on and my battery is less than when I plugged it in.
Going to buy this combo 2A and 1A charger.
http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-..._1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329796381&sr=1-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I was looking for a more powerful option, I saw that one on Amazon as well. My only hesitation at buying it was why it was so much cheaper than all comparable options at local stores, or even online...I've heard that the cheapie chargers may not actually output what they say...though for $4 plus shipping, I guess it's not much of a gamble. Let us know how it performs!
P.S.-Pulled up the reviews...not too many positive ones (though 1 or 2 were good): http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Its actually more than just the charger output that is a problem. If the center two pins on the USB connection aren't shorted, the phone will treat it as a USB connection to a computer, not an AC connection from the wall, and only draw a max 500mah. I had bought a 1amp and 2 amp charger for my car and would get the same results as the 500. I started to think it was my car limiting my output!
But I then found an article detailing this problem that I've since lost the link to, but the method worked. Pop open the charger and solder the 2 middle connectors together and all is good.
I don't know why the charger manufacturers don't know this... Or maybe this phone is doing something new? Maybe someone makes a USB-> micro USB with the center pair shorted in cable?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
Just Google "Solder USB Car Charger" and you'll find plenty of tutorials about how to do that. Personally I'd rather just buy one that out of the box works.
Tried out my AT&T charger (which can be found here) and it worked perfectly. Set up the GPS and everything and now it will charge even while doing all that stuff. Thanks for the help
I have the same issue with my SkyRocket. LTE makes no difference. If I'm using Google Navigation or Waze and the Screen is on my charger/phone can't keep up with the battery drain. If I turn the screen off and keep the GPS app running the battery either doesn't drain or doesn't drain as fast.
I've checked my car charger and it's one of those dual usb ones, with a 1 amp port and a 2.1 amp port. It has no indication of which port is which, so I don't know what port I'm using at any particular time. I've tried both and the effects are the same.
Regardless, when the phone is plugged in to that charger the phone reports that it's an AC charger. Supposedly that means I'm getting at least 1 amp, right? So why is 1 amp not enough?
I don't like the car charger you guys suggested because it has the curly cord. I'd rather use a car charger that doesn't come with a cable so I can plug in my own usb cable.
Any suggestions?

[Q] Wireless Charging + Daydream Bizarre Performance

This is my first experience with wireless charging so I'm probably missing the obvious here so please, anybody, point that out.
I'm newly using a wireless charger with my N5 & performance just doesn't make any sense to me. It's the Korean/Chinese knock-off of the N4 Orb which others on XDA have used successfully. On basic charging it does work but I can't make any sense of these numbers:
Charging I get roughly 10% per hour -- not great, but okay for bedside/overnight.
Charging with daydream on (Dashclock) on I get a loss of roughly 10% per hour! Yes, the phone keeps indicating it is charging in spite of this heavy drain.
But sometimes daydream just turns off & it returns to charging -- this seems to happen if I start off with the phone (mostly) charged. For the most part though, if I leave the phone on the charger overnight with daydream enabled I'll wake to a nearly empty battery.
As I said, these numbers make no sense to me at all. Part of the problem may be the power source for the orb - it's only 1A but even if it's underpowered I can't see the drop from +10% to -10% /hour.
Second part of my query -- does anyone know if it would be effective (and safe!) to feed 1.2A to the orb & maybe get faster charge. Or maybe that would be enough to keep up with the Daydream drain?
FWIW the the USB charger (1.2A) is very fast, I get better than 1% per minute -- unaffected by Daydream.
im using this and mine gets full charge within 1 and half hours
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
10% per hour? Something's wrong. A wireless charger shouldn't take much longer than wired.
It's possible your adapter is a dud. Try using the 1.2a adapter, it'll be fine. If it still isn't faster, you might have a bad charger.
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.
NotFromMountainView said:
This is my first experience with wireless charging so I'm probably missing the obvious here so please, anybody, point that out.
I'm newly using a wireless charger with my N5 & performance just doesn't make any sense to me. It's the Korean/Chinese knock-off of the N4 Orb which others on XDA have used successfully. On basic charging it does work but I can't make any sense of these numbers:
Charging I get roughly 10% per hour -- not great, but okay for bedside/overnight.
Charging with daydream on (Dashclock) on I get a loss of roughly 10% per hour! Yes, the phone keeps indicating it is charging in spite of this heavy drain.
But sometimes daydream just turns off & it returns to charging -- this seems to happen if I start off with the phone (mostly) charged. For the most part though, if I leave the phone on the charger overnight with daydream enabled I'll wake to a nearly empty battery.
As I said, these numbers make no sense to me at all. Part of the problem may be the power source for the orb - it's only 1A but even if it's underpowered I can't see the drop from +10% to -10% /hour.
