Database Info

[Q] Nexus 5 alternative chargers?

Hello,
I was wondering, can I use the old charging cables from an LG Optimus Black and Samsung Galaxy S2 to charge the Nexus 5?
I also have a car USB adapter and a spare USB-to-microUSB cable.
Can I use all sort of plugs/cables that match the connector size, or should I pay attention to any details regarding current/voltage?
I noticed the original PS for the Nexus 5 supplies more power than all others I have, but that may just mean that it would charge slower, which to me is not an issue.
I not only want to avoid doing any damage, but also of course shorten the battery life!!
Thanks

Gatz said:
Hello,
I was wondering, can I use the old charging cables from an LG Optimus Black and Samsung Galaxy S2 to charge the Nexus 5?
I also have a car USB adapter and a spare USB-to-microUSB cable.
Can I use all sort of plugs/cables that match the connector size, or should I pay attention to any details regarding current/voltage?
I noticed the original PS for the Nexus 5 supplies more power than all others I have, but that may just mean that it would charge slower, which to me is not an issue.
I not only want to avoid doing any damage, but also of course shorten the battery life!!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any Micro USB cable will work with the phone and you shouldn't have a problem with voltage or anything like that dont worry bro

I notice nexus 5 is very picky on your USB cable if u want a fast charge. So of notice it going pretty slow. Try another cable
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Any USB charger should be 5V. You could in theory get a cheap charger that is off by some amount, but even then it would have to be significantly higher (5.5V+) to cause damage.
Current just affects the charging speed. A 0.5A charger is just going to charge your phone slowly. Your phone won't draw more than 1.2A though, so a 2A charger would be fine.

I was wondering about the USB cable as well, if I recall correctly, didn't the Nexus 4 had one less pin in the micro usb cable and Google only recommended using their USB cables?
I have a tone of Samsung micro USB cables from my numerous E4GT that I went through. I also noticed that the N5 charger brick says 1.2 on it so it's not your standard 1 amp charging brick.

raptir said:
Any USB charger should be 5V. You could in theory get a cheap charger that is off by some amount, but even then it would have to be significantly higher (5.5V+) to cause damage.
Current just affects the charging speed. A 0.5A charger is just going to charge your phone slowly. Your phone won't draw more than 1.2A though, so a 2A charger would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately the N5 seems to report most chargers as USB Mode chargers rather than AC Mode. I've noticed this with my Battery Packs, multiple car chargers, as well as multiple home chargers that are cheap. The N4 reports them all as AC chargers, but the N5 reports them as USB Chargers

naturefreak85 said:
Unfortunately the N5 seems to report most chargers as USB Mode chargers rather than AC Mode. I've noticed this with my Battery Packs, multiple car chargers, as well as multiple home chargers that are cheap. The N4 reports them all as AC chargers, but the N5 reports them as USB Chargers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Silly question, but how do you tell the difference on your N5 from USB charge vs AC charge?

Not a silly question at all. Go into settings and check "Battery" when you get in there, It shows you xx% Charging ("Whatever you are charging through")
Raistlin1 said:
Silly question, but how do you tell the difference on your N5 from USB charge vs AC charge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Raistlin1 said:
Silly question, but how do you tell the difference on your N5 from USB charge vs AC charge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goto Settings -> About -> Status -> Battery Status: Charging (USB) / AC
I've not used the bundled charger, just re-using my old one that is an AC Adapter with a USB cable. I'll check tonight to see if it's charging in USB or AC after all.

