Database Users

How "fast" does your ATHENA charges?

I have been pondering...
Our phone is awesome in every aspect.... battery life is between 6 hrs ~ 7 hrs depending usage...
However... charging the battery seems to take FOREVER !!!!!!!!
it takes like 5+ hours to charge completely
if you want to charge it faster, wireless, phone, screen, etc needs to be off.
so that's the only inconvenient thing i found about our phone.
good thing is i can plug it in anywhere it has USB ports, including my car.

Make sure you use the correct charger. Many chargers that use the same socket do not charge at the same rate as the correct one due to internal wiring - I am not electrician but found this out the hard way.
Many USB/car chargers do not provide sufficient charge to even keep up with Athena power use.

AllGamer said:
I have been pondering...
Our phone is awesome in every aspect.... battery life is between 6 hrs ~ 7 hrs depending usage...
However... charging the battery seems to take FOREVER !!!!!!!!
it takes like 5+ hours to charge completely
if you want to charge it faster, wireless, phone, screen, etc needs to be off.
so that's the only inconvenient thing i found about our phone.
good thing is i can plug it in anywhere it has USB ports, including my car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SIZE matters... also in charging.
May be I am wrong, other in this forum are better than me in physic
but
1) The power usage when connected via activesync, having screen backlight 50%, Big HTC HOME is around 200/300 mA/h.
2) The battery is 2200 mA,
3)if you charge it with a 500 mA/h charger... 500-250=250 mA/h.... 9 ours to have a full 2200 mA charge,
Athena have also XSCALE CPU (clock increasing during heavvy usage) and the power usage could increase very quickly (I have seen some 1000 mA/h peak) due to heavvy memory and CPU usage, or microdrive access
Looking at DIVX movies, full screen, USB 1.0 connected... the power DECREASES (slowly)!

And I would like to add, that after several tests with different chargers, no doubt that using HTC chargers makes a big difference, specially the car charger.
In the case of car charger, using a normal one ( output 5V 500mA ) I made a trip of 300Km and the power level went down from 100% to 70% using TomTom.
And with the HTC charger ( 5V 2A ) leaving home with 50% and arriving the same destination with 100%, again using TomTom.
I'm assuming that using other GPS software the results will be equal.
I used car chargers with 500mA, 800mA and also 1A and I tought that the results should be different but in fact it seems to me that one thing is what the charger "says" and another thing is what can "give".
hope this helps.

poppey said:
.. it seems to me that one thing is what the charger "says" and another thing is what can "give".
hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, as I said it is a hard-wire issue

Yup, 2 pins need to be connected together before the Athena will go into "fast charge mode". You could hook up a 1000 amp bench power supply but still discharge your battery with GPS active - until you short the 2 pins. Don't remember which ones, its been discussed before on this board.

very insteresting...
yes i'm using the USB 500ma charger, just because past experiences has kind of though me that charging electronics with too much AMP it can burn it.
but it seems like the ATHENA can take that, since you have been using it.
I guess i'll shop around for a more powerful charger.
poppey said:
And I would like to add, that after several tests with different chargers, no doubt that using HTC chargers makes a big difference, specially the car charger.
In the case of car charger, using a normal one ( output 5V 500mA ) I made a trip of 300Km and the power level went down from 100% to 70% using TomTom.
And with the HTC charger ( 5V 2A ) leaving home with 50% and arriving the same destination with 100%, again using TomTom.
I'm assuming that using other GPS software the results will be equal.
I used car chargers with 500mA, 800mA and also 1A and I tought that the results should be different but in fact it seems to me that one thing is what the charger "says" and another thing is what can "give".
hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

AllGamer said:
charging electronics with too much AMP it can burn it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Electronics is in many ways like the water system, with the water pressure equal to volts, and the gallons per minute equal to amps. However, there's one key difference - electronics will only use as much as its needs (and no more). Not like trying to get a drink from a high-pressure fire hose where you'll hurt yourself trying.
A 60 watt light bulb will only draw 60 watts and will not blow up even though it could draw many thousands of watts before the circuit breaker blew.

techntrek said:
Yup, 2 pins need to be connected together before the Athena will go into "fast charge mode". You could hook up a 1000 amp bench power supply but still discharge your battery with GPS active - until you short the 2 pins. Don't remember which ones, its been discussed before on this board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This seems to do the trick with my Ameo.
http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=154871

