Is all USB wire the same?

[acsurfer]

Can I use other 3rd party (not from samsung) USB wire (the wire connect to PC and phone) with my samsung S4 phone?

Are all USB wire the same?

 

[B. Diddy]

The USB cable themselves should be interchangeable for charging, although this doesn't account for the possibility of poor build quality or materials in a cheap cable. Data transfer usually works as well, but I have encountered some variability with that, and have read some posts about it as well. Remember, we're talking about the cables here, not the wall plug. Different wall plugs may provide different max amperage, which means some chargers may charge slower than others.

 

[acsurfer]

The USB cable themselves should be interchangeable for charging, although this doesn't account for the possibility of poor build quality or materials in a cheap cable. Data transfer usually works as well, but I have encountered some variability with that, and have read some posts about it as well. Remember, we're talking about the cables here, not the wall plug. Different wall plugs may provide different max amperage, which means some chargers may charge slower than others.

Would there be different wall plug that give out a max amperage that is too high for phone/device and kill/spoil the phone/device because it cannot accept such a high max amperage?

 

[B. Diddy]

I doubt it, although some "ultrafast" chargers might reduce a battery's overall lifespan. Most universal chargers will have a max amperage of 2.1.

 

[acsurfer]

If lets say the device needs 2.1amp, I use a wall plug that supply 0.5amp, does it discharge my device, or just input charge to my phone slower?

Does some wall charger or usb wire discharge power of the device?

 

[Mooncatt]

To answer the original question, there are differences, but not related to brand for most part. USB cables come in three general flavors. Data only, charging only, and data/charging combined (and the most common). I've used several brands and never saw any difference related to that. I will say longer than stock cables mean more resistance (a natural electrical property), which could result in less current sent to the phone. I have seen some cables advertised as having larger than standard power wires to better accommodate higher currents. Theoretically that could be a good thing, but I've never used or really studied them.

On the subject of chargers, the phone determines how much current to pull. The charger doesn't "push" the current into the phone. You could hypothetically have a 10A rated charger but the phone would still only pull 1.5A if that's what it's designed for. I've been using 2A chargers for years for flexibility, but none of my phones ever charged faster for using it over a weaker OEM charger.

On the flip side, yes chargers can only put out so much power. If your phone asks for 1A, but the charger is only capable for .5A, then you'll only get .5A to the phone. In all cases, charger power is split between running the phone (priority), with the remaining actually used to charge the battery. As you increase the demands of the phone with things like gaming, that leaves less power for the battery. So in the .5A charger example, it is possible to actually loose power despite being plugged in.

At idle, your phone may maintain the charge level if it's using less than .5A. If you start doing something as simple as web browsing, things could change. If the phone needs .7A to simply remain functional but only has .5A fed to it, it has no choice but to take from the battery as well. I will also let you know that losing power while plugged in is also a very common symptom of a bad USB cable. If you see this but know the charger is rated at least the same as the OEM, then it's most likely a bad cable/connections.

 

[acsurfer]

When phone is connected to a turned on charger and the phone is on, does the phone uses power from the charger first and if not enough power from the charger then it will take power from the battery?

 

[Mooncatt]

The next to the last paragraph my last reply covered that. In short, yes.

 

[Rukbat]

Technically, current into a junction = current out of the junction, so you'd have to sit there counting (and following) the electrons to have an accurate answer (which, thanks to Heisenberg, we know is impossible). What happens is that, as Mooncatt said, if the phone is using 0.7 Amps and the charger is only capable of supplying 0.5 Amps, the battery is supplying 0.2 Amps. Which current is being used first? It's like asking about the tributaries of a river, which one contributes water to what you're drinking from the river first. There's 0.7 Amps going to the phone, 0.2 of which comes from the battery, 0.5 of which comes from the charger.

If the phone use drops to 0.4 Amps, 0.4 Amps from the charger goes to the phone and 0.1 Amps goes to the battery. It's an aggregate thing, not a "which electron goes where first" thing.

BTW, Mooncatt, where have you seen microUSB-USB data only cables? I'd love to transfer data without being forced to charge without having to cut a cable up.. When my battery is at 90%, and on the discharge part of the cycle, I don't want to mess up the cycle by charging it for 10 minutes. (I have loads of charge-only cables and tons of 4 wire cables, but I've never seen a data only one.)

 

[Mooncatt]

BTW, Mooncatt, where have you seen microUSB-USB data only cables? I'd love to transfer data without being forced to charge without having to cut a cable up.. When my battery is at 90%, and on the discharge part of the cycle, I don't want to mess up the cycle by charging it for 10 minutes. (I have loads of charge-only cables and tons of 4 wire cables, but I've never seen a data only one.)

I think I may have been mistaken. I had remembered seeing a few posts on here where people mentioned having data cables. I did some searching and it looks like there's several places online talking about "data" USB cables, but are actually talking about data/charge cables when you dug down into the info. So I think people were just using the wrong terminology, which threw me off.

The good news is lithium batteries aren't affected by short cycles. Charging a battery from 50% to full is effectively a half cycle. In theory, two 50% charges have the same effect on lifespan as one full cycle charge. Of course with the other variables, it's hard to say just how little it'd affect lifespan. I doubt it's enough to matter a ton.

 

[Rukbat]

The good news is lithium batteries aren't affected by short cycles. Charging a battery from 50% to full is effectively a half cycle. In theory, two 50% charges have the same effect on lifespan as one full cycle charge. Of course with the other variables, it's hard to say just how little it'd affect lifespan. I doubt it's enough to matter a ton.

Well ...

Read the second chart at Battery University - How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Cadex kind of disagrees. (And they've been making battery analysis equipment for 35 years, so they probably know something about batteries.) I disagree too - by keeping to a strict 50% charge/40% storage/monthly rotation, I'm still using a pair of 2003 batteries in my V551 with about 95% capacity. (Late 2003, so only about 11 years.) Coincidence? Maybe. But like a "lucky" bowling shirt, I'll keep wearing it when I bowl.

And I guess I'm going to be cutting into a USB 3.0 cable. (I can see the contacts on the connectors well enough to make a data-only cable [which is no small thing when you're 72 and had cataracts for a few years [wonderful things, these laser things that take 50 years off your eyes' age], but the plugs and a flexible cable would probably cost more than the 2 meter long cable I can get on eBay for $2.60 including shipping.)