[trmoney24]

Is there an app that tells you the charging rate by mA? I had a 1A charger and that wouldn't cut it with 4G and the huge screen while the navigation is on. So I bought a 2.1A charger and its much better (battery will actually charge with all that on). I wanted to see what the difference is between this new charger and how fast my home charger is.

[Geezer Squid]

Is there an app that tells you the charging rate by mA? I had a 1A charger and that wouldn't cut it with 4G and the huge screen while the navigation is on. So I bought a 2.1A charger and its much better (battery will actually charge with all that on). I wanted to see what the difference is between this new charger and how fast my home charger is.

[DBVille]

CurrentWidget doesn't work on my Nexus. And the market page implies it doesn't work on Motorola or Samsung phones.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Forgetful]

Battery monitor?

There are many apps that have this capability but Samsung often has issues

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

[dss2000]

I've used Battery Monitor Widget by 3c. Seems to work fine on the Galaxy Nexus:

.

[Fumetsu]

+1 for Battery Monitor Widget. Very useful in seeing where all the power is going and when.

[TMFGO45]

I'm under the impression that max draw for the nexus is 1 amp.....you sure that charger is doing what you think it is?

Swyped from my Galaxy Nexus (Codename Android 1.1.4, franco.Kernel #13.1, Hotplug On, Leaked 4.0.3 radios, Inverted Gapps, Natemz Mod w/ Fast Glow, Nova Launcher #12, 1200/350 UV'ed) in Tapatalk Pro!

[dss2000]

I'm under the impression that max draw for the nexus is 1 amp.....you sure that charger is doing what you think it is?

Swyped from my Galaxy Nexus (Codename Android 1.1.4, franco.Kernel #13.1, Hotplug On, Leaked 4.0.3 radios, Inverted Gapps, Natemz Mod w/ Fast Glow, Nova Launcher #12, 1200/350 UV'ed) in Tapatalk Pro!

Using Battery Monitor Widget I've seen it draw as much as -1390 mA. A USB car charger won't keep up and sometimes a 1A one won't keep up. To make sure it charges while using navigation and streaming audio I've had to use a 2.1A charger and modified the wire (short the date pins) to get it to charge in AC mode.

[TMFGO45]

Using Battery Monitor Widget I've seen it draw as much as -1390 mA. A USB car charger won't keep up and sometimes a 1A one won't keep up. To make sure it charges while using navigation and streaming audio I've had to use a 2.1A charger and modified the wire (short the date pins) to get it to charge in AC mode.

You don't think that will cause you to need a new battery faster, or that the battery can't handle that? Are you worried about anything at all with this setup?

Swyped from my Galaxy Nexus (Codename Android 1.1.4, franco.Kernel #13.1, Hotplug On, Leaked 4.0.3 radios, Inverted Gapps, Natemz Mod w/ Fast Glow, Nova Launcher #12, 1200/350 UV'ed) in Tapatalk Pro!

[dss2000]

You don't think that will cause you to need a new battery faster, or that the battery can't handle that? Are you worried about anything at all with this setup?

Swyped from my Galaxy Nexus (Codename Android 1.1.4, franco.Kernel #13.1, Hotplug On, Leaked 4.0.3 radios, Inverted Gapps, Natemz Mod w/ Fast Glow, Nova Launcher #12, 1200/350 UV'ed) in Tapatalk Pro!

Not really, because I've plugged it into my AC wall charger and it draws that too. The phone takes what it wants it isn't like the charger is forcing the power down its throat. The voltage stays at the USB standard of 5V.

[jdbower]

Using Battery Monitor Widget I've seen it draw as much as -1390 mA. A USB car charger won't keep up and sometimes a 1A one won't keep up. To make sure it charges while using navigation and streaming audio I've had to use a 2.1A charger and modified the wire (short the date pins) to get it to charge in AC mode.

I don't think Battery Monitor Widget is all that accurate. Using an actual test power supply I've only seen slightly over 1A (perhaps as high as 1.1A spikes). That said, upgrading to a 2A charger can't hurt (as mentioned the battery will only pull what it can, no risk of damage) and your 1A power supply may only be providing 900mA or may be running at a lower voltage than your 2.1A supply, both of which would provide slower charging. Personally, I've started upgrading my car chargers to 2.1A just so I have the extra headroom.

[Cory Streater]

The maximum power the GN will draw is 1A & buying anything larger than that isn't going to gain you anything.

Also, there is a difference in what the GN will draw from wall charger vs a USB port. A PC's v2.0 USB port will only push 500mAh & when the Galaxy Nexus is plugged into a USB car charger like this one:

Amazon.com: Scosche Dual USB Car Charger for iPhone 4/4S, iPod, MP3 Players and More: Cell Phones & Accessories

It sees it as a USB host and correctly draws the 500 mAh amount. If you have patience, a soldering gun and some duct tape; you can rig solder the chargers 2 internal data pins together and the phone will no longer see it as a USB host. 500 mAh is not enough to charge, run GPS, and pull map data at the same time. You will probably see battery levels drop instead of go up. When through that for years until I did a little research.

Also, keep in mind that the dual port chargers, like the one I linked to above may say they are 1,000mAh, but it's actually 1,000 mAh shared across both ports. Each outputting 500mAh.