USB/AC Charging Discussion

Decided to make a seperate thread for this. Maybe a mod could move those posts over...
scoob8000 said:
This is very interesting.. Gonna order one of those adaptors. I have another possible source that I'll call and see if they can get them.
Dx rocks but I lack the patience to wait for overseas shipping.
Food for thought..
I have a cheapo 4 port usb hub on my night stand for charging all my devices. It is limited to 500ma per port. Ive noticed it won't charge my atrix. Guessing 500ma isn't enough..
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Click to collapse
Rred said:
scoob-
"It is limited to 500ma per port. Ive noticed it won't charge my atrix. Guessing 500ma isn't enough.."
No, physics doesn't work like that. If the VOLTAGE from your USB device is above the charging voltage for the phone, even a 100mA charger would be enough to charge the phone up. It would just take a long time, perhaps 22-24 hours to do so.
The normal Moto chargers are about 1000mA and they charge the phone quickly, usually two hours or less. But Moto has been making very generous chargers for years, they even supplied a 1000mA charger with my bt earpiece, which doesn't need that much power at all.
If a 500mA charger hasn't fully charged your phone in 4 hours, there's something else wrong. Bad wire, bad contact, not plugged in tight...or the "Made in China" effect.<G>
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Click to collapse
_Dennis_ said:
No you are wrong sir. The phone will not charge on a 500 ma charge. It will use less battery but 500ma charger is not sufficient to both power the device and charge it. Also the charger supplied it 750ma charger and if you are running 1.2.6 the phone will refuse 1a chargers. Just because something provides voltage in the correct range does not mean ut provides enough energy to charge something else. Voltage is potential current is actual power. Just plug your phone into a USB socket without the computer having drivers (there by limiting the socket to 500ma) it won't charge.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
scoob8000 said:
Sorry OP for the threadjacking..
I'm familiar with Ohm's law, where I was headed is I think the phone may be doing one of two things. (purely guessing )
It may just be adhering to USB specs. It realizes the hub is a USB device and not just a charger. Since there is no computer on the other side, to negotiate more than 100ma it just doesn't charge.
Or the voltage drop @ 500ma (my hubs max per port) is just too high to enter charging. Worth noting, is when the battery is >90 and I plug the hub in, the notification led lights, but the battery still discharges.
I need to hack up a usb cord to take some voltage/current measurements. Maybe I'm just being OCD, but I like to "slow charge" my devices while I sleep.
[edit] I think I'm going to try making a charge only USB cable... That might answer some questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rred said:
Dennis?
"It will use less battery but 500ma charger is not sufficient to both power the device and charge it."
Powering the phone, and charging the phone, and simultaneously doing both, are three different things.
The 500mA is sufficient to CHARGE the phone, that's all I said. I have no idea how much power it takes to POWER the phone with all four radios (BT, GPS, Wifi, cellular) active and music or Angry Birds playing at the same time. The power drain for each of those may be significant.
But since the phone has a ~1900mAh battery, you can establish the phone's power drain by turning on "everything" and letting the battery drain from full charge. If it takes four hours to go dead...yes, the phone may consume 500mA all by itself, leaving nothing to charge the battery. Again, that's physics, and it applies the same way to every laptop and phone on the market, and other devices that use adapter/chargers.
I stand by what I said: 500mA will fully recharge the battery in about 4 hours. I did NOT say it would power all four radios and play music as well as charging the phone at the same time. You'll have to do your own math to find that out, but the physics remains the same. My phone usually charges while I sleep, and a 500mA source will do that very nicely, with just the cellular radio enabled, and not in conversation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I just made a little USB breakout cable so I could do a little investigation..
Oddly, even with the stock charger and the data lines disconnected the Atrix will not charge. I'm supecting most AC chargers must supply power on the data lines as well, or do something with them that triggers the device to charge.
As for the voltage, my hub and oem charger both throw out 5.12v with no load. When I plug the phone in, there is no drop at all.
From what my googling turns up, I may need a 180ish ohm resistor between the data lines. The phone looks for that to enter charging mode. Apparently this is why the drivers are needed for charging on some computers. Instead of resistance, it gets the charge signal from the pc.
So anyway out of curiosity I also took a few load readings:
Battery at 40%, screen off, phone idle: 600~ma
The most I could get it to pull was with battery at 40%, streaming last fm over a BT headset, and running quadrant. I saw around 690ma at peak.
Voice calls don't seem to make much of a difference. 10-15ma.
I'm going to check again with a full battery once it's charged. That ought to tell us what the phone itself is using.

I'm using a 550ma 5v charger because it has a longer reach. I stream music, cruise the net, watch videos and it charges my phone no problem.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

So with a completely full battery:
Idle, screen off: 100~ma
full load (same as before): 400ma at peak

Either I am lucky and got a better one, or everyone else is wrong on the standard charger. Mine is 850ma. Also, my phone will charge on USB 2 (500ma) if screen is off and I do not use the phone. It's slow but it charges. On USB 3 it charges about half the speed it does on mains.
Sent from WinBorg 4G via XDA premium app

scoob-
"As for the voltage, my hub and oem charger both throw out 5.12v with no load."
Were you using a lab calibrated voltmeter? <G>
Most digital multimeters have a stated accuracy something like 1/2 to 1% on the DC voltages, and then they also have a "float" of 2-4 LSD meaning, the least significant digit (the rightmost one on whatever scale) may float by 2-4 digits.
So on a typical meter where you have a choice between a 2.000 volt scale, and a 20.00 volt scale, "_5.00" on the display could just as easily read "5.05" if it is was 1% off, within the limits of accuracy. And then 5.05 could read 5.09 or 5.00 as the digits float. The errors sometimes cancel out, sometimes accumulate.
I've seen much worse as they get old and out of calibration, where a "12.00" volt reading on one meter was 12.3 on another.
Which is just to say that 5.12 might actually be 5.00, or whatever the USB spec actually calls for. (It doesn't have to be 5.00 exactly.)
I had no idea they needed a signal voltage (available from the data lines on microUSB but not miniUSB) to enter charge state. That "should" mean that you can't use a miniUSB charger with a micro adapter for simple charging. I'll have to try that to see what happens. [ [LATER] Nope, something's not right about needing the signal resistor, because I just charged my Atrix using a miniUSB charger (no data signal possible) with a mini-to-micro power tip adapter, which "should" not be presenting any signal, just passing through the 4 old style connections. ]
There will still be simple--if unpublished or poorly documented--rules of physics governing what happens. Battery charging isn't rocket science, although battery chargers are sometimes "smarter" than rockets are.<G>

