Best car charger for Nexus?

[dss2000]

What I found is that for USB chargers you need a "charge only cable", data cables shorted otherwise you will only get 500mA no matter what chargers its in and when you look at your battery screen in settings it will say "charging USB". The non USB car chargers like the the Motorola Micro-USB High Performance Car Charger will say "Charging AC" and will give you 950mA. The Samsung AC charger charger that comes with the phone is rated at 950mA. I did a calibration run from 1% charge to 98% on a 2100mA battery and it charged in 1hr 54 min which if you do the math comes out to 1,065mA which is about right. Battery Monitor Widget was initially reading 1574mA then decreased to 314mA by the time it got to 98% but when I took an average of all the mA readings along the way it came to 1,100mA so I think the Battery Monitor Widget is accurate. It makes sense that the current is higher when the battery is empty and decrease as it gets full. People have said that the Nexus will only take accept 1A but I don't think this is right, When I run Navigation/Pandora turn autodimming off so the screen stays bright I can draw about 1,200 mA. If I plug in the 1 A Motorola charger it can barely keep up, maybe be positive by 100mA, If I plug in the 2.1 A charger it will be positive by 500mA. So if you go from -1,200 mA to +500mA you have to be drawing more than 1A. Some will again say it can't charge more than 1A but even if you don't believe Battery Monitor Widget and 1A is the limit how can you explain the difference between a 1A charger and a 2.1A charger. Even if you don't believe the numbers it is giving you can see that the battery % charge is staying even with the 1A charger and gaining with the 2.1A charger. Perhaps I will post a full review and screen shots.

Attached is a screen shot of it charging, top graph shows how much mA it is receiving, a positive number because it is charging. The lower graph shows the % charge of the battery

If you don't want to make a charging cable looks like there is one here you can buy:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ource=vb_ac&utm_medium=content&token=W9_7Dcl7

 

[jaydbee]

I guess I'm cutting my OG Droid usb cables tomorrow at work. Thanks for all the tips.

 

[dss2000]

I guess I'm cutting my OG Droid usb cables tomorrow at work. Thanks for all the tips.

Just be sure you short the data wires on the end going to the phone. This is link gives instructions:

Charge Only MicroUSB Cable | Sean O'Steen Charge Only MicroUSB Cable | Ramblings of a D.I.Y. Fanatic

I'm not sure why they don't do this internally in the vehicle USB charger. It's not like it's going to send data to your car battery.
One other thing I found about the Kensington PowerBold Duo that threw me off is that although one USB port is labeled 2.1 Amps and the other 1 Amp they are both the same.

The unit as a total has 3.1 Amp capacity they just don't want you to put two 2.1 Amp devices in there. I discovered this when I plugged it into the 2.1 Amp plug it would draw about 1500-1600mA and when I changed it to the 1 Amp plug it still was drawing that. Then I plugged it into a 950mA Motorola Vehicle Rapid Rate charger rated 950 mA and it would draw 1000-1100mA. I confirmed this by plugging an iPad into the 2.1 Amp port and the 1 Amp port and they both charge the iPad. After I discovered this it made sense because it is simpler and cheaper to manufacture and have both ports the same but if your max is 3.1A total you just label them different.

 

[PetiePal]

Check out my thread from the Phandroid forums.

The Best Chargers I've Found To Date for My SGN - Android Forums

In Summary:

-Samsung sells an OEM one on Amazon very cheap.

-I bought the Griffin Powerduo Micro duo combo on Amazon $9. One car charger with 2 USB ports, both 1 amp out. 1 wall block that's rated for 1 amp out. However both only charge it via USB UNLESS you get a special data pin shorted MicroUSB cable. I bought about 5 of these, and confirmed my car and AC Griffin chargers all charge via AC now.

Now to add some weirdness to the mix...I took the Griffin charger and then connected the Samsung branded cable that CAME with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the box, and it showed charging from USB! This makes sense in that the Samsung cable is for data AND power, however for whatever reason when used with the Samsung power bring it charges as full AC. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus must have weird issues detecting the voltages.

Perplexing!

 

[yosteve]

I bought these

the car adapters didn't come with cables do I just bought more

Anyway I tested out gps navigation on them, screen on in the car plugged into the lighter. In 45 minutes of driving with navi, the phone went from 50% to 78%. I was very pleased.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I had no problems with the el cheapo generic hand-me-down charger my parents gave me when they lost their mini-usb adapter port for it (they still had the micro-usb adapter, so I use that). It kept up fine with navigation on my phone on my recent trip. Used it in the crappy Verizon windshield mount that unfortunately doesn't have its own charger. We needed GPS everywhere we went since we had a rental POS. My car has nav, so it definitely has no problem charging my phone when I go from point a to point b on a daily basis.

 

[dss2000]

Check out my thread from the Phandroid forums.

The Best Chargers I've Found To Date for My SGN - Android Forums

Now to add some weirdness to the mix...I took the Griffin charger and then connected the Samsung branded cable that CAME with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the box, and it showed charging from USB! This makes sense in that the Samsung cable is for data AND power, however for whatever reason when used with the Samsung power bring it charges as full AC. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus must have weird issues detecting the voltages.

Perplexing!

That is because the AC charger that comes with the Samsung Galaxy internally has the data leads shorted so the wire can be a regular USB data cable but the phone will detect it as AC charger. The trouble with regular vehicle USB chargers are that they don't have the data leads shorted like an AC wall charger does so you either have to crack one open and short it in the plug in unit or you have to short it in the USB wire, or buy a USB wire that is already shorted.

 

[Spoon]

That is because the AC charger that comes with the Samsung Galaxy internally has the data leads shorted so the wire can be a regular USB data cable but the phone will detect it as AC charger. The trouble with regular vehicle USB chargers are that they don't have the data leads shorted like an AC wall charger does so you either have to crack one open and short it in the plug in unit or you have to short it in the USB wire, or buy a USB wire that is already shorted.

Truth.

I myself have tested this. I'm using the bullet two usb port type in the car. All data usb cable will read as USB charge on my Thunderbolt and Nexus.

My verizon car charger with the attach coiled wire reads as AC.

I took a couple monoprice usb data cable, cut the cord to expose the wiring. 4 wires are present: black, red, green, and white. I reconnected the black and red then took the green and white and connect it to each other on the micro usb side ( since i cut the cord in half ) and left the standard usb side disconnected. Plugged it into the bullet two usb port and reads as AC. Tested it on the VZW car charger on the usb port and reads as AC as well.

So theory is that doenst matter the car charger, if it's a built in wire, it will have the data leads shorted so your phone will read AC. If it's a usb type, you'll need to modify your usb cable or buy a charge only type usb. I find buying regular usb type cable more practical ( easier to find and cheaper ) and modify the cable.

 

[altd]

Samsung has this product on their website saying that it will work with the gnex.
Samsung ECA-U20CBEG Power adapter - car / USB

I can't find a review of an actual gnex owner! This is the one I'm leaning towards...

 

[eRod v1.0]

i went ahead and ordered these from eBay, and they work great! They show charging AC and can keep up with my phone while running NAV and streaming music.

Charge only cable: eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Car Charger: eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices