Nexus 5 sure does charge fast

[srkmagnus]

I'm glad the charge on this device is quick. There's been a number of times I had to take the device off the charger not thinking it got a good charge when I really need it - I'm always wrong. Ha

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Diesel6401]

Thanks for the comments! It is good to hear your experience with so many battery.

btw, for the last statement, battery also hates stress (high voltage, high temperature, deep discharge). http://forums.androidcentral.com/go...w-realy-really-prolong-your-battery-life.html

Great post. Major difference i noted with the li-ion in the cell vs the lipo batteries I'm used too is temperature. I noticed >30C/86F in that article is considered stress. In RC we actually preheat our batteries (lipo) to about 100F especially on cooler days. That's when internal resistance is low and battery performance excels. Temp of 120-130F is not uncommon after a run. Top off of 4.2v with a nominal of 3.7v is a same. Hopefully this isn't off topic, just noting differences. Increased or over voltage is a guarantee recipe for disaster. Any swelling on a cell is very bad also. We "kill" swelled batteries in a salt water solution for about 1 week. It fully renders them useless after that.

Bad day for these guys, but these things happen. Not me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9mcNvOGKtI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[blackjack521]

Wish I could say the same about car charging. This phone flat out crawls on my car charger. If I'm doing something heavy it will actually discharge while plugged in. Anyone else experiencing this?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Diesel6401]

Wish I could say the same about car charging. This phone flat out crawls on my car charger. If I'm doing something heavy it will actually discharge while plugged in. Anyone else experiencing this?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

When I had it plugged into my computer yesterday via the USB it did the same. I was transferring a crap load of music though.

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[Haalcyon]

Wish I could say the same about car charging. This phone flat out crawls on my car charger. If I'm doing something heavy it will actually discharge while plugged in. Anyone else experiencing this?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

If you have a >= 2.1amp car charger it should be as good as it's gonna get.

 

[anon(645340)]

I don't know what it uses but I do know it charges faster than anything Samsung’s got. Nexuscillin V

It could be either Quick Charge 1.0 or the fact that it comes with a 6 W charger. But it is definitively not Quick Charge 2.0.

 

[blackjack521]

If you have a >= 2.1amp car charger it should be as good as it's gonna get.

Not sure. I got it from best buy. Popular brand. Rocket fly? Fish? Something like that.

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[Haalcyon]

Haha. RocketFishy. If it was the >=2.1amp variety it'd say on the packaging as that's a key selling point for car chargers.

 

[UJ95x]

Using the stock charger that came with the phone I am getting over 1% per minute charge rate. I just went from 65% to 100% in about 25 or 30 minutes.

That's crazy! That's usually when the charging slows down

 

[JeffDenver]

That's crazy! That's usually when the charging slows down

I have not ruled out the possibility that it is some kind of battery calibration issue, but I think I have had the phone long enough that it is calibrated by now. I have definitely gone through several complete charge cycles.

But I tested this again today and got the same results. I don't think it is just the charger...I charged it just as fast from my Samsung external battery.

 

[therealjamesg]

Seems I'm in the minority. Mine charges incredibly slowly - from a low charge of around 15% it will report over 6 hours until fully charged when using the cable and charger it came with.

 

[Shilohcane]

Seems I'm in the minority. Mine charges incredibly slowly - from a low charge of around 15% it will report over 6 hours until fully charged when using the cable and charger it came with.

I let my N5 run down so low that it wouldn't even boot up when I tired to power it on. I plugged it into the included AC charger. Booted the N5 at it at about two hours mark and it was 98% charged.

Some of the people here need to try another AC charger or call Google to see if they will RMA your device if it is real slow charging.

 

[yfan]

Seems I'm in the minority. Mine charges incredibly slowly - from a low charge of around 15% it will report over 6 hours until fully charged when using the cable and charger it came with.

A couple of things. First, you're using the AC outlet and not a USB port in your computer, right? USB charging can be painfully slow.

Assuming you're using the AC outlet, do you have apps or live widgets running on your phone that requires significant battery power? Data intensive widgets, for example, will do this. What's your battery life like in general?

Do you usually have a lot of photos that are auto-uploading while your phone is plugged in?

