Database Users

battery life concerns on wizard

I've had an o2 mini s for about a week now and i'm pleased with it on the whole. My only real concern is battery life. My mini seems to drain much quicker than by xda 2 s which I had before. I seem to drop about 10% in 1 hour 10 mins and that's just a few calls/txts and minimum fiddling.
8:20 100%
9:42 88%
I've dropped all the o2 software and don't have any tricky 3rd party apps installed only;
xbar3 ( great btw )
avantgo wireless
ebook reader
tcpmp
I've read quite a few posts about battery life being good on this phone but i'm not seeing it. I'm still in my 14 day cooling off period and i'm considering sending it back for a replacement.
Jeff

Is Wifi off, bluetooth off. Do you check your email every ... minutes over GPRS?...
With email checking every 10 minutes my qtek battery last at least 2 whole days.

wifi/gprs/bluetooth all off - not used today
Just phone today - maybe 12 calls.
Time now 14:21 battery at 61% !
Now i'm worried ......I reckon i'll be down to 30% by this evening.

16:32 - 49%

maybe there are problems with these batteries i had problems with charging the battery it didnt seem to show correct level, sent it back for another unit

17:26 - 38%.
If another goes we'll be up here all day.

My battery life seems to be utter rubbish every time I charge my MDA Vario over the USB link. I can go to bed with 100% battery and find it dead by morning. This has happened two or three times since I bought it on 5th November. Last Saturday morning I had the USB cable connected to download some music to my SD card with 100% charge at 10:00. I played music for about an hour through the supplied headphones and by 13:00 I was down to 50% battery. By that evening I was down to a few %. I've read reviews that you you should squeeze about 10 hours of continuous music from this thing on one full charge so an hour of music and 7 hours of standby/sleep seems pathetic.
If I charge using the mains charger and sync over Bluetooth I get a standby battery life of about 5 days. Obviously that is shortened with use so in practice I am charging it every 2-3 days (no point starting a day with only 20% left!).
I have no idea why USB charging is completely hopeless. I have tried soft resetting or closing all active apps after charging, to make sure ActiveSync isn't actively running and causing a drain (just as you are advised to with a Bluetooth sync) but that seems to make no difference. USB charging is rubbish. Mains charging is the only way to go, IME.

21.50 - 24 %

Charging over USB hopeless
tdodd said:
I have no idea why USB charging is completely hopeless. I have tried soft resetting or closing all active apps after charging, to make sure ActiveSync isn't actively running and causing a drain (just as you are advised to with a Bluetooth sync) but that seems to make no difference. USB charging is rubbish. Mains charging is the only way to go, IME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I confirm USB charging IS rubbish. The reason seems to be that the power available out of that conector on a PC is not enough to charge properly... I had the same issue with BA and Himalaya...
Answer: get a USB charger / car charger that can deliver 1A minimum.
BTW I found a craddle for the Wizard in Dubai @ Plugins. It comes with USB port/cable + power adapter. Works like a charme.
Cheers,
Hal.

tdodd said:
My battery life seems to be utter rubbish every time I charge my MDA Vario over the USB link. I can go to bed with 100% battery and find it dead by morning. This has happened two or three times since I bought it on 5th November. Last Saturday morning I had the USB cable connected to download some music to my SD card with 100% charge at 10:00. I played music for about an hour through the supplied headphones and by 13:00 I was down to 50% battery. By that evening I was down to a few %.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My C500 Did that when I had it Plugged in the Front USB ports on my case, I normaly had it plugged in to the onboard USB at the back of my pc with a usb ext cable so I could have it on my desk but I went off to a lan party and when I plugged everything back in I put my USB cable to front usb port and found it was Discharging my Battery instead of charging it, got my usb in Back port all is fine again now
Maybe you have yours in to the front USB port or non onboard port?

I use a laptop, which only has two USB 1.1 ports but they each supply enough juice to power a USB ADSL modem (not that I'm using one of those these days), which is more than some PCs will manage and also my USB hard drive, which my Shuttle won't. So there is no lack of power from the USB ports on the laptop.
Of course, the USB spec only permits a maximum current demand of 500mA so any equpiment expecting more should not be using USB for its power supply. In any event, the phone does charge from the USB ports, albeit very slowly, but eventually the orange charge light does go green. So my situation is not one of discharging instead of charging.
I've just swapped my ROM from Vario to k-jam so I'll see if that makes any difference to the performance. I know it's given me 802.11g, which was missing before.

I had an M500 briefly (Magician) on Orange that had very poor battery life, it was one of the reasons I ebayed it, gave the contract sim to my wife and started a cheaper better value T-Mobile account with an MDA Compact, which
had better battery life. Typically overnight after a full charge the Orange unit went down to 75% and the T-Mobile one was at about 98% on standby.
My Vario I have now, my other T-Mobile account has very good battery life and charges very well off USB. If I sync it in the morning whilst reading my emails and stuff, let it charge USb for about 25 mins, it'll be full and by the night it will have dropped down to about 80%. This is with about 30 mins of calls, about seven or eight emails sent/received and maybe 15 mins with WIFI on.

tdodd said:
I use a laptop, which only has two USB 1.1 ports but they each supply enough juice to power a USB ADSL modem (not that I'm using one of those these days), which is more than some PCs will manage and also my USB hard drive, which my Shuttle won't. So there is no lack of power from the USB ports on the laptop.
Of course, the USB spec only permits a maximum current demand of 500mA so any equpiment expecting more should not be using USB for its power supply. In any event, the phone does charge from the USB ports, albeit very slowly, but eventually the orange charge light does go green. So my situation is not one of discharging instead of charging.
I've just swapped my ROM from Vario to k-jam so I'll see if that makes any difference to the performance. I know it's given me 802.11g, which was missing before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have a link to the imate rom? is the vario rom also available?

sundip said:
do you have a link to the imate rom? is the vario rom also available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't remember for sure where I got the k-jam ROM ( I think someone saved a copy somewhere) but try here - ftp://ftp.clubimate.com/ - and then save file K-JAM_WWE_1010903_106_10110_ship.exe
That is a self installing upgrade that includes the whole k-jam ROM and k-jam extended ROM files.
I don't know where to get a Vario ROM from. I did back up my own copy (I hope) but the method is a bit whacky and as I only have a 1GB mini-SD card my ROM backup image is 1GB because the only way to secure the image is to dump the whole card to a file.
Before you go playing around do make sure you have your own backup of the ROM or if not the whole thing then the Vario extended ROM files at least. I'm using the k-jam ROM with the Vario Extended ROM.

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
hal said:
I confirm USB charging IS rubbish. The reason seems to be that the power available out of that conector on a PC is not enough to charge properly... I had the same issue with BA and Himalaya...
Answer: get a USB charger / car charger that can deliver 1A minimum.
BTW I found a craddle for the Wizard in Dubai @ Plugins. It comes with USB port/cable + power adapter. Works like a charme.
Cheers,
Hal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery. Thanks for the suggestions in advance.
Cheers!
Michael

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. It's the same with Notebooks. The more you charge it, while it's in use, the faster the battery gets "killed"!

Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Hi,
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery. Thanks for the suggestions in advance.
Cheers!
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer my own question.
I am quite sure that the USB charging can be disabled since I used to see the config on a HP device. I also believed that this can be done by 'registry' since it is Windows tradition. I finally found it after a short study. Please go to
HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\usbfndrv
and change the
EnableUsbCharging to '0'
then
soft reset => Bingo.
Hope it helps.
Michael

Interesting. AC charging better then USB??

Hrm.. This is interesting.. I used to always charge my G1 with AC power. However past couple days, I was lazy and used my laptop USB to charge it. I noticed those days however the battery life was HORRIBLE! I mean I couldnt even get past lets say 9 hours without the battery being at 15-30% and this is without doing anything major. On AC I always got home with 50%.
Has anyone else noticed this? I am using the power profiler mode, so unless something goes out of whack on USB power mode, which I dont see why it would...
(Also I did turn off phone and back on to reset anything just in case) but its just a interesting thing that it seems USB charges suck?

Yes I noticed the same thing, used the computer USB to charge and only lasted about 6 hours of the day. I use the Wall charger and get about 9 hours consistantly. Not sure why but I have noticed this several times........
Mark

Every Tmobile rep I've talked to always say the AC charger does a better job of charging the phone.

Hrm, is this info on a G1 Wiki yet? Would be good info to pass around. My logicial guess is that USB charging can only allow the voltage on the battery to charge to "x" max. While AC power being stronger could bring the battery up more. I cant say thats fully the case.. but since the USB cannot supply the power max a AC could.. its possible.

I've got and idea for a little test, would be helpful to see a lot of different users results as well..
Get Battery Graph, run your phone dead, plug in usb charger and graph. then take a screenshot of the overall charge time, clear graph
Run it dead again, plug in AC charger #1 and and repeat
Repeat the process for each additional recharging apparatus
The reason I mention additional apparatuses is because I think my car's DC charger does better than both ac and usb (tho this will be hard to get a full accurate graph of) , also I use my gf's moto charger from time to time (i know bad mojo)..
This will probably take a few days as charging will take place at sleep time for me but this should give us an over all view of how things are working if we all get pretty consistent results..

Mysticales said:
Hrm.. This is interesting.. I used to always charge my G1 with AC power. However past couple days, I was lazy and used my laptop USB to charge it. I noticed those days however the battery life was HORRIBLE! I mean I couldnt even get past lets say 9 hours without the battery being at 15-30% and this is without doing anything major. On AC I always got home with 50%.
Has anyone else noticed this? I am using the power profiler mode, so unless something goes out of whack on USB power mode, which I dont see why it would...
(Also I did turn off phone and back on to reset anything just in case) but its just a interesting thing that it seems USB charges suck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had 4 different miniUSB charging phones and all of them have had this same behavior. I'm sure that the voltage coming through the USB isn't as strong as AC.

I have the same issue too...!!!

No offense.. but EVERY phone charges better w/AC versus USB .. This is not just a G1 issue .... lol

jamaicansolja said:
No offense.. but EVERY phone charges better w/AC versus USB .. This is not just a G1 issue .... lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed.
Also, USB charges at 500 mAh, while the AC gives double if i remember correctly.

jamaicansolja said:
No offense.. but EVERY phone charges better w/AC versus USB .. This is not just a G1 issue .... lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im wondering, if I use my usb while plugged into my laptop (for tether wifi app) will this hamper my battery life? I have the extended battery (2200mah) and I get far better life from it and to be honest I like the bigger size because the g1 felt too much like a toy to me before.
What do you guys think will this mess it up? I dont have wifi at home so the tetherwifi app is the only way I have net on my laptop unless I go somewhere where they have wifi. Cursed neighrbors and there password protected networks!

Might using a USB stepup voltage converter help? I've used it to charge my Nokia phone on usb in the past so it would reach the battery is full message.
The argument is usually that laptop usb don't output adequate voltage.
Its cheap and works for me on the nokia phone, Haven't tried it on the G1 yet though, can anyone find the ac charger's output info?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2649

yea this goes for alot of devices.. my ipod/psp charge pretty slow compared to wall outlet, however i didnt really see strength difference.. never tried USB charging my g1

I think it's worth noting I have the G1, My girlfriend has a HTC Touch(Elfin)
Both use Mini-USB Charging, both have 5V 1A Batteries (can't remember mA rating though)
Through a wall charger, my phone seems to charge quicker, but I get no longer out of it, the same behaviour is exhibited with the Touch. Both USB and the Wall charger are rated at 5V (It would/coul destroy componants methinks if it was any higher).
USB's Specifications say that unless a device has special permissions, It can only draw 500mA, with a maximum of 1000mA and a very rare (as in, one maybe two things use it) 2000mA.
Also, I have a custom made USB charger, that takes 3 AAA batteries (1.5x3 = 4.5)
It causes the phones internal battery to mess up, but does actually charge it (just a lot longer than other methods). It's more of an extended battery however, as it says it is charging, yet the battery life slowly degrades.

It's simple really and it has already been explained.
The USB port on a computer is limited to 500mA for most devices where as AC chargers like
The G1's can rpovide up to 1 Amp, even more/less depending on the chargers.
It doesn't depend on the voltage but on the current delivered. Less current equals
More time to charge and viceversa,
There is no myth.

[Q] DroidX will only sustain charge level, but not charge up!

I am trying to figure out why my DroidX will not charge fully all of the sudden. I plugged it in yesterday to a wall charger for about 2 hours when the battery was at 50%, can back after 2hrs, and it was still at 50% even though it showed the charging icon the whole time. I rebooted it, and plggeed it into my computer's USB port, and set the USB option to "Charge only". Came back this morning, after it sat there for 6 hours and same thing - it is just maintaining the current battery level, but not charging it higher.
I have only owned it for a week, and the only change between now and when it was charging properly was that I installed a wireless tethering app, however, that runs on demand, and it has not been open or running. WiFi and GPS are also completely turned off.
Anyone else experienced this? I assume unless I keep it plugged in 24/7 now, it will eventually die all the way down!!
p.s. - I also tried letting it charge while it was completely powered off, but same thing. Shows that it is charging but just maintains current level.

crobs808 said:
I am trying to figure out why my DroidX will not charge fully all of the sudden. I plugged it in yesterday to a wall charger for about 2 hours when the battery was at 50%, can back after 2hrs, and it was still at 50% even though it showed the charging icon the whole time. I rebooted it, and plggeed it into my computer's USB port, and set the USB option to "Charge only". Came back this morning, after it sat there for 6 hours and same thing - it is just maintaining the current battery level, but not charging it higher.
I have only owned it for a week, and the only change between now and when it was charging properly was that I installed a wireless tethering app, however, that runs on demand, and it has not been open or running. WiFi and GPS are also completely turned off.
Anyone else experienced this? I assume unless I keep it plugged in 24/7 now, it will eventually die all the way down!!
p.s. - I also tried letting it charge while it was completely powered off, but same thing. Shows that it is charging but just maintains current level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is not normal ,while in the wall charger it should charge all the way and the same on usb but just slower ,if this problem persist i would bring it to VZW and get a knew batt or phone or both since you have only had it a week

It may not be the phone or the battery. It's probably a faulty DC adapter which is not delivering the proper amperage. I just had this problem with my Slingbox. It would light up but the lights looked dim and I couldn't connect to it. A new adapter fixed it.
(Edit) I just reread your post and noticed you are charging it on your PC's USB port. Try the wall charger or another PC. Some PCs don't put out enough juice to charge.
Sent via XDA App on my Droid X

BBJohnnyT said:
It may not be the phone or the battery. It's probably a faulty DC adapter which is not delivering the proper amperage. I just had this problem with my Slingbox. It would light up but the lights looked dim and I couldn't connect to it. A new adapter fixed it.
(Edit) I just reread your post and noticed you are charging it on your PC's USB port. Try the wall charger or another PC. Some PCs don't put out enough juice to charge.
Sent via XDA App on my Droid X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is somewhat true. The phone should charge with less power regardless of the source. You notice this most on say a USB hard drive and this is why you have y cables sometimes on the drives that take more power. Does the computer you happen to be charging it on happen to be a Laptop?