Car chargers - on the other hand - do not look like a USB host. They look like a wall charger to the phone. So, the closer you can get to 1A the better. The Verizon car charger outputs 850mAh, but this one outputs 950mAh:

Amazon.com: Motorola Vehicle Power Adapter micro-USB Rapid Rate Charger: Cell Phones & Accessories

I highly recommend the $6 investment. I've recommended this charger in almost every forum -- including this one & as you can see by the number of ratings it's received -- a lot of people like it. Avoid knock offs and make sure you're ordering one that is fulfilled by Amazon. That was the only common complaint in some of the reviews.

[lakedubvt]

Anyone know what this one outputs http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/cr/B004W...idcentral00-20

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[milominderbinde]

CurrentWidget doesn't work on my Nexus. And the market page implies it doesn't work on Motorola or Samsung phones...

I do not think any app can get a current flow reading out of a Motorola or Samsung phone.

[dss2000]

I do not think any app can get a current flow reading out of a Motorola or Samsung phone.

Perhaps it isn't directly measuring mA but estimating it based on other variables such as rate of change in battery capacity or voltage and resistance?

[yosteve]

They sell devices that you essentially piggy back into any plug that measures the energy draw of that item, computers, refrigerators...

[dss2000]

They sell devices that you essentially piggy back into any plug that measures the energy draw of that item, computers, refrigerators...

Trouble with those devices are that they measure current coming from your outlet going into the AC charger but not all of that goes into the phone. Some is lost in the conversion from AC to DC and lost as heat.

[cedpme]

I tried that app, Battery Monitor Widget (dss2000), on my Galaxy Nexus and it does not give me the current charge rate in mA that I am interested in. Unless I am wrong, very possible, as I am not familiar with this app's settings. Are you still using it?

[BaMaDuDe87]

Everything i have read, our phones only have two charging rates:
1. 500mA aka USB Charging
2.1A aka AC Charging

Obviously there will be deviation from this, depending on how you measure the power being drawn by your phone, but those are our options. I have not looked into any custom kernels/roms that possibly might let you charge faster? Not even sure if they exist. So even though you buy a charger capable of pushing more Amps, you phone will not be making use of the higher rating.

[dss2000]

I haven't been using it anymore as I got all the information I needed from it. But it did seem to provide me with accurate mA charging numbers. I even took a fresh battery and ran it down under full video load, screen on and timed how long it took and calculated what the mA would be and it correlated with what Battery Monitor Widget was displaying. I see that there is another app named Battery Monitor Widget. Are you using the one by 3c? The link is :

[dss2000]

I found that you can get over 1A but you need two things. You need a "charge only" USB cable where the data wires are shorted. This will signal the phone that it can draw more than the 500mA USB standard current and you need a charger made for an iPad that will provide over 1A. When driving I have have Navigation, podcast, screen on full brightness and drawing close to 1A. The usual USB charger drawing 500mA will not keep up and you'll lose charge. If you put a 1A charger and a charge only USB wire the battery charge will stay about the same, maybe slowly lose charge. If you get a 2.1A charger and use the charge only cable it will gain charge. The 2.1 Amp car charger I use is:
The Kensington PowerBolt Duo Car Charger

Interestingly I found that even though one USB socket is labeled 2.1 and the other 1A they are both the same. Either one will draw 2.1A just that together they can't draw more than 3.1. Kind of makes sense from a design standpoint, easier and cheaper to make.

Then you will need a charge only wire:
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: PureGear Charge Only Cable for Universal Micro USB - Retail Packaging
or Amazon.com: Naztech Micro USB Charging Cable - BlackBerry, Cal-Comp, HTC, LG, Samsung, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson: Cell Phones & Accessories

[dss2000]

See the attached record log. From 06:45AM to 07:16AM my phone is drawing over 1000mA no charger attached. I then attach the 2.1A charger at 07:21AM with a charge only wire and now it is postive 300 to 500mA a change of about 1400mA. If it was only able to draw 1000mA it wouldn't be positive by that much, it would barely be even. If you don't believe the numbers from the Battery Charge Widget you can see the difference in the battery graph in the settings menu. With a normal USB cable you will be losing charge, with a charge only cable but a 1A charger it will barely stay even, with a 2.1A charger and a charge only cable it will gain charge.

[dss2000]

Now compare the previous data with this data using a charge only cable with a 1000mA charger. At 07:05 to 07:48 I'm off the charger drawing 900 to 1300 mA and losing charge from 99% to 62%. Then I plug it into the the 1000mA charger at 07:53AM and you see it positive by 93mA, not much and the charge stays around 63%. As you can see there is a difference between the 2.1 A charger and the 1 A charger. If there was truly a limit of 1000mA and a 2.1A charger doesn't add anything the data should both be the same.

[zachthebomb13]

Now compare the previous data with this data using a charge only cable with a 1000mA charger. At 07:05 to 07:48 I'm off the charger drawing 900 to 1300 mA and losing charge from 99% to 62%. Then I plug it into the the 1000mA charger at 07:53AM and you see it positive by 93mA, not much and the charge stays around 63%. As you can see there is a difference between the 2.1 A charger and the 1 A charger. If there was truly a limit of 1000mA and a 2.1A charger doesn't add anything the data should both be the same.

How do you get to that log?

[dss2000]

From the "history" button in the lower left corner of the screen.

Instructions


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