And lastly, you don't have your phone set to always have the screen on while charging, do you? Also, make sure that your WiFi sleep policy isn't set to not let it go dormant while the phone is charging.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[srkmagnus]

Seems I'm in the minority. Mine charges incredibly slowly - from a low charge of around 15% it will report over 6 hours until fully charged when using the cable and charger it came with.

See the suggestions provided in the post above. Also, consider factory reset and see if that helps.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Matt Casey]

I do radio control everything (cars, boats, helis, planes) and my garage is filled with very large lithium batteries. The older batteries would last longer charging them at a very low rate (less than 1c), the 2nd gen of tech could handle much faster charge rates (up to 5c), but overall life was heavily reduced. With the latest round "nano tech" lithium batteries (lithium polymer is most common) up to 5c charge rates can be consistently used w/o loss of life. Just to give an idea of the power I'm using my largest boat ran 22.2v (6s), 8,000mah and pulled over 250amps. I also repair lithium polymer cells.

I wouldn't be worried of life being reduced with the higher charge rates. Previously I would agree, but with the new tech I'm personally not worried. I would definitely imagine this new tech is used in the cell phone batteries now a days, after all cell phones are a much larger market than radio control.

The biggest thing lithium's hate is being fully discharged. That will reduce a cells life significantly. Most of the newer phones I believe cutoff prior to fully discharged. Meaning 0% on your phone isn't actually 0% to the battery. So I've read. Not 100% on that. We do have this feature with RC called LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) for protection.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Thanks for pointing out that current cell phones use Lithium Ion Polymer batteries. This is true as shown by these teardowns:
Motorola Moto X Teardown - iFixit
Nexus 5 Teardown - iFixit

But I'm not so sure that current cell phone batteries are using the nanowire technology that is now commonly used in radio-controlled devices. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:
'As of the beginning of 2013, charging rates of up to 15C (i.e., 15 times the capacity of the battery, or approximately 4-minute charge times) are possible in the relatively new (circa 2009) breed of nanowire technology LiPo batteries. This, however, is the exception to the rule, as the more common 1C charge rate still stands as the recommended standard among RC users. It is also important to note that regardless of the charge rate that a battery can handle, using the lower 1C charge rate will always increase the longevity of any RC LiPo battery.'

Lithium polymer battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smartphone battery life: 2 problems, 4 fixes (Smartphones Unlocked) | Dialed In - CNET Blogs

Also, according to both the Battery University website and Wikipedia, the charging characteristics (as far as durability goes) for Lithium Ion Polymer have not changed from original Lithium Ion. This would suggest that the same issues with degradation of long-term battery capacity caused by higher amperage charging would still apply.
Li-polymer Battery: Substance or Hype? ?€“ Battery University

I'm not sure, but according to Figure 1 in the 'Fast and Ultra Fast Charging' article on Battery University, charging at faster rates results in more degradation of battery capacity over time. Fast and Ultra-fast Chargers - Battery University

So, I'm not sure, but it still seems like it might be a safe bet to avoid using 2A chargers with phones like the Nexus 5 (2300mA battery) and the Moto G (2070mA). Phones with higher amp batteries like the Galaxy S4 use 2A chargers with probably less effect on long-tern capacity.

What does anyone think?

 

[Matt Casey]

Also, this is an explanation of how I have tentatively concluded that 2A chargers with the Moto G and Nexus 5 would likely lead to some incremental reduction of long-term battery capacity. My understanding is based on the Battery University website entries on lithium ion batteries:
( www.batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries )
( www.batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/ultra_fast_chargers )

According to Motorola online support website
( motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/97318/p/30,6720,9050/action/auth )
the Moto G will automatically restrict charging above 1500mA.
I have also read at Anand Tech that the Nexus 5 should restrict charging at maximum of 1500mA.
( http://www.anandtech.com/show/7517/google-nexus-5-review/3 )

So that would mean that a 2A charger would cause the Moto G or Nexus 5 to charge at the 1500mA rate. No damage would be done to the phone circuitry charging at the maximum allowable rate of 1500mA, but the question remains if there would be a long-term reduction of battery capacity by charging at 1500mA for a year or more. The official Motorola charger sold online is now 1200mA, and I believe the Nexus 5 charger shipped is also 1200mA. So the comparison should be between charging at around 1200mA versus 1500mA.