USB charging on some amps, AC on others

As far as I know, if you plug in your Nexus5 (or any phone) into a power source with high amperage (>1A), your phone should utilize the amps it actually needs to charge at full speed (AC Charging).*
For example, if i plug my Nexus 5 into a 2.1A charger, it will charge just fine and draw only the required amps needed.*
Ive noticed my phone (rooted with faux) and my wifes (stock) and very finicky when it comes to the amps a charger uses. *It appears that if a charger is not exactly 1.0A or 1.2/1.3A, the phone charges as USB and not AC (no matter which USB cable I use). *Below is what I have found out, *with charge type/amp and how the phone sees it
Stock charger (1.2A) - AC
Anker 25W 5-Port Wall charger (1A Android port) - AC
Anker 25W 5-Port Wall charger (1A iPhone port) - USB (not sure why??)
Anker 25W 5-Port Wall charger (1.3A Galaxy Tab Port) - AC
Anker 25W 5-Port Wall charger (2.1A iPad ports) - USB
Anker E4 13000mah battery (2A) - USB
ANker E4 13000mah battery (1A) - AC
Anyone else experience this?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

What you've observed here actually has nothing to do with the amperage of your ports and everything to do with how their data pins are wired. The N5 (and most other android devices) looks for the data +/- pins in the USB port to be shorted together, this is how it determines it's connected to a charger. Apple devices do this differently, they look for a specific combination of voltages to be present on the data +/- pins. When you connect your N5 to an Apple port, it ignores these voltages and just charges as if it were connected to a PC.
Now the fact that it sees the Galaxy Tab port as a charger is kind of interesting because the Tab uses yet another method for charger detection. It looks for resistors of a specific value connecting the data +/- pins to the power +/- pins. Cool that the N5 recognizes this configuration as well.
Anyway, this is why your Anker charger has ports dedicated to specific devices, each one is configured a little differently.

That would make sense, however, I would expect the same thing on my Nexus 4 but that doesn't happen. It charges as AC for every port
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It could simply be that the N4 uses a different power control IC from the N5 (they almost certainly do). That and the software controlling the charging determine whether the phone enables AC charging from different ports or not.
I believe (I have not tried this) that some custom kernels have a setting that enables fast charging unconditionally, to draw as much current as the hardware allows.

Yeah I'm waiting for a kernel to support Fast charge, don't believe any do at the moment
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

the phone may revert to lower power usb charging if some condition isn't met... the phone is completely ignorant of the rated power of the wall wart. current is drawn, it depends on ohms.. so it has nothing to do with the "power output." what i mean is there is no situation where too many amps is going to trigger something in the phone, the phone controls the amps and is ignorant of the max the supply can give unless the phone actually exceeds that and detects a voltage drop, the supply can't force more amps without raising voltage to do so but that's just not how these devices work. so it's not because of the amps of the charger, it must be some other aspect.
what the phone can see is voltage. the state of the microusb "Id" pin (which will probably be open if you are using a data cable and not a specific dock to put it in desk mode or car mode, not that i think the n5 has those modes, but the Id pin is what tells the phone these things, as well as set them into download mode to flash them) and the state of the data pins. generally the data pins need to be shorted together to tell the phone to go into ac charging.
it's possible however that if the voltage is lower than 5v, the phone assumes there is voltage drop from too low a power rating on the supply and it's unable to supply the current. in this situation the phone may default to a lower current charging mode. some ac chargers may not go all the way to 5.0v they may put out as low as 4.45v... if the voltage is either low or unstable from the "high output" charger it may cause the phone to think it has exceeded the output rating of the supply when infact it's just getting unclean power. try it with an official tablet charger for a kindle or something and not a store bought anything..... some of the high output chargers just have substandard regulators and/or filtering.
there may also be more to this. usb 3.0 has a higher current rating than usb 2.0 if the phone can detect the type of port it's connected to, that may also determine the charge mode.. (in thoery anyway, no reason it can't work that way, but i can't say i know that it does on any current device)

It's getting pretty aggravating now that my Nexus 5 charges as USB when connected to my anker slim 2 1A external battery as well as my anker astro e4 1A port. No reason why it should do this
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

If you use a fast charging USB cable with the proper pins shorted you should get it to charge with in AC mode. I grabbed one from Amazon and it changed from DC to AC on the same charger.

jalanjkcarp said:
If you use a fast charging USB cable with the proper pins shorted you should get it to charge with in AC mode. I grabbed one from Amazon and it changed from DC to AC on the same charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh thanks for that tip. I'll order one on Amazon right now and update this thread
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

What happens if you connect an Apple device to one with the shorted pins?