CaelanT,
Mines also 850ma..
Rred,
I actually splurged on a very (I think) good meter a few years ago. It's a Fluke 187. They claim .025% DC accuracy. Granted, I've had it a few years and never sent it back in for calibration.
I actually found two sides to having a resistor in the connector.
One story starts with Motorola trying to enforce people using only "genuine" chargers. Link
The other points to the data lines being shorted to indicate to the device that it is a dedicated charging device. Link Skip to the last paragraoh on this page. It's very long winded.
I actually tore apart a old car charger, in the mini usb plug there lied a small resistor between the data pins. I didn't believe how simple it was until I saw it.
Pretty interesting stuff. For us geeks anyway.

scoob, a Fluke is like a Rolls-Royce, except it is more reliable.<G>
The resistors are documented as part of the microUSB spec, they are what are often called "pull-up resistors", i.e. the voltage they provide to the fifth wire "pulls up" the voltage on that line and the tiny brains see that as a signal to do something specific.
Even the Palm Treos used this system. Not on the power line, but on the audio jack. they use a single 3-wire 2.5mm standard minijack and depending on the impedances that they see on it, they will provide mono audio, stereo audio, or mic input plus mono audio, so that three types of devices all plug into the same plug--but all three are sensed and work differently. As Arthur Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic."
There's no Moto conspiracy to the resistors, the new microUSB spec provides magic and the industry just doesn't want to bother our pretty little heads by talking about it in any detail.
Now, why Moto omitted the call audio routines from the library on these phones...THAT'S probably a conspiracy.<G>
I'm not reading all 480+ pages of the final USB3 spec, but it appears to refer to standard devices as consuming one "unit" of power at 150mA, with a maximum of six "units" or 900mA, and a maximum voltage of "5" which would mean that if Moto is supplying 5.12V @ 1000mA...they've exceeded the spec and aren't entitled to use the USB logo.
But if they'll fix my call audio library, I won't tell a soul about that.<VBG>

battery drain with car usb and gps

Hi
Using today the phone @ 100% brightness with car charger connected and using Sygic / Copilot, I see that my device can't not even charge at the same time that I am using it, but maintain their % of battery. Even with the charger the phone drains battery.
WTF samsung, So i cant make a long travel without running out of battery?
Anyone more with this problem?
PS: My HD2, HD, TyTN2, etc doesn't have this problem with the same car charger, they even charge at the same time.

What's the rating on your charger? I had to swap mine out for a 1A one in order to cope with GPS use in the car. Haven't had a problem since then.
I suspect the one you're using is 750mA or even potentially 500.

I have just had the same problem. I knew i needed a higher amp charger but i thought i would give it a try. The one i used is 650mA, so that's definitely not large enough. The normal 'house' charger is 0.7A (700mA) so in theory that size or above should charge whilst the S2 is being used.

I have a 1200 mA usb adapter for car (a sony ericsson, very very slim one) and I have no issues. You need a decent amount of power for that phone so 650mA will not do, have at least 1000.
http://www.nextag.com/Sony-Ericsson-AN400-Compact-853915153/specs-html
Not sure if this is the exact model but I found it to be the best because it's slim and there is nothing sticking out of the car socket, has a lot of power and I can power any usb device with it.

padlad said:
I have just had the same problem. I knew i needed a higher amp charger but i thought i would give it a try. The one i used is 650mA, so that's definitely not large enough. The normal 'house' charger is 0.7A (700mA) so in theory that size or above should charge whilst the S2 is being used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yest but probably you hava a chinese charger. The rating on it is never near the real one.

oh, I see, crappy charger, ill change then thanks guys

TomTom recently released a high speed multi charger. I replaced my old car charger with this one as I had a similar slow charge problem. Never had a problem ever since. All my weapons are always fully loaded with enough power! Expensive though!
http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/product...-cables/high-speed-multi-charger-9UUC.001.04/

If someone is using a cheap higher-powered mains adaptor without issue, could you please post a (UK) link? Also if anyone knows of a cheaper alternative to the £20 car charger that would be great too!

I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

2.1 Amp TomTom charger is way too much for this device. Samsung wall charger is only rated at 750mA, but someone even found out that in source level Samsung has limited the power current at only 650mA.
With 1 Amp (1000mA) top quality car charger, the phone lost charge while using Navigation on full brightness.
Very slow charging in general for this phone.

shawt said:
I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here

Mittaa said:
Same here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you provide a link? I'd like to get one

I bought mine on eBay for £6.Just search "genuine samsung car charger"
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I bought today a Belking car charger of 2.1amps and suprise!, same problem battery drain.
Can be maybe the car? I doubt it, any idea?
http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=525940

When you have the car charger plugged into the phone go into Settings/About phone/Status & look at "Battery status"; it should tell you if the phone thinks it's plugged into a USB port (in which case the phone will draw only 450 mA) or an AC charger (from which the phone will draw 650 mA). These limits are built into the Samsung ROM, presumably to keep the phone cool and/or extend the battery's lifespan. They could be overridden (especially the AC charger current limit) in a custom ROM.
Absent a custom ROM, if the Status display says you're connected to a USB port, you could try a different charger, or connecting USB pins 2 & 3 (the two center pins on the USB A connector) together. That's how the phone decides if it's connected to a USB port or AC charger -- the low-resistance (less than 200 ohm) connection between the two USB data pins is the key. The spec calls for 200 ohms resistance between the data pins, but some of the low-end high current chargers I've seen just have a direct short.
If that doesn't work, or if the Status display says you're charging off AC, then try some of the other battery-life tricks documented here in the forums; they should reduce the device's draw from the battery, allowing the charger to do its job.

Wow, this is kind of disappointing i have to say. I have noticed the USB charging is incredibly slow. You can't ever rely on it, i think it would take close to 5 hrs to fully charge from USB, that's insane! By mains it's somewhere between 2 and 3, but that's still way too high.
I take it if you buy a higher-powered mains adaptor (not one for the car) then we'd definitely get the benefits of a faster charge? Can someone post a link to one they are using and know works faster that the stock one?
Cheers

I ll try ur tricks guyz.
for the time being this is my situation (and it sux):
-car charger 1A 5v
-slow chargin and hot device
-using navigator equals : phone burns, drains battery and in the worst scenario freezes
yesterday I received a call while phone plugged into car charger with navigator session. wot happened is phone freezed (screen didnt switch off) and I saw PROXIMITY SENSOR WAS RED!

shawt said:
I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first post got me worried for a while, but this info has put me back to ease. Pre-ordered the GS2 (India) and getting the original Samsung charger along as a freebie.

Yeah, i have simelar experience with the samsung s2 in my car.
Its eating the battery even when its plugged in and i think i have a good charger..
I found 1 solution.. I use now copilot, you can set different setting to disable the screen automatically when you drive a straigt forward for some kilometres, only when you need to turn it comes up again.
thats how i set it and it loads a little, but bad anyway.
Maybe thats what the + means in Super Amoled + (+batteryusage)

(•.•) said:
Maybe thats what the + means in Super Amoled + (+batteryusage)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nexus S didnt have such a problems. it's only around how samsung managed chipset.
I ll try to set cpu downclock while temperature goes over 40..

[SOLUTION] Slow Charging!

★★★This topic is for them who are having problems with stock charger and cable. If you don't have any problems, ignore this ★★★
Well, since I purchased my Note 2, I kept facing this slow charging problem. Now what is slow charging some of you will ask? Well, it's simple. The device is taking more than normal time for charging. Now how do you know the default/should be rate for charging? Simple again. The AC adapter clearly says output rate as 2000 mA or 2.0 A. So with that calculation Note 2's monstrous 3100 mAh should be fully charged with 2 hours. But as we've seen steady 2.0A is not the output case in some/many scenario, so add another 30 mins to it. So whatever it is, from 0-100%, the device shouldn't take more than 2 hours 30 minutes.
And for me, it was taking around 5 hours! Sometimes 4 hours 30 minutes, and if it's very fast then 4 hours. Well I was never gonna wait 4 damn hours before going to my office and irritate myself, and I don't have the habit of charging overnight, unless I absolutely need it.
So I kept calling my retailer, asked for replacement, and they did, well, you won't believe, they replaced three times actually, so I had three different Note 2, with three different charger. Well, each of them acted absolutely fine at first 3-4 charge, then the problem was back again and again. I in fact turned off the device and put it into trash once.
Then I thought let's try some different USB cables, I tried my friend's Galaxy Ace cable. Charging current kept fluctuating between 1000-1200 mA. Which was better than those faulty stock cables, which provided steady 900 mA. Sometimes it even was detecting the AC current as USB, which would provide a mere 460 mA and would take God knows how long! Then I found my piece. I went to my retailer, frustrated and angry, asked them to give me the thickest and shortest possible cable, and they provide me one from a Samsung phone's box, but I can't recall which device was that! And then I sat there for half an hour, kept plugging and unplugging, and the current rate was rock steady at 1800 mA. I took it, paid just 10$ and came back.
Since then I have charged my phone almost 10 times and the current rate never went below 1800 mA / 1.8 A.
This is the cable I am using, do notice that it has 5 pin set up against stock cable's 4 pi, if that matters in any way, and it's about 10% thicker than the stock cable and also about 9" shorter.
And how will you monitor the charging current, three ways are there,
1- Battery Monitor (yet I don't know how to exactly use it)
2- If you are rooted (which is a must anyway), then just go to, /sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_avg
3- Use the app from the link below. It basically reads the current value just exactly as above but it saves the time to go into that file every time. A big thanks to Deadvirus.
Galaxy Charging Current application's apk can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36124435)?
Play Store link: (Paid)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...S5hYm1hbnRpcy5nYWxheHljaGFyZ2luZ2N1cnJlbnQiXQ..
Thanks to this post and it's poster for informing us about the current output reading path,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=33585646&postcount=31

The included cable charger that mine came with charges fast like that, I let it charge slow with standard USB port overnight, but the included charger nd included cable should achieve this. The cable is important.

kebabs said:
The included cable charger that mine came with charges fast like that, I let it charge slow with standard USB port overnight, but the included charger nd included cable should achieve this. The cable is important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, it's done within about 2 hours every time, from ~1%. Something definitely must have gone wrong with yours :s