Second part of my query -- does anyone know if it would be effective (and safe!) to feed 1.2A to the orb & maybe get faster charge. Or maybe that would be enough to keep up with the Daydream drain?
FWIW the the USB charger (1.2A) is very fast, I get better than 1% per minute -- unaffected by Daydream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm using DashClock also and when it doesn't crash, my phone will charge just fine. Seems like about 3 hours total with daydream on, and about 2 hours with it off just regular charging. Here's my charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOW1RD0/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Seems like you have a defective charger but it is a really weird situation.
Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! It still seems strange, but I guess there's a minimum threshold for the phone to properly charge. (I am really guessing!) Plugging the OEM charger into my qi orb I finally get a positive charge with daydream -- not fast, but good enough to wake with a charged phone! Without daydream I just got about 36% in the past hour.
A quick scan of eBay and the only 1.2A USB supplies I can find are refurbished LG & cost as much as the full qi orb! (from US with crazy shipping costs on these - I'm in Canada) But there are lots of 1.5A blocks, cheap (and free shipping from China). So... do you think it would be safe to try the 1.5A? According to Play the Google qi comes with a 1.8A supply but I have no idea how much the pad modulates the power or if that is all in the phone itself. It would be nice to have fast wireless charging, but with the dramatic jump with just the .2A increase I may be looking at something too powerful.
My concerns are (in order) 1. Don't want to fry the phone!
2. Don't want to burn down my apartment!
3. Would rather not trash the orb. The orb was inexpensive so I'm willing to gamble on point # 3.
Advice / assurances / suggestions? Please.
Mr. Sprinkles said:
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.
NotFromMountainView said:
Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! It still seems strange, but I guess there's a minimum threshold for the phone to properly charge. (I am really guessing!) Plugging the OEM charger into my qi orb I finally get a positive charge with daydream -- not fast, but good enough to wake with a charged phone! Without daydream I just got about 36% in the past hour.
A quick scan of eBay and the only 1.2A USB supplies I can find are refurbished LG & cost as much as the full qi orb! (from US with crazy shipping costs on these - I'm in Canada) But there are lots of 1.5A blocks, cheap (and free shipping from China). So... do you think it would be safe to try the 1.5A? According to Play the Google qi comes with a 1.8A supply but I have no idea how much the pad modulates the power or if that is all in the phone itself. It would be nice to have fast wireless charging, but with the dramatic jump with just the .2A increase I may be looking at something too powerful.
My concerns are (in order) 1. Don't want to fry the phone!
2. Don't want to burn down my apartment!
3. Would rather not trash the orb. The orb was inexpensive so I'm willing to gamble on point # 3.
Advice / assurances / suggestions? Please.
I assume you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official orb charger comes with a 1.8a brick. You should be fine.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4
NotFromMountainView said:
Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! [...] you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.
Mr. Sprinkles said:
10% per hour? Something's wrong. A wireless charger shouldn't take much longer than wired.
It's possible your adapter is a dud. Try using the 1.2a adapter, it'll be fine. If it still isn't faster, you might have a bad charger.
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mr. Sprinkles said:
I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
El Daddy & Mr. Sprinkles thanks, that's just the type of reassurance I needed!
just use the 2,1A amazon kindle charger with your orb... its cheap, safe and wont fry your phone
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk
Mr. Sprinkles said:
I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So from what I heard wireless charging, like a pogo plug can charge at a higher rate than the micro USB port in some devices (I've heard pogo plug can go up to 2.5A where the micro USB in that device is limited to 1.8A). So I'm wondering as these qi chargers get better, will this also be true. Mine is a 1A but seems like it charges around .8A so it's maxed out. I guess this also raises the question as to how fast is good for a battery also.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Stock charger - charges slow and drops battery

Hello there,
I decided to open this thread as I've now had a bunch of issues with the stock charger that came with the device and it would be interesting to know if there's anyone else who's having this type of issues.
The exact issues that I've been having with the stock charger seems to be that the charger doesn't output enough of a amperage for the tablet to hold charge while in use, and even when it's not in use it takes almost 7-8 hours to charge from 50% up to 100%. It's as slow as if I would charge it from a regular USB port, if not, even slower and I don't really know why exactly this happens as it says that it's charging from AC adapter in settings.
To comfirm my issue was not related to the tablet itself, I used another charger that's rated at similar specs to the stock charger (2.1A) but with the same Micro-Usb cable that came with the tab. With that charger, it charged up from 50% extremely fast (around 1,5 hour) and I could even use the tablet while charging without any battery drops. So that comfirms two things, it's not related to the tablet or data cable but to the actual charger itself.