Earth explodes
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jalanjkcarp said:
If you use a fast charging USB cable with the proper pins shorted you should get it to charge with in AC mode. I grabbed one from Amazon and it changed from DC to AC on the same charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested the new USB cord on all ports, charges as AC. Thanks a lot
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] Phone charging extremely slow...

Hello!
Recently, my phone has been charging very slowly. When I first got my phone, it went from zero to 100% in ~2.5 hours, but now it takes about 5 hours to fully charge. I am currently using the stock charger and USB cable that came with the phone, and I have tried other cables and chargers to ensure that it wasn't my charger's fault (or my USB cable). I also tried flashing the stock rom and kernel, but the problem was persistent. Could it be a defective battery that is causing this problem?
My current settings:
Mahdi Rom 4.4.3 6/12
Stock kernel settings (no UV, OC)
No partial wakelock problem
Thanks!

Install CurrentWidget: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget
Take a look at the charging levels.. While charging via a wall charger it should be between 800-1050 mA.. If it's below that, it's most probably a low standard usb cable or a charger.. Try changing the cable first and check the current.

I'm getting around 600mA so that's not good.. I'll try another charger and see what goes. Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

vin4yak said:
Install CurrentWidget: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget
Take a look at the charging levels.. While charging via a wall charger it should be between 800-1050 mA.. If it's below that, it's most probably a low standard usb cable or a charger.. Try changing the cable first and check the current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, I am currently using the stock charger and cable that came with the phone and still getting low mA. I just tried different cables and chargers and the result comes out the same. What else can I do?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

amgpower63 said:
FYI, I am currently using the stock charger and cable that came with the phone and still getting low mA. I just tried different cables and chargers and the result comes out the same. What else can I do?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aah.. That's not good. In the OP I see that you have already tried going back to stock and checking the results?
May be you could try a different wall socket in your home? You could also try charging via a computer and see whether it's getting charged properly? (Fast charge needs to be enabled for this)

amgpower63 said:
FYI, I am currently using the stock charger and cable that came with the phone and still getting low mA. I just tried different cables and chargers and the result comes out the same. What else can I do?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i charge slow on the stock charger/cable as well. i ended up buying a 5amp charger with two usb holes and a better usb cable, now i charge from 0 to 100 in about an hour and a half.

Thanks for your help, guys! Turns out most of the cables I own are faulty/below standard. I found a cable later that charged my phone at around 800mA. I guess I'll do some cable shopping later

simms22 said:
i charge slow on the stock charger/cable as well. i ended up buying a 5amp charger with two usb holes and a better usb cable, now i charge from 0 to 100 in about an hour and a half.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could it be something to do with custom ROM settings? Stock charger and cable should be able to pull 800-1000mA from a power outlet, I can't understand why some devices wouldn't be able to do so.

bblzd said:
Could it be something to do with custom ROM settings? Stock charger and cable should be able to pull 800-1000mA from a power outlet, I can't understand why some devices wouldn't be able to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The only thing that would influence charge speeds is USB fast charge (charges faster on USB, AC still the same) and that's a kernel level feature.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Lethargy said:
No. The only thing that would influence charge speeds is USB fast charge (charges faster on USB, AC still the same) and that's a kernel level feature.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something that was overlooked was temperature. IIRC at higher temperatures the phone either stops charging or slows down charging in order to keep the heat down. This was done to preserve the life of the battery as charging batteries while they're hot could degrade the battery.

bblzd said:
Could it be something to do with custom ROM settings? Stock charger and cable should be able to pull 800-1000mA from a power outlet, I can't understand why some devices wouldn't be able to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. ive found in the past(with the n4), the default cable/charger also went bad quick, ended up using a nexus 7 charger/cable on it.