According to the Battery University website, the optimal range to charge lithium ion batteries is between .5C and .7C. In general, lower charging rates result in less degradation over time of battery capacity. The C-rate unit is used to measure charging and discharging rates. A value of 1C is equal to the rated amperage of the battery. So, for the Moto G, 1C is equal to 2070mA. Therefore, according to this recommendation, the optimal charging range for the Moto G would be between .5 x 2070 = 1035mA and .7 x 2070 = 1449mA. So, charging at the Moto G's maximum of 1500mA would be just barely outside the optimal range. For the Nexus 5, 1C is equal to 2300mA, and the optimal charging range would be between 1150mA and 1610mA.

But extrapolation from Figure 1 in the Battery University 'Fast and Ultra-Fast Chargers' article indicates that there would be an additional 9% reduction of battery capacity by charging at a 300mA higher rate of 1500mA over a charging rate of 1200mA. This additional reduction in capacity of 9% would be over 500 charging cycles, or about 1.5 to 2 years of average usage. The normal reduction in capacity just from aging over 500 cycles is already listed as 16%, so adding the 9% would bring it to a total of 25% loss of battery capacity after about 1.5 years.

So, I guess the bottom line is based on your priority. Do you want the faster charging using a 2A charger and you don't care about losing more capacity after a year? Or do you want to maintain the capacity of the battery over the life of the phone?

I would really appreciate anyone who has any contradictory, authoritative information to jump in here.

 

[Science Aperture]

That's really interesting. I was using my Nook HD+ 2A wall adapter to charge my Moto G (technically, I think the charger itself is located inside the phone) but now I'm not so sure. It'd be nice to get further confirmation from Motorola, I'd feel a bit deceived after being told by chat support that any standard microUSB charger can be used "without any problem". I wouldn't call losing battery capacity because I chose the wrong charger "without any problem".

 

[Matt Casey]

UPDATE and CORRECTION:

I have more authoritative information directly from Battery University that changes the conclusion I draw above based on my effort to extrapolate from the Battery University website article.

The extrapolation I did above was based on the additional loss of battery capacity cited when going from a 1C to 2C charging rate. But according to direct communication from Battery University, when charging at a rate below .7C there should be no measurable improvement to capacity by using slower charging rates. Charging above .7C would still be expected to add more stress to Lithium Ion Polymer batteries and likely add to long-term reduction of capacity.

So, what this means for the Moto G and Nexus 5 is that there should be no measurable difference between charging with 2A, 1.2A, 1A, or 850mA chargers as far as effect on long-term battery capacity goes. Both the Moto G and Nexus 5 are supposed to automatically restrict the charge rate at 1500mA even when using a faster charger, which is just at or below .7C for both phones. So, as long as the charger dependably keeps to 5V, a higher amperage 2A charger will be faster but pose no problem to long-term capacity.

 

[JohnnyBroccoli]

I am totally having the opposite experience of most of you. The time it takes this phone to charge is probably my least favorite thing about it. I'm coming from using an iPhone the last 5 years which always seemed to be able to bust a complete charge in right around an hour. For me, the Nexus 5 seems like it would take about 3 hours to do a full charge (if not more). Also, if I'm running the GPS or playing games while charging, it basically stays at the same battery percentage or even falls off a percentile or two. The batter life seems alright but the amount of time it takes to charge is pretty annoying.

 

[tebore]

My experience with the N5 shows that it doesn't attempt to charge the phone when it's using doing navigation (basically heavy use). It won't drop the current battery % but won't charge. I assume this is because it would generate too much heat.

I had an iPhone 3GS melt and the 4 and 4S complain about overheating and shut-off completely before.

Charging a battery and less than 1C is best for the life of the battery. Which in the N5's case is up to 2.1-2.3A. The current is regulated up to 1.7A so far but the Qualcomm chip can do 5A I believe.

iPhone's charge faster because they have smaller batteries. The 5s is barely 1500mA. The N5's charger can charge it in less than an hour.