FYI - I charge from a desktop PC that has a 1000W corsair powersupply and hig end motherboard.
With that asie though, I was able to get the charging back - works fine after I did a hard reset. Most everything was backed up via Google, so all I had to do was rearrange my icons on home screen and change a few android settings.
I still have all the same apps, so I do not know what caused it. Whatever, it is fine now, but if it happens again I will take it in - I do not want to have to hard reset every few weeks. (I have the $6 a month full protection plan, even if I lose it, it gets replaced)

Charge from USB

I figured I would share this since I have not found another thread with this info.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 will charge from usb.
I find this interesting because no tablet, at least none I have known, will do this. They all need to be actually plugged into a wall outlet to charge. However, my note 10.1 has charged from around 13% to 32% plugged into USB. Now, mind you , it doesnt charge very fast, but it does charge.
For some this won't matter. In my case, that 3 ft cord doesnt go from the floor outlet to my desk at work too easily, but the usb will plug in very easily and reach where I need it too. At the very least, it will add a little more time to the length of the batter. I work a 10 hour shift, not adding in the hour for lunch, and I can usually made it about 8 hours. So this may get me the extra two hours I need...hopefully.

phoenixbennu said:
I figured I would share this since I have not found another thread with this info.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 will charge from usb.
I find this interesting because no tablet, at least none I have known, will do this. They all need to be actually plugged into a wall outlet to charge. However, my note 10.1 has charged from around 13% to 32% plugged into USB. Now, mind you , it doesnt charge very fast, but it does charge.
For some this won't matter. In my case, that 3 ft cord doesnt go from the floor outlet to my desk at work too easily, but the usb will plug in very easily and reach where I need it too. At the very least, it will add a little more time to the length of the batter. I work a 10 hour shift, not adding in the hour for lunch, and I can usually made it about 8 hours. So this may get me the extra two hours I need...hopefully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I think mine claims not to (it puts an X on the battery icon), but I didn't leave it plugged into my computer long enough to see whether it charged or not. I think all tablets can potentially charge via USB port on a PC, it's just that most disable it out of the box but eg. for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 custom kernels could enable charging over USB.

iofthestorm said:
Hmm, I think mine claims not to (it puts an X on the battery icon), but I didn't leave it plugged into my computer long enough to see whether it charged or not. I think all tablets can potentially charge via USB port on a PC, it's just that most disable it out of the box but eg. for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 custom kernels could enable charging over USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine also puts the RED X over the battery icon whether I try to charge it through a PC USB port or other USB charging port other than the Samsung adapter (Goal Zero 150 usb port and Panatech 10000mah external USB battery pack). The tablet shows that it is charging when i view it using GO POWER MASTER app. Watched it for 5 minutes but with WIFI off, it still dropped from 88% to 87%. I am however using the stock kernel.

It charges faster if you have the screen off. The usb gives more or less what you need to keep it running with the screen on.
Skickat från min GT-I9300 via Tapatalk 2

Mine put the red X on the battery icon as well, but still charged. I had to have the screen off.
I had mind plugged into my USB 3.0 port (which should really make a difference) to transfer some files, and then just left it plugged in and it charges. Its definitely a trickle charge, but I am glad to see it does this, as my a500 did not.

When I transferred 40Gb of data to the mSD via MTP (screen off) and called up the batt-graph after disconnection it showed me a fair charging rate. Not stunning but at least a noticeable charge ( from 63% to 82% in three hours).

So it does charge the battery, in spite of the red X?

Yes it does, albeit very slowly.