[Q] Charging from the computer/aftermarket wallcharger

Hi all, thanks for reading, appreciate in advance for the input.
So I bought my note pro in the manufacturer refurbished condition. The tablet is fine and nothing's wrong. However, I can't charge it from anything but the stock wall charger. It will not charge from the computer using any of the USB cables (3.0 and 2.0) or from an aftermarket wall charger. I wanna confirm if my tablet is defect or is a bug (feature?) of the note pro
Thanks

Not uncommon for computer USB ports to not charge it, the tablet requires higher current output. What's the rated output of the aftermarket chargers you're using?
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

muzzy996 said:
Not uncommon for computer USB ports to not charge it, the tablet requires higher current output. What's the rated output of the aftermarket chargers you're using?
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure, but that makes sense. I will double check tomorrow.
Many thanks

After further testing I can confirm that the output current has to be at least 2A for it to charge the tablet.

The only way for it to charge from a USBport is by turning it off completely. It does charge when it's on, but about 1-2% per hour.
It's normal, all newer, stronger devices require 2A or more for them to charge properly.
If you think that's bad, you should've seen the Asus T700T... It required 15 volt or it wouldn't charge at all, not even slowly.

charger voltage and amperage
It will charge just fine with 5v/1.5a charger. I have been using a phone charger and it works fine. Actually it works better than the included 2.0A charger.
The key is if you are using a 3.0 or 2.0 USB charger. I use a USB 3.0 charger. I will have to try a 2.0 USB charger to see if it will work.
More after it test some more chargers.

Charging Speeds

Hi,
Wanted your thoughts and opinions on charging speeds. I've never actually timed how long it takes to charge. i leave it overnight and it's ready when i wake up.
When i plug the phone into the charger, it flashes up slow charging for 2 seconds then disappears. which got me wondering how much it's actually using.
i used to use Current Widget app on my Samsung S3 which told me exactly how much current the phone was taking from the charger. typically it was 1A via AC/mains and 499mA from a PC. Plugged in to AC, I could play a power hungry game and it would still charge the phone at a good rate.
The LG kernel doesn't like these apps - the mA value is all over the place but it's typically <500mA displayed.
I could buy a USB ammeter to work out how much the USB charger is supplying but do you have any other methods of finding out? Do you know what your phone uses?
at home, i use a Xtrememac dual USB charger, 2x 2.1A output with a shielded 3M USB cable. for those wondering, it's the same regardless what cable i use. Have also tried with generic usb chargers, iPad chargers and official and OEM cables from LG and various other manufacturers. Have also used a data-shorted USB cable from PC which is the same result.
I haven't tried the LG charger yet (mainly as it's a 2 flat-pin plug and i don't know where i put the box) but i think i recall it being a 1.8A charger.

I use an application called "charger report" which can display current consumption and Xtar "USB detector" device. They both show the same numbers. But Xtar USB detector can detect voltage of a charger. The charging current of LG g pro 2 is 1.4-1.5A when the smartphone is not used and higher when I use it. Using USB detector I found out that this smartphone can charge with maximum current a charger can give only if the charger's voltage is 5.3v. So it chargers at full speed with original charger and two other chargers I have: a charger from my Lenovo s6000 (2A 5.4V) and from my Asus t100 (2A 5.3V).

i tried that app too and got the same results as with Current Widget.
i'll buy a "usb detector". thanks.

I forgot to mention that it take approximately two hours for charging indicator to reach 100% when the smartphone reports that it fully charged. And it's necessary to left it connected to a charger for ten to twenty minutes to be really fully charged. Otherwise charging indicator will soon drop to 90%. One can tell if a smartphone is still charging by touching a charger or by looking at current consumption: a charger would be warm and current would be higher than 200mA.

Is the GP2 Quick Charge (1 or 2) enabled? I can't read anything about it other than it's in Snapdragon chipsets. Not sure if it can be disabled or not.

ray-lee said:
Is the GP2 Quick Charge (1 or 2) enabled? I can't read anything about it other than it's in Snapdragon chipsets. Not sure if it can be disabled or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Snapdragon 800,801 and 805 is for Quick Charge 2.0
The Snapdragon 600 for 1.0

ok, does anyone use a Quick Charger with their GP2? is it noticeably faster?

