The cable and charging - what I found

[notdodgy]

I went for a drive with my sat nav app running. Worked great.
I had a USB cable plugged into a 2Amp cigar adaptor.

I found after 2 hours the battery had discharged to 60%, a surprise as the battery icon had the charge symbol shown.

Swapped the USB cable for a HTC one, when I got home, it was down to 30%.

Ran a test with the supplied charger and several USB leads.
All would charge OK.
However only the supplied lead would charge with the Satnav running and the display on.

Does anyone know what the difference is between USB cables?
Where I can get one (in the UK) that will charge while the display is on?

Thanks

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[Hubertsng]

I went for a drive with my sat nav app running. Worked great.
I had a USB cable plugged into a 2Amp cigar adaptor.

I found after 2 hours the battery had discharged to 60%, a surprise as the battery icon had the charge symbol shown.

Swapped the USB cable for a HTC one, when I got home, it was down to 30%.

Ran a test with the supplied charger and several USB leads.
All would charge OK.
However only the supplied lead would charge with the Satnav running and the display on.

Does anyone know what the difference is between USB cables?
Where I can get one (in the UK) that will charge while the display is on?

Thanks

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

Well I know the difference between the cables shouldn't be any different (at least I don't think) but if you swap the chargers, the charge amount that will go to the Nexus 4 phone will decrease or increase, it varies with charger and itm ight be the same with the USB cable. The charge also decreases when used in a car or plugged to a computer

 

[notdodgy]

Well I know the difference between the cables shouldn't be any different (at least I don't think) but if you swap the chargers, the charge amount that will go to the Nexus 4 phone will decrease or increase, it varies with charger and itm ight be the same with the USB cable. The charge also decreases when used in a car or plugged to a computer

I thought the cables should not make a difference, but my test with a Samsung cable had it discharge, while showing charging AC.
Swapped to the nexus cable and a while later it had charged.
Same nexus charger, same app and screen showing.

Very strange.

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[Mike Dupp]

My charging cable has never left the box. My other cables work just fine.

 

[Plano26]

Awhile back I bought a media bridge car charger (Amazon.com: Mediabridge High Output Dual USB Car Charger For iPad and iPhone (3.1 Amp): Cell Phones & Accessories) for my old Moto Triumph. I put it away as the phone was terrible and stopped using it. When I got my Nexus I wanted to use the Nav and have it run on the charger. When I went back to the site to see which port to plug it into; I noticed they indicated that if you wanted to ensure that it would charge properly with a Android device it would require a special USB Cable (which I also bought when I picked up the charger, due to the length of the cord not necessarily due to a specific type of cable; which was this. (Amazon.com: Mediabridge High Speed USB 2.0 A-Male to Micro-B Cable - 6 feet: Computers & Accessories)

I plugged it into the 1.0 port and turned on Nav and I started my 1 hour drive home from work with the battery at about 44%; when I got home the phone battery was at 90%; I checked and it did indicate that it was on AC charge; so very happy with this. Of note, I did try the 2.1 port and it worked also; but will just use the 1.0 port for now on.

Hope this helps

 

[notdodgy]

I installed an app that shows battery charging current.
This showed a clear difference between the cables.

All will charge OK, but only some provide enough to run an app and charge.

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[jm345]

I installed an app that shows battery charging current.
This showed a clear difference between the cables.

All will charge OK, but only some provide enough to run an app and charge.

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

What app did you use to monitor the charging current? Thanks

 

[notdodgy]

I tried several, not all worked.

I used CurrentWidget, set to show current updates every 10 seconds.
Was not that easy to follow what was happening, but there was a noticeable difference.
I would like to find a better one, however, running an app and seeing if it charges or discharges proved it to me.

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[notdodgy]

Another road test.

Just had the Satnav running for 90 minutes, this time with the supplied charging lead and I now show 99% charged.

Fairly conclusive that you need the right cable to get the higher current.

Roger

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums