S4 will ONLY charge with the charger it came with

[Ellychick]

I have several mini USBs cables and a bunch of USB to AC adapters. Any time I use any of these (Or even add my USB extender in between the cord that came with the phone and the port that came with the phone) it says it's connected and charging but continues to drain the battery. The same thing happens even if I use the cable that came with it through the USB ports on my computer. The ONLY way it will actually charge is if I'm using the original cable AND the original adapter.

Should I be returning this phone for another? In this day and age, with as many options as we have for charging, I should be able to charge it at work and in my car without using the cables it came with.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[ladyhaly]

Your phone is using more power than those normal 1V USB cables can supply. If your phone is turned off, it can possibly charge then or you can turn down screen brightness and all other stuff that use way too much power. However, make sure that you know what you are doing. Don't charge your phone's battery with one of those cheap cables from China you can buy off eBay. There have been reports of various phones such as the S4, S3, iPhone 5, and HTCs exploding or catching fire because of it. Another option is to use a power bank that has a 2.1V output approved by Samsung.

I'm sorry but this isn't a factory defect in itself. Messing with the battery is no joke.

P. S. My S4 can charge with normal USB chargers from HTC but it takes way too long. The S4's battery is use, so a 2.1V fast charging cable/output is a must in my opinion.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Ellychick]

That still doesn't explain why it won't even charge off my computer using it's original cable. Does it?

 

[Adamsberg]

Samsung mods their charger's USB output for higher amperage while charging.
Only if the phone "sees" the charger's modified data pins the phone will take higher charging amperage.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur]

OTOH, at Office Depot I found a Duracell charger, model DU9806 5-In-1, for about $30. It's a 2.1-amp charger that comes with mini- and micro-USB as well as iPhone plugs, and can be connected both to a car cigarette lighter or outlet and to a household AC outlet. It has two USB ports, so it can charge two devices at once. And I've found that it definitely charges the S4 faster than a 1-amp charger. Shortly after I bought it, I was in a situation where I was in the car talking on the phone with Maps and GPS running constantly for an hour, and with the phone plugged into this charger during that time, it went from about 86% charge to 100% charge without getting hot in my hand. In my experience, this would have drained the battery even while plugged into a 1-amp charger.

 

[mikew99]

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the first device I've owned that is sensitive to both the charging current as well as the cable used. I found this out when a USB AC adapter/retractable cable combo that worked fine on my Atrix failed to charge my S4.

After trying all the USB AC adapters and micro USB cables that I have, I found that some worked and some didn't. Basically, you need a 2A USB AC adapter and a good-quality micro USB cable in order to charge the S4 as well as the adapter/cable combo that the S4 ships with. There is a thread on XDA where several of us have reported our findings on this issue: Findings on Galaxy S4 charging current - xda-developers

 

[thunderbunder16]

I use the charger that came with my Blackberry and HTC Thunderbolt.

 

[CrazyCurlz69]

I would like to confirm that the S4 charges with other leads,plugs,adapters than the original and works exactly the same. I have a Nokia Luma as new work phone and its the same lead etc..
No problems at all,in fact it probably works better

 

[extraclass]

There is a system between the charger and the S-4 that uses the two extra wires in the usb cable. This tells the S-4 that the charger can supply the necessary current for it to go into a fast charge mode. Same thing with tablets. Most wall chargers and computer USB ports do not have this extra circuitry! The charging cable must be a 4 conductor cable and many charging cables only have 2 wires instead of the necessary 4. Apple products have a similar scheme but do not always work with Samsung Galaxy products.

USB Ports can only supply a couple hundred ma of current and an S-4 or Galaxy Tab can draw 800 ma.

Samsung OEM chargers are available on Ebay for under $10.