Anyone else that's been having this type of issues with the stock charger?
My tab needs max. about 3 hours to charge full and imo it's ok. Tried charging during Half Life2 gaming and can confirm that there's not a lot of charging going on, maybe 1or 2% in an hour. But that's ok for me, as long as it doesn't start to get emty while charging during gaming.
The charger is defective or don't bring enough power to the unit. I also get negative charge while playing high end games an also increase when i am, on Optimized mode. Many others has reported this situation on GeForce forums but nVidia is quiet about it.
CM17X said:
The charger is defective or don't bring enough power to the unit. I also get negative charge while playing high end games an also increase when i am, on Optimized mode. Many others has reported this situation on GeForce forums but nVidia is quiet about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!
GethPrime said:
I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i were you, i'll check with another charger doing normal stuff, if you still get negative charger maybe it could be your battery itself.
GethPrime said:
I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is that a faulty cable or the charger itself is causing D+ and D- to not be shorted together by the charger, resulting in the tablet thinking it's charging from a USB port instead of a dedicated charger.
Does device status report charging state as Charging (USB) instead of Charging (AC)?
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.
Entropy512 said:
My guess is that a faulty cable or the charger itself is causing D+ and D- to not be shorted together by the charger, resulting in the tablet thinking it's charging from a USB port instead of a dedicated charger.
Does device status report charging state as Charging (USB) instead of Charging (AC)?
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The charger appears as AC in settings, so it should be charging faster than it does.
I'm using a charger similar to what you use right now, a Dodocool 4 port charger that works great! However, I'm using the stock cable.
First make sure you are using stock charger and cable.
If you see discharge during non intensive activities you may have a defective charger. Nvidia has rma'd the charger by itself for people.
I have the same issue but my charging time is a bit better 3-4 hours. But what is really annoying that it makes a lot of electrical noise. I have a lot of things that I charge, but I have never heard this so load earlier. Its coming from the adapter, I can cleary hear from 3m. Anybody has similar issue? I try to record the sound, and send to nvidia. Maybe they will react.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Entropy512 said:
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that this combo works a treat for my NST. I use it to simultaneously charge my G3, NST, N7 and some small LiPos. Fast charge.
Sorry to dig up this thread but I've had the same issue and i was WTF-ing like crazy until i switch the USB cable to a charging cable i got from a power bank... The charge time dropped from 6-7 hours to 2-3 hours. I'm not sure why, perhaps my cable is faulty or perhaps it was meant to charge like this, or perhaps it is supposed to be used to connect a controller only (both ends seem to have a controller icon on them)?
MrHollow said:
Sorry to dig up this thread but I've had the same issue and i was WTF-ing like crazy until i switch the USB cable to a charging cable i got from a power bank... The charge time dropped from 6-7 hours to 2-3 hours. I'm not sure why, perhaps my cable is faulty or perhaps it was meant to charge like this, or perhaps it is supposed to be used to connect a controller only (both ends seem to have a controller icon on them)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not due to the MicroUSB cable but due to a wallwart that's messing up the amperage I believe, as I've used the MicroUSB cable with other wallwarts and it charges normally then
GethPrime said:
It's not due to the MicroUSB cable but due to a wallwart that's messing up the amperage I believe, as I've used the MicroUSB cable with other wallwarts and it charges normally then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. I charged the tablet at home 2 times this weekend and it's definitely an issue with the charger as it sometimes charges properly and sometimes it does not.
MrHollow said:
You are correct. I charged the tablet at home 2 times this weekend and it's definitely an issue with the charger as it sometimes charges properly and sometimes it does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get in touch with the retailer you got it from and ask for them to provide you with a proper charger, as a compensation
GethPrime said:
Get in touch with the retailer you got it from and ask for them to provide you with a proper charger, as a compensation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A bit hard to do since i got it from amazon.com when i was in the US (back in EU now) and there's no point in returning the tablet just for a semi faulty charger.
MrHollow said:
A bit hard to do since i got it from amazon.com when i was in the US (back in EU now) and there's no point in returning the tablet just for a semi faulty charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contact amazon and tell them exactly about the issue, they'll compensate you for it probably. I got 50£ back from Amazon.co.uk for the broken charger, which is quite a bit of money.
GethPrime said:
Contact amazon and tell them exactly about the issue, they'll compensate you for it probably. I got 50£ back from Amazon.co.uk for the broken charger, which is quite a bit of money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip, i'll give that a try
Well, same thing here. Just noticed it while using Skype. Battery dropped from 100% to 95% pretty quickly while charging.
I'm going to ask Amazon for another charger or compensation.
I have a 2.4A charger and still battery no good.
