DROID TURBO – Wireless Chargers (Qi) cause battery status to become meaningless.

tickruck

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Phone is completely normal while using plug-in chargers. Discovered wireless chargers (Verizon VZW3COIL or TYLT). These were great at first, but at some point (seemed to be associated with using the phone in Bluetooth mode) battery indications would go crazy. Battery status would bounce from 100 % to random values (86%, 93%, 100%, 86% etc.). Once the phone rebooted itself while on the Qi charger. Taking phone off charger cause battery indication to drop rapidly. Turned phone off and the charge level counted down to 0 (zero) as it shut down. Phone would not boot, just got the dead battery indication. Took to Verizon store. They COULD BRING UP PHONE IN TEST MODE. Only way to get phone to boot was to put it back on charger (wireless or plug-in). Charge level would rapidly climb back to 100% (in minutes). Taking it off charger would cause it to rapidly loose charge and crash. Verizon gave me a new phone. Same thing happened to second phone. Went back to Verizon Store. Did a factory reset and have not used Qi chargers since. Phone is normal. Tech support was bewildered by this behavior.
HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS BEHAVIOR? The Qi chargers are great. There is a problem in the Turbo firmware associated with using Qi chargers.
 

doogald

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Yes. There are several thread about this issue already.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/mo...wireless-charging-ive-been-100-24hrs-use.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-turbo/470235-my-phone-went-28-dead.html

On another forum: http://androidforums.com/threads/battery-metering-seems-to-be-completely-off.887445/

It seems pretty clear that there is a problem, at least for some people, and the safest thing to do is to use only the turbo charger to charge the phone, at least until Motorola acknowledges the issue and announces a fix.
 

hal1

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No problem seen with my Itian A6. It just (slowly) goes about its business, charging at a rate of 20% - 13% per hour at my bedside
 
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tickruck

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Another Wireless Charging (Qi) observation. I would leave my old DROID 4 on the charger and the screen ON. This worked well. Turbo has a setting in the ‘developer’ menu that will leave the screen on during charging. While plugged-in (either standard or Turbo charger) the phone acts ‘normal’, like the old Droid 4. However, while on a Qi wireless charger, the Turbo ‘toggles’ between charging and not charging – every few seconds… Every time it does, the light on the charger goes out and the phone drops out of ‘charge’ mode. When it clicks back to ‘charge’ and the charge light comes back on, it does a screen refresh. The Command Center then sends the ‘Sun’ on its arc across the icon – which is ONLY cute the first few times it does it, then quickly becomes annoying because of the short toggle cycles. At some point the battery sensor gets stuck at 100% (something only the Qi chargers seem to cause), it is not in charging ‘mode’ anymore, and the screen will LOCK, even though it is sitting on the charger. VERY ANNOYING. TYLT has a Qi car dock that they have been ready to release for the Turbo for months now. I suspect that a Turbo in map mode in the car while on a Qi charger will experience these same problems, causing the map to blank...
 

hal1

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I know that the Tylt seems to be the Charger of choice for Qi aficionados, but seriously people, take a look at the Itian A6. There's several people including me that has found it a less expensive, reliable alternative.
 

doogald

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. I suspect that a Turbo in map mode in the car while on a Qi charger will experience these same problems, causing the map to blank...

If you're actively navigating, the display stays on.

You're right about everything you say about qi. So, if leaving the display on is important to you, don't use qi.
 

wolf_walker

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I charged night before last via Qi without incident, last night battery % went to 100% in a matter of seconds.. lol

I'm done with Qi on the DT for now I'm afraid. Another checkbox un-checked....
 

chasvs

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Yup, I got crazy battery status after using a Qi Charger and even had 2 episodes where it went from 100% to 0% in only a few minutes. Put it on the Turbo Charger and it reported 100% after only a couple minutes. Qi seems to be screwing something up so I use only the Turbo Charger and am getting great battery life and no rapid drain episodes! :>)
 

bfranker

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Another Wireless Charging (Qi) observation. I would leave my old DROID 4 on the charger and the screen ON. This worked well. Turbo has a setting in the ‘developer’ menu that will leave the screen on during charging. While plugged-in (either standard or Turbo charger) the phone acts ‘normal’, like the old Droid 4. However, while on a Qi wireless charger, the Turbo ‘toggles’ between charging and not charging – every few seconds… Every time it does, the light on the charger goes out and the phone drops out of ‘charge’ mode. When it clicks back to ‘charge’ and the charge light comes back on, it does a screen refresh. The Command Center then sends the ‘Sun’ on its arc across the icon – which is ONLY cute the first few times it does it, then quickly becomes annoying because of the short toggle cycles. At some point the battery sensor gets stuck at 100% (something only the Qi chargers seem to cause), it is not in charging ‘mode’ anymore, and the screen will LOCK, even though it is sitting on the charger. VERY ANNOYING. TYLT has a Qi car dock that they have been ready to release for the Turbo for months now. I suspect that a Turbo in map mode in the car while on a Qi charger will experience these same problems, causing the map to blank...

Do you use a case? I noticed that when using the LG Qi puck style charger that it worked fine so long as my phone wasn't in a case. As soon as I put my Turbo in an Otterbox the phone would constantly go in and out of showing that it was charging (case too thick is what I believe was the problem). I took back the LG puck style charger and got the more expensive Tylt which does NOT do this. I think it is because I've read the Tylt has more charging coils than the cheaper LG puck charger.
 

travaz

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My Droid Maxx worked perfectly with the Qi charger and that is all I used to charge it. When I got the Turbo it went wonky so I stopped using it and only Turbo charge. I think it is a software problem. Maybe qi and Turbo Charging bumping into one and another?
 

wolf_walker

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My second one I specifically bought because it has two or three charging coils and was very well reviewed, seems to work as advertised as far as positioning not being so critical.
Still acts wonky on the DT, fine on the N7 though.
Bought two actually, gave one to a friend with a Nexus 5 who hasn't reported any trouble with it.

I admire the TYLT, just not it's price and the space it takes up.
Part of the allure of Qi is it's a standard, it should work with anything, any device, any charger.
If I have to buy a specific charger for the DT, even if it's a very nice and desirable one, I'm
no less annoyed and disappointed.
 

CharlieL3

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I have never had any of these problems with the Tylt Qi charger. I've been using it since I got the Turbo the end of October. No battery jumps, not starting and stopping the charge, just solid charging every night.
 

dungoyle

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I currently have 3 very cheap a$$ hockey-puck style chargers. The small ones that you have to position the phone just right on (because the charging coil isn't in the center. I'd say about 80% of my charging is via two of those three, and the remainder on the factory Turbo charger at home, or after market Turbo charger at work. I've had the false battery reading problem once and it was right after I started using the QI charger. It was a pain to fix (100% drain, charge to 100% with Turbo, then clear cache), but it's worked perfectly since then. That's one time since Oct 31, so for now, I'm pretty comfortable with the reliability on my phone for now, but always wary just the same.
 

jec11718

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I've noticed that the Nokia qi is not giving me a full true charge.... I've went back to the turbo and it is superb.

DRoID TuRBo this...
 

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