R: [SOLUTION] Slow Charging!
You are amazingly right. Every charger/cable combo I test seems to deliver different currents, according to the app you posted, ranging from 600 to 1300 (mA?).
Didn't know that could happen. Now I am looking for the Holy Grail of chargers, too.
After some tests: original chargers of Note 2 and Tab provide 1800 mA; no-brand Chinese labeled 1500 gives 1400; one Nokia labeled 1200 gives 1300, another, labeled 1200, gives 1200. Puro brand, labeled 2100, gives 1100. Another Chinese, no-brand, labeled 2000, double usb, gives 1100 per socket. Other no-brand samples give 600 or 300 mA.
Enormous variability.
Think I'll use the 1800 mA Samsung for when I'm out, and the good Nokia's for overnight charging when home.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

And I ve been wondering why the heck original cable is too short. I thought samsung were just tight gits. Cable is mot even long enough to reach feom the wall to bed side table
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

no problem whatsoever with mine , charging from 1 to 100 % in about 2 - 2:10 hours

Thank you for nice explanation! Now it's much clearer.
For me...
Stock charger + stock short cable (0,9 m) = ~2+ hours
Stock charger + some other cable (1,8 m) = ~4+ hours
,don't know about thicknes. Mb stock cable is thicker, or at least harder to bend.
Sent from my GT-N7100

Thanks for the APK, I found a huge variance in charging rates based on a combination of chargers and cables. Goes to show that the cable makes a huge difference. Here's my findings:
** Stock Charger (2A):
w/Stock Cable (4-pin) - 1698
w/Cable from another phone (5-pin) - 1698
w/Cable from battery pack (5-pin)- 1698
w/generic eBay cable (4-pin)- 100! - It didn't charge at all, even with screen off.
** iPhone Charger (1A):
w/Stock Cable (4-pin) - 1300
w/Cable from another phone (5-pin) - 1100
w/Cable from battery pack (5-pin) - 1300
w/generic eBay cable (4-pin) - 100!
** Car Charger (1A):
w/another generic eBay cable - 490
(Was running Redpill kernel, not sure if that has fast charging built in which might affect results).

The app is really helpful. Been wondering what the charging current was on different chargers.
I measured it using the app based on current AVG and not current NOW. This is because I used a 800ma blackberry charger and yet current now shows 1698 which is impossible.
The app will tell you which cables and chargers are good. I was shocked that out of my 8 cables only 3 gave an average of more than 1000, the rest give around 800 or less.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

Hi!
So, the AC adaptater mentionne 2A but it doesn't mean that your devuce consume 2A... It means that the AC adaptater can provide 2A under 5V.
If a load need to consume 500mA the adaptater can provide enough power. But if it needs more than 2A, the ouput current will be at the 2A max but your voltage will decrease (it means that you have a device problem!).
The only thing to do is to refer to the user manual of device.
One thing more, the USB protocole fix the maximun current to 1A!
An other thing, if you want to have a better battery life it recommended to charge your battery slowly. Just have the habit to charge it during the night.
See ya.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

I also got an lg very thick cable..which is also 5 pin and let me tell it charges REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY FAST..when seen in application posted in op(thanx) it shows 1800..but the problem is if I detach charging before battery full notification then the battery is consumed at very high rate..I.e battery life decreased or maybe shows fake battery percentage. .and if I go for full charge it takes half hour more after 100% to show battery full in notification. .
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

lucier said:
Hi!
So, the AC adaptater mentionne 2A but it doesn't mean that your devuce consume 2A... It means that the AC adaptater can provide 2A under 5V.
If a load need to consume 500mA the adaptater can provide enough power. But if it needs more than 2A, the ouput current will be at the 2A max but your voltage will decrease (it means that you have a device problem!).
The only thing to do is to refer to the user manual of device.
One thing more, the USB protocole fix the maximun current to 1A!
An other thing, if you want to have a better battery life it recommended to charge your battery slowly. Just have the habit to charge it during the night.
See ya.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the stock charger doesn't provide full 2A current.
And is it true that if the device is charged slowly the battery backup will be better? I mean that would be good then. I'll try that, thanks for informing.
sumeshd said:
I also got an lg very thick cable..which is also 5 pin and let me tell it charges REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY FAST..when seen in application posted in op(thanx) it shows 1800..but the problem is if I detach charging before battery full notification then the battery is consumed at very high rate..I.e battery life decreased or maybe shows fake battery percentage. .and if I go for full charge it takes half hour more after 100% to show battery full in notification. .
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my old cable, the damaged stock one, it'd take half an hour to reach 100% from 99. With this one it takes 5-6 mins.
This whole charging process is complicated that much I can say.
'Swyped' from my GT-N7100

Unfortunately I got a grey import so my stock charger was for a different country.
I'm having to use a 1.0A charger instead.
It still only takes a few hours to charge though. I sleep for 4-5 hours and it's always fully charged when I wake up.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Hmm is this a accurate way of measuring amp?
I was using same cord and the apk provided above, using the default 2amp charger says 1697 and using a bellkin in charger rated at 1amp,says the same thing?
Hmm

I am a bit confused, which of the following is my actual charging rate? The charge is really slow, around 15% per hour or so.
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.