I lose around 2% per min of battery charge while idling with battery saving features on (2 cores shut off, CPU frequency set at 50% and Framerate locked at 30FPS) when ingame the battery drops 2-3 times faster. takes 2 hours to charge from 97% to 100% and 2 mins to lose that charge. I think I bought a Tablet that has a faulty battery as this is not acceptable. My tablet is unusable as the battery takes a couple of mins to lose 3% of charge and a couple of hours to regain the 3% charge only to lose that charge (and then some) when I try to use the tablet.

Charging Pixel with old phone chargers

As I'm sure is the case for many of you, I have a ton of typical USB chargers around the house, which supply anywhere from 0.8A to 1.5A output. Going with the assumption that I don't care how long it takes to charge, is there any risk with using the USB C-A cable that came with my pixel and plugging into any of those old USB chargers? They should all work, right? Just as different speeds depending on the output current?
I am not an expert, but from my research into the safety of USB-A to USB-C cables, the "risk" will generally come as a result of purchasing a cheap cable that does not have the appropriate (56k) resistor. The cable that came directly from google has the appropriate resistor and is not low quality, so it will be safe to plug into any functioning USB port (either on your computer or a charger).
That being said, if you have a malfunctioning charger, or there is power surge etc., that is an "act of god" and what happens happens
You may actually be better off using these old chargers if they work correctly. The slower you charge your phone, the better it is for the longevity (years) of your battery.
Yeah, that is why I didn't care about charging speed. For plugging it in next to my bed each night, I figure slower is better. However, I just received a mini USB to USB C from Amazon, and used that to plug my pixel in last night to a 1a charger. And while the phone did say charging over USB, it didn't gain any battery overnight and instead continued to discharge until I woke up in the morning. Is anyone else seeing anything like that?
Not trying to be mean or name call but I personally think you all are crazy. Buying a $700 phone and using a cheap charger that could have the risk to break your phone. Especially if you know better. Honestly, spending the $30-$40 from a charger from Google or an approved charger is just smart for the long term and not risk losing $700. Just my 2 cents. I did the same for the car charger.
Sure, I hear your point. But honestly I know that it is better for the battery to charge slower, so I would rather use a low power charger next to my bed each night, and only use the included quick charger when I need a quick top-off.
BlueWRXPride said:
Sure, I hear your point. But honestly I know that it is better for the battery to charge slower, so I would rather use a low power charger next to my bed each night, and only use the included quick charger when I need a quick top-off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to consider 2 points since there are so many inaccuracies about this subject:
1) Inadequate chargers with insufficient output cause batteries to become overheated, consequently reduce battery charging cycles. Smart batteries are not adversely affected by certified quick chargers.
2) Turbo chargers do not "top off". When a battery gets to around 80%, the appropriate charger begins its slower charging as to not overload it. Once at 100%, charging stops, and the maintenance process begins. As battery level drops to around 97.6%, trickle charging begins.
In sum, a certified, OEM-equivalent quick charger, even with higher output would not damage batteries.
The phone supports most standards however usb c and Qualcomm quick charge are not compatible and you fall back to 5v 3 amp at best. Make sure to fully insert the cable into the phone. It has to click. I've accidently not charged overnight that way.
I've got a bunch of turbo chargers that I've accumulated over the years. Using a non-[manufacturer of current phone] charger has never damaged my phone. I just bought a 10 pack of USB C adapters and popped one on every charger so I can continue using my old ones. No issues yet and I don't anticipate any.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
joshw0000 said:
I've got a bunch of turbo chargers that I've accumulated over the years. Using a non-[manufacturer of current phone] charger has never damaged my phone. I just bought a 10 pack of USB C adapters and popped one on every charger so I can continue using my old ones. No issues yet and I don't anticipate any.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, you can use non-oem chargers. That's not the problem. Issues only potentially arise when the chargers do not provide adequate output, or their "smart" capabilities are not up to specs. I use all kinds of chargers bought at Verizon, Best Buy, etc. I also use Amazon chargers as long as they're not too far off OEM requirements. Also, people don't think about the importance of a good, thick cable.
I have a ton of Samsung fast chargers and Samsung USB a to c cables . Would those be safe?
parmend said:
I have a ton of Samsung fast chargers and Samsung USB a to c cables . Would those be safe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many will say no big deal. However, I'd say let's hear it from the horse's mouth. Here's Google engineer Benson Leung https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/cEvVQLXhyRX. You be the judge.
Bottom line, to answer your question, no, quick charging methodology used by Samsung and Motorola is not supported by the Pixel. Your phone will charge at a slower rate. Will it damage the phone in the long run? Likely not. Well, I'll let you guys test for me.

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