You guys are misinterpreting the red x. Just got off the phone with Samsung. The x stands for "extra awesome charging". I swear.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2

phoenixbennu said:
I figured I would share this since I have not found another thread with this info.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 will charge from usb.
I find this interesting because no tablet, at least none I have known, will do this. They all need to be actually plugged into a wall outlet to charge. However, my note 10.1 has charged from around 13% to 32% plugged into USB. Now, mind you , it doesnt charge very fast, but it does charge.
For some this won't matter. In my case, that 3 ft cord doesnt go from the floor outlet to my desk at work too easily, but the usb will plug in very easily and reach where I need it too. At the very least, it will add a little more time to the length of the batter. I work a 10 hour shift, not adding in the hour for lunch, and I can usually made it about 8 hours. So this may get me the extra two hours I need...hopefully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, because every tablet I've owned (Tab 10.1 and Nexus 7) behaved like this.
They will charge VERY slowly on USB - and will likely not charge at all if the screen is on due to the total unit power consumption being >500 mA.

Entropy512 said:
Interesting, because every tablet I've owned (Tab 10.1 and Nexus 7) behaved like this.
They will charge VERY slowly on USB - and will likely not charge at all if the screen is on due to the total unit power consumption being >500 mA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. iPads, nook color, Samsung tablets, all say not charging but do trickle charge if you are doing anything to drain it faster than thenusb can supply. It takes around 8 to 10 hours to charge my gt101 through regular USB 2.0.

mitchellvii said:
You guys are misinterpreting the red x. Just got off the phone with Samsung. The x stands for "extra awesome charging". I swear.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bwahahaha... A friend of mine posted on twitter that Apple should make something that lets iDevices charge each other... Ours actually can because of USB host! I actually lost the usb host adapter for my old galaxy tab so I need to get a new one but I had one for my gs3, and it does charge my tablet. But the reverse is clearly more useful.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Tested again when attached to Notebook by USB:
Screen on at max. Brightness and working: batt charge stays level
Screen off: batt charges approx. 5% per hour
Tested on GNote charger (1A output)
Screen on : charging very slowly (approx. 3% per hour)
Screen off: charging approx. 8% per hour
Tested on iPad charger:
Slower than original charger although max. Output:

The more items you have attacht to your computers USB the less power it has to allow your tablet to draw for charging.

donec said:
The more items you have attacht to your computers USB the less power it has to allow your tablet to draw for charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think this is the case. The USB ports provide a set power output, and not variable by available power supply type of output.

phoenixbennu said:
I don't think this is the case. The USB ports provide a set power output, and not variable by available power supply type of output.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct they are not variable but they only have a given amount ofpwer available and if you are drawing the max and add another device that needs more power to charge the power will not be available.

donec said:
You are correct they are not variable but they only have a given amount ofpwer available and if you are drawing the max and add another device that needs more power to charge the power will not be available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, everything has a limited power availability, USB ports being no exception, whether having their own psu or bus powered or whatever your setup may be, but unless you are doing something beyond practical use or have a poorly designed setup, than this should not be a problem. I know some systems out there, the mac book pro for example, specific limits USB power output between ports by design (you may even call it variable haha...but by design). However, in a general sense, you should not have a power output issue with simply plugging in for usb charging., even if all other ports are used up as well. So don't daisy chain, or do anything like that. Practical use should be fine. I personally hook my usb charged devices, like my phone, to my monitor at work. It was a few usb ports on the side, and it works great. Also, it keeps me from having to deal with all the annoying security popups that go with plugging it into the actual computer.
In a probably unfunny but still remotely amusing anecdote, I remember the massive work I put my a500 through. I used to have a usb hub attached with 2 1tb portable hard drives, a keyboard, a mouse, my phones, and more all charging directly from USB. Never had trouble with power issues, aside from quicker draining of the battery. lol.

does anyone know if charging is possible when you use an Y adapter on USB-OTG to hook up an external harddrive and a charger at the same time?

cproaudio said:
does anyone know if charging is possible when you use an Y adapter on USB-OTG to hook up an external harddrive and a charger at the same time?
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Barring any specific device hardware limitations, it is possible to do data transfer and power transfer at the same time using a y cable. Its essentially the same thing as using a usb hub, except you only have two ports instead of 4 or more.
As for actual practical use on the note, I have not tried it out, and I am not aware of any limitations built into software or hardware to prevent it. So, I do not see you having a problem with it.

Almost all tablets can charge through regular USB2 if they're sleeping (or better - powered off).
USB has power limits (USB1.1 is 100mA, USB2.0 is 500mA and USB3 is 2A) BUT these are the 'minimum maximums', if you will. That is, these are the current source *required* for certification. It's entirely permissable for a USB port to provide as much current as it wants - it just can't be limited to *less* than these amounts.
USB 2.0 and later ports are also supposed to implement 'overcurrent' warnings if the device is taking more current than the port can provide..
That's why, for example, some ports can drive a CDROM or external HD drive without a problem - while other ones can't.
The Note 10.1 needs a little over 2A @ 5V to charge at a reasonable rate.
One other note, if you let your battery drain very low, then the lower current of most USB 2 ports won't be enough to charge it even if it's off. The charge current curve isn't linear.

Yotaphone 2 not charging

Hi all,
Since the Lollipop update my battery life has been pretty terrible, and the device seems to have run much hotter than previously. The battery hit about 16% by 5pm today, so I plugged it in as normal, just as the update claiming to improve standby battery usage popped up, but the phone wouldn't acknowledge the cable being connected. I've tried different cables, different plugs, tried connecting it to my PC etc and nothing. The battery hit 1% and the phone switched off and is now dead.
Since the battery is not removable, I guess a warranty replacement/repair is my only option at this point, with all my stuff lost.
Anyone got any bright ideas?

Try the new update
Sent from my YD201 using Tapatalk

adamo86 said:
Try the new update
Sent from my YD201 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I can't, the device is dead!

The only solution I see is contact mother Russia and ask for support or a replacement.
Sent from my YD201 using XDA Free mobile app

You could flash the latest update via download mode (which would save you from the power hog that is Lollipop), but if the device outright refuses to charge, even from the wall outlet which gives you more power than USB, then you are out of luck.

It's always possible that the phone has been somehow damaged, but I do not necessarily believe that.
TLDR: see at bottom of post...
Since the (initial) Lollipop update, I've had pretty terrible battery life, too. I do happen to have a couple of games that exert a great toll on battery life, and what's strange is that I remember, in the pre-Lollipop days, being able to run the game on my Yotaphone plugged to a USB charger and have the bettery recharge, slowly but steadily. Since the update, I've noticed that the phone, plugged to the very same USB charger, would continue to drain the battery instead of charging while I played the game.
The funny thing is that I decided to install the game on an Android tablet so that I coud keep playing while making sure that the phone's battery would get topped off when I'd leave my desk, and the tablet (LG G Pad 8.3) has shown the very same behavior (i.e. the battery depleting while playing plugged to the USB charger), so I strongly suspect that it's a Lollipop issue more than a Yotaphone issue.
I've read somewhere that Lollipop, amongst other "features", exhibits a bug where the data connection will not time-out as it should, so the device actually remains with a more or less permanent live data connection, contributing greatly to reduce the battery life. Give that the aforementioned games are online games, I'm more than ready to believe in the existence of such a bug.
TLDR: if the battery dies completely, it can take quite some time for it to reharge enough to power-up the device properly. I'd leave your Yotaphone connected to a USB charger for a whole night, for instance, and see if that helps. Trying another charger (preferably 2 Amp, instead of the normal 0.5 Amp delivered by a USB cable), and/or another USB to micro-USB cable (preferably a short one, the longer it is the less efficient it is, generally), and see if that changes anything.
If that still fails to le the device restart, you're certainly out of luck and should contact Yota for a replacement (it is certainly covered by warranty, new as this phone is).
Hope this helps, let us know if you can bring it back from dead-phones-land!

or maybe some contacts at the usb port are brocken. did you try a qi wireless charger?