not yet available in Austria, I have read it kills the battery life on

ray-lee said:
Hi,
Wanted your thoughts and opinions on charging speeds. I've never actually timed how long it takes to charge. i leave it overnight and it's ready when i wake up.
When i plug the phone into the charger, it flashes up slow charging for 2 seconds then disappears. which got me wondering how much it's actually using.
i used to use Current Widget app on my Samsung S3 which told me exactly how much current the phone was taking from the charger. typically it was 1A via AC/mains and 499mA from a PC. Plugged in to AC, I could play a power hungry game and it would still charge the phone at a good rate.
The LG kernel doesn't like these apps - the mA value is all over the place but it's typically <500mA displayed.
I could buy a USB ammeter to work out how much the USB charger is supplying but do you have any other methods of finding out? Do you know what your phone uses?
at home, i use a Xtrememac dual USB charger, 2x 2.1A output with a shielded 3M USB cable. for those wondering, it's the same regardless what cable i use. Have also tried with generic usb chargers, iPad chargers and official and OEM cables from LG and various other manufacturers. Have also used a data-shorted USB cable from PC which is the same result.
I haven't tried the LG charger yet (mainly as it's a 2 flat-pin plug and i don't know where i put the box) but i think i recall it being a 1.8A charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey ray-lee!
I just bought this phone and as it seems it could get someday similar problems as my former phone the Galaxy Note 2.
That phone has had problems with charger and cable also. I had to buy another set of charger and cable since the original ones gave up a few months after i purchased the phone (it was used). The cable managed only 500mA wich is very slow for a battery that strong. One night was once not enough to charge my phone from 30% to 100%. As it seems it is problematic to manufacture cables, that can hold up and continually grant the 1,8 A that would charge our device in just 2 hours. I read somewhere that the G Pro 2 is one of 5 devices that has blazing fast speeds on charging the battery. If you handle the cables with caution hopefully you will not encounter problems. If so my guess is, that you will have a hard time in finding a cable that can hold up. Sadly the stock cables are always more expensive. I do not get it, why companies dont build travel adapters that only charge ur phones built solid with sturdy cables to ensure the transmission of high currents. That way with charger + usb cable is just stupid, even when tis is an all in one solution.
I like this phone very much and i hope, that the cables will not be that sloppy as the cables that Samsung had/ still has. With Current Widget i get readings around 1500 mA (1,5 A) when connected to the stock charger. And yes the LG Charger is an 1,8 A one. I have also flat pins, but received an adapter to be able to connect it in Hugary.
Just sharing thoughts here, that will maybe helpful to someone...
:highfive:

2amp charger, charges my Pro 2 in apprx 1 hour while my old LG 1amp charger fills it in 1.40 hours apprx

ray-lee said:
Is the GP2 Quick Charge (1 or 2) enabled? I can't read anything about it other than it's in Snapdragon chipsets. Not sure if it can be disabled or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i "think" as long as device has snapdragon it is Quick Charge enabled

I use the "Charging Report" app on my phone, and it reports proper values.
(Around 1500mAh with the LG charger, and around 1600mAh with the 2.0A Samsung charger.)
If your phone is charging slowly, check the CABLE. Cable can broke too.
(Many people complain about their Samsung charging cables, because they just stop delivering power after a while and just charge the device slowly.)

Anyone tried Quick charge 2.0?? https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/quick-charge

enkhtwshn said:
Anyone tried Quick charge 2.0?? https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/quick-charge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Devices with the Snapdragon 800 have Quick Charge 2.0!

letschky said:
All Devices with the Snapdragon 800 have Quick Charge 2.0!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So anyone tried it? That is the question

Yes, I have the Motorola Turbo Charger.

coastalmikey said:
Yes, I have the Motorola Turbo Charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long does it charge from 0-50 from50-100 from 0-100?

There aren't many chargers out there. and the ones that are, are usually US 2 pin. I need a UK 3 pin or travel charger (changeable pins) really.

enkhtwshn said:
So anyone tried it? That is the question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To achieve full charging speeds, a Quick Charge 2.0 enabled device must be paired with a Quick Charge 2.0 certified adapter