LTE Battery Draining Faster than I can Re-Charge?

[charlie310]

I hooked my phone up (via USB cable that came w/phone) to my work laptop to tether LTE and charge my phone. The battery read 70%. After 3 hours, my battery read 50%. I then turned off tethering, and 3 hours later, it went up to 60%. Is it possible that LTE sucks more volts than a USB current can provide?

 

[envizion]

not sure but usb charging is much slower than through an outlet. so less power.

 

[anon(94115)]

For the most part that is correct. It isnt just the LTE doing it. Usb puts out a much lower voltage than the wall charger so if you are doing anything while plugged into usb, you are gonna drain the battery at an equal or faster rate than what you are putting in

Charged up post!

 

[KillerG]

Exactly what everyone else is saying. If I don't use my phone it takes hours to charge back up if it's charging off my laptop. USB on a computer has a lower voltage (since most devices don't need much more voltage anyways) than an outlet. My suggestion for tethering? Either have a charging USB port on your computer or plug the phone into an outlet. Use an extension if you have to...that's what I do (but check the "screen not sensing my finger correctly while charging" or "Strange Bionic Happenings" thread...I think those problems are caused by a USB extension, and how a USB extension isn't grounded like a straight connection to the power outlet. What I suggest is a power extension, not a USB extension.

 

[refinished]

I used some Battery Monitor app (can't recall the name) that shows net battery use over time as a + or -. I tested quite a lot of situations including WiFi tethering. Yes, charging with regular USB while tethering with WiFI is a net loss to the battery. The USB input only slows the depletion. I was getting 14-18 hours out of my Bionic, so I was not among the 5-6 hours crowd at all, but when tethering, I was drawing enough mA's to drain a full battery in less than 3 hours. I collected data over a few days and found some interesting power draw patterns that don't jive with prior Android phone rules-of-thumb.

BTW - You want more amps not more voltage. Using the same monitoring mentioned above, I used a Nook charger capable of delivering .9 amps and the Bionic took every one of them. Charged from dead to full in under 2 hours.

 

[rkeller62]

To clarify for everyone, USB spec is 5V output. This is via ANY USB output. As stated by previous poster, it is the amperage that varies by PC port or wall charger and affects recharge time.

 

[csimme01]

I agree amps is what you need.
I figured out my cigar to USB adapter was only putting out around 500 ma.
Running navigation in the car dock was drawing more than that.
I did some searching and found a cigar USB adapter that is rated at 2100 ma
Yes that is 2.1 amps!

I don't think the phone can use them all but I know the charger wont be the bottle neck.
The New Egg part number is
75-995-216
I am using a Blackberry data charge cable and have also used a retractable cable I got from meijer with no problem.
Update:
Just installed this adapter in my car.
Put the phone in the car dock, started the dock app, launched navigation and Drivea, an app that runs the camera to do image recognition for lane departure and collision warning plus displays speed and compass. All and all a very heavy load of apps. With all this running I drove around. After 25 minutes battery monitor showed I had increased my charge from 50 to 62 percent. That's 1/2 percent per minute. It showed a max charge rate of 1657ma
I also found a 2 amp wall charger/surge protector at monoprice.com for under 10 bucks. It has also been reported that the USB cables from monoprice work fine with the Bionic.
I know these are not real measurements but it still tells me you can't underestimate the current required to charge a Bionic.

 

[JtothaR]

On some dell laptops theres a special usb port that puts out up to 2A for this purpose. Not sure if other laptops have this feature, others may be able to confirm. another thing to do is to use a usb hub with a wall adapter possibly.

This is another option for example.
For only $0.75 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 2.5ft USB A Male to USB A Male and USB Mini-B 5pin Male Cable | USB 2.0 Cables - A Male to A Male

But you'd need a mini to micro usb adapter in addition.

-James

 

[csimme01]

See edit of my answer above.

 

[trailblazen]

Nice. Will have to see that