As I stated in the screenshot, you shouldn't look at current_now, it'll always be same, 1698, you should look at current_avg.
'Swyped' from my GT-N7100

Damn. That means it's time for me to get a new charger, isn't it?
Just switched to a very old 0.7 A output charger my father uses on his primitive samsung device. It gives better results than my stock charger/USB cable, provided by samsung. 800 mA on a 700 mA charger. How is that even possible?
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.

SacGuru said:
I am a bit confused, which of the following is my actual charging rate? The charge is really slow, around 15% per hour or so.
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are using stock cable ?

yahyoh said:
are using stock cable ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I am. The stock charger says 2A, 5V. When used with the stock cable it charges at a mere 200-400 mA. I used the wall charger of an old samsung phone (doesn't have a usb cable, just a wall charger) and current rises to 800mA. Where can I buy a good USB cable at in the UK?
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.

I have buy a new stock charger because I was thinking my stock one was dead (slow charging / usb mode)...
But in fact it's not my stock charger who is defected but it's just the cable!!!
Just try with another cable and it's OK (AC mode).
Thanks for the apk!

Charging Speed

i have had the V20 for about 12 hours in which time it charged from about 50% to about 75% ... my Note would accomplish the same in about 15 minutes ... and yet the V20 is supposed to run the same type of quick charger on the same size battery ... something about this doesn't rub me the right way
yes i did use the phone and unplug it a few times etc but it still should have been much faster ...
it was connected using its own cable and charger BUT through a USB extension cord ... so then i thought maybe that's the problem - maybe i need a longer type C cable and to get rid of extension cord ... but i need to have an answer to that BEFORE buying new cables ...
so i plugged it in directly ( no extension ) and tried to see if it charges in correct mode ...
and here is where i face plant into a wall of excruciating stupidity ... every single app out there measures charging current, whereas what i really want to know is whether the charger is running at 5V standard voltage or using the quick charge 9V voltage ... amazingly there doesn't seem to be an app to show this - or is there ?
my galaxy note would simply say " adaptive quick charger connected " when plugged into quick charger but the V20 doesn't say anything like that.
accubattery app says my screen on charging rate is 760 ma and screen off is 1760 ma ... and the charger of course states 1.8 A so that's consistent ... but is that at 5V or at 9V ? the charger supports both - which one is it ?
this is killing me - so much stupidity. it shouldn't be that hard to figure out whether the phone is charging correctly or not.
anybody have an idea how i could find out whether the charger is actually stepping up to 9V without physically cutting the USB cable and using my multimeter ?
EDIT: i realized i have a kill-a-watt ( actually two of them ) and i can measure power draw from 120V outlet ... so i did that. the draw fluctuated from about 6 to 13 watt. now if we assume 90% efficiency on the charger then full power would have to draw 18 watt from outlet - clearly it never got close. on the other hand at 5V it should have maxed out at around 10 watt power draw, and it went quite a bit over that so it would seem to be using the 9V mode ...
at this point however i'm up to 90% battery and can't expect it to charge at full rate any more as some battery charging algorithms taper off above 80% or so ...
i tried with and without extension cord and noticed no difference ... also if i remember correctly my Note also charged fine over this same extension cord ... but i'm not sure
EDIT: played with turning off 2nd screen as well as shutting down device completely - this phone is crazy. power draw is all the place - at one point it went to ZERO and stayed there until i unplugged it and plugged it back in, then it would fluctuate between zero and 14 watts ...
you know back in the day i had LG Nitro HD and it had worst battery performance of any phone ever ... and this V20 seems to be living up to that legacy. WTF.
anyway, it seems the charger and the cable and extension are not to blame - it seems there is some kind of software weirdness that is resulting in very sporadic power draw ...
slow charging is one of the reasons i switched from iPhone back to Android - i expected this V20 to perform similarly ( blazing fast charging ) to the Note 4 i had before the iPhone 6S Plus ... but it's charging performance so far is almost identical to the iPhone - slow as a snail.
i already spent $80 on case and screen protector and i'm supposed to spend a bunch more on extra cables and memory card as well as sell my iPhone and at the same time i'm thinking - maybe i should just return it ? going to have to observe it for a while longer before making any decisions either way ... terrible.

The V20 is QC 3.0
The Note 5 is QC 2.0
The V20 will negotiate with a 3.0 charger to tell the charger what power it requires at that moment so power will fluctuate during charging.
this will show you which devices are 3.0 and 2.0
https://www.qualcomm.com/documents/quick-charge-device-list
Quick charging explained
http://www.androidauthority.com/quick-charge-3-0-explained-643053/

nest75068 said:
The V20 is QC 3.0
The Note 5 is QC 2.0
The V20 will negotiate with a 3.0 charger to tell the charger what power it requires at that moment so power will fluctuate during charging.
this will show you which devices are 3.0 and 2.0
https://www.qualcomm.com/documents/quick-charge-device-list
Quick charging explained
http://www.androidauthority.com/quick-charge-3-0-explained-643053/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah it fluctuates a lot. i gave up on apps and just using Kill-a-watt now which is a physical power meter you insert into 120V outlet. it shows power draw from charger, not output, but we can assume about 90% efficiency from input to output of charger.
i let the V20 drain to 40% overnight and restarted the test today. with the extension cord it went up to 16 watt draw from outlet and stayed there - charge quickly went up to 55% then i tried without the extension cord and now its only at 11 watts. this is with both screens off. so far my conclusion is that using an extension cord makes no difference but the level of charge on the phone does impact the charging speed. you need to drain the phone to measure full charging speed.
i will continue with my testing but i am somewhat relieved. 16 watts is close to spec, in fact the spec is 16 watt but on the OUTPUT side of charger, not input, so i'm withing about 10% of spec.
i'm also a lot less nervous buying charging cables now that i verified 16 watt charging over many years old USB 2.0 extension cord ...
EDIT: wow it went from 55% to 68% while i was typing this message ! this is very different from what i saw yesterday ... it was running at 11 watts while i was typing. looks like the phone charges fast as long as it is: 1) drained and 2) left alone. if the phone is almost full and you keep playing with it the level of charge barely changes.
EDIT: at 89% charge it's now down to just 4 watts power draw from outlet ... 25% of what it was pulling at 40% charge. so far it looks like it tapers charging speed off gradually with charge level - starts early and tapers it off to almost nothing as it nears full charge ... and all the while it fluctuates with processor and screen use and probably other factors such as temperature. maybe the reason it went to 16 watts when i plugged it in the morning is that the phone was cold from not being used all night and perhaps it now warmed up so the power got tapered.
maybe i'll stop testing it - it seems to be working correctly, just not the way i originally expected it to.
overall i'm disappointed with this phone but the only phone i would trade it for is Pixel XL 128 GB Very Black which is unavailable ... so i guess i will keep it.
the phone i'm most impressed with right now is ZTE Axon 7 i got for my mother - it is shockingly good - if it wasn't for FM radio, IR Blaster, Removable Battery, Laser Autofocus, Dual Camera, Dual Screen and Nougat i would even say the ZTE Axon 7 is BETTER than V20. the main problem with ZTE is it's just not expensive enough for my ego - otherwise it is great. the screen is is super sharp, vivid and punchy, the front facing speakers are loud and crisp and then there's the 2 year warranty. i'm jealous ...
but i will stick with V20 to protect my dignity. because let's face it - if i'm out on a date i want to have the latest, most technologically advanced and most expensive phone - not the cheapest phone, even if it is just as good or better. really happy with my decision to get Axon 7 for my mom though. she loves it as well.

The way QC works is that it will charge fastest from low power until around 70-80% and then slow down A LOT to help preserve the battery. That is why you saw a high wattage and then when you got into the 80's you saw a very low wattage.
QC is mainly for you to get 40-50% of battery power in a relative short amount of time when your battery is low.

I bought a little device that measures the voltage and current of the charge. And I'm using my own Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger.
When the screen is off or powered down, it charges at 9V/1.8A max. Resulting in about 16W of power. Which is pretty much what the supplied LG charger delivers.
When the screen is on, it charges at 5V/0.5A
My QC3.0 charger is capable of up to 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A, 18W of power. The V20 doesn't seem to draw that much power. And now I'm starting to doubt the V20 is truly a QC3.0 device.

BozQ said:
I bought a little device that measures the voltage and current of the charge. And I'm using my own Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger.
When the screen is off or powered down, it charges at 9V/1.8A max. Resulting in about 16W of power. Which is pretty much what the supplied LG charger delivers.
When the screen is on, it charges at 5V/0.5A
My QC3.0 charger is capable of up to 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A, 18W of power. The V20 doesn't seem to draw that much power. And now I'm starting to doubt the V20 is truly a QC3.0 device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll grab voltage/amp reader that I have at home and test my 3 QC 3.0 chargers I have (I'll drain phone to around 20% and then test them and see how it goes) - I'm going to test with the phone off so it pulls the max and see what it ends up with
I have this at work
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018RR30TK
I have this at home
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FCZACFA
And this in the car
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CCBGR1U

g1981c said:
yeah it fluctuates a lot. i gave up on apps and just using Kill-a-watt now which is a physical power meter you insert into 120V outlet. it shows power draw from charger, not output, but we can assume about 90% efficiency from input to output of charger.
i let the V20 drain to 40% overnight and restarted the test today. with the extension cord it went up to 16 watt draw from outlet and stayed there - charge quickly went up to 55% then i tried without the extension cord and now its only at 11 watts. this is with both screens off. so far my conclusion is that using an extension cord makes no difference but the level of charge on the phone does impact the charging speed. you need to drain the phone to measure full charging speed.
i will continue with my testing but i am somewhat relieved. 16 watts is close to spec, in fact the spec is 16 watt but on the OUTPUT side of charger, not input, so i'm withing about 10% of spec.
i'm also a lot less nervous buying charging cables now that i verified 16 watt charging over many years old USB 2.0 extension cord ...
EDIT: wow it went from 55% to 68% while i was typing this message ! this is very different from what i saw yesterday ... it was running at 11 watts while i was typing. looks like the phone charges fast as long as it is: 1) drained and 2) left alone. if the phone is almost full and you keep playing with it the level of charge barely changes.
EDIT: at 89% charge it's now down to just 4 watts power draw from outlet ... 25% of what it was pulling at 40% charge. so far it looks like it tapers charging speed off gradually with charge level - starts early and tapers it off to almost nothing as it nears full charge ... and all the while it fluctuates with processor and screen use and probably other factors such as temperature. maybe the reason it went to 16 watts when i plugged it in the morning is that the phone was cold from not being used all night and perhaps it now warmed up so the power got tapered.
maybe i'll stop testing it - it seems to be working correctly, just not the way i originally expected it to.
overall i'm disappointed with this phone but the only phone i would trade it for is Pixel XL 128 GB Very Black which is unavailable ... so i guess i will keep it.
the phone i'm most impressed with right now is ZTE Axon 7 i got for my mother - it is shockingly good - if it wasn't for FM radio, IR Blaster, Removable Battery, Laser Autofocus, Dual Camera, Dual Screen and Nougat i would even say the ZTE Axon 7 is BETTER than V20. the main problem with ZTE is it's just not expensive enough for my ego - otherwise it is great. the screen is is super sharp, vivid and punchy, the front facing speakers are loud and crisp and then there's the 2 year warranty. i'm jealous ...
but i will stick with V20 to protect my dignity. because let's face it - if i'm out on a date i want to have the latest, most technologically advanced and most expensive phone - not the cheapest phone, even if it is just as good or better. really happy with my decision to get Axon 7 for my mom though. she loves it as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just smh at this whole post. I want my 5 minutes back.

Thats weird, Im using my Note 7 charger on the V20 and it charge the phone completely in less that 2 hours. In my case I always drain my phone to 3% and leave it charging up to 100%. I will check again tonight to be sure.

TempezT said:
Thats weird, Im using my Note 7 charger on the V20 and it charge the phone completely in less that 2 hours. In my case I always drain my phone to 3% and leave it charging up to 100%. I will check again tonight to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't drain it that low all the time unless you plan on stocking up on batteries or don't mind depleting longevity of battery quicker than usual.

@rbiter said:
I wouldn't drain it that low all the time unless you plan on stocking up on batteries or don't mind depleting longevity of battery quicker than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile Jump on Demand ftw - I only have devices for 5-6 months tops and then get a new phone

Tested this one one when I got home.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FCZACFA
I was getting 9.2v @ 1.67A = 15w of power. This is the max that my USB multimeter can do so it would seem that this charger is good for QC 3.0 as it did fluctuate voltage as needed.

nest75068 said:
Tmobile Jump on Demand ftw - I only have devices for 5-6 months tops and then get a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is still wasteful use on a battery and giving the next guy a raw deal. But to each his own. I try and make everything last and more efficient so the next person feels like they are truly getting an almost lightly used phone. If I sell my note4, they're going to get a lightly used battery on top of the 3 extras, with fixed GPS and better reception and cleaned out USB port with no oxidization. Same with my HTC m8 though that was only used as daily driver for two weeks and then a DAP for trips and occasional home use. Definitely selling the m8. They are basically getting a lightly used phone and the battery should still have some good life coming out of it. And personally I think jump is overpriced leasing but I guess you can drive it like you stole it. I prefer handing down the best experience I can to the next person.

@rbiter said:
That is still wasteful use on a battery and giving the next guy a raw deal. But to each his own. I try and make everything last and more efficient so the next person feels like they are truly getting an almost lightly used phone. If I sell my note4, they're going to get a lightly used battery on top of the 3 extras, with fixed GPS and better reception and cleaned out USB port with no oxidization. Same with my HTC m8 though that was only used as daily driver for two weeks and then a DAP for trips and occasional home use. Definitely selling the m8. They are basically getting a lightly used phone and the battery should still have some good life coming out of it. And personally I think jump is overpriced leasing but I guess you can drive it like you stole it. I prefer handing down the best experience I can to the next person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My devices go back to tmobile which then go back for refurbishment. With the V20 it's easy for them to just replace the battery.

And you really think they do?

@rbiter said:
And you really think they do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who knows but tbh it's not my issue at that point.

nest75068 said:
I have this at work
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018RR30TK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tested this one at work. Phone was at 28% and I had been streaming Youtube for a good 2 hours before doing the test.
Ended up pulling 9.17v @ 1.68A = 15.40 watts (again maximum that my tester can do).
I'll be ordering a new tester that can handle up to 25A and testing again to see if I can pull the max 18watts of power that the QC 3.0 chargers says it can deliver

nest75068 said:
Just tested this one at work. Phone was at 28% and I had been streaming Youtube for a good 2 hours before doing the test.
Ended up pulling 9.17v @ 1.68A = 15.40 watts (again maximum that my tester can do).
I'll be ordering a new tester that can handle up to 25A and testing again to see if I can pull the max 18watts of power that the QC 3.0 chargers says it can deliver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean 25W charger?
Which charger is that? Do share, please.

BozQ said:
You mean 25W charger?
Which charger is that? Do share, please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's a USB Mutlimeter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J7236K2
It will support up to 30V testing and 5A (but there is no charger that I know of that can do that much lol)

nest75068 said:
No it's a USB Mutlimeter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J7236K2
It will support up to 30V testing and 5A (but there is no charger that I know of that can do that much lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see.
This looks like a good device.

There are time on my v10 where I'll plug it in and it will charge at a reduced rate so I have to unplug it and plug it back it and it changes to fast charge, that's just been my experience. This is using factory plug and adapter too.
So you might want to make sure the phone says "fast charging" and not "charging".
Sent from my LG-H901 using XDA-Developers mobile app