USB 3 charging: Faster? HOW MUCH FASTER?

[pcguys]

Is it worth buying one of those fancy USB 3 charging cables for work?

I have a micro usb 2.0 cable there.

Does anyone have comparison times for charging 2.0 vs. 3.0 ??

Thanks,
Mike

 

[rivencap]

For the Note 3, most def! My Note 3 seems to fully charge in less than two hours with the 3.0 charger. With the 2.0 charger your looking at double or more the time to charge the phone. Thou, ask yourself, do you drain you battery enough to need that much of a charge? Even though there have been threads about battery life since kitkat update; I'm averaging 6-8hrs of heavy use with a 14-18hr battery charge. So it's efficient enough to get me through the day.

Palm Treo line > BlackBerry line > Samsung Galaxy S line > NOW the awesome & powerful Samsung Galaxy Note 3!

 

[FutureKix]

Not all that important. About 2 hours on 3.0, and 2.5 to 4 hours on 2.0. It depends on the cable. 2.0 allows cables to limit the capacity they carry. If you are using a good 2.0 cable now then you wouldn't see much in an upgrade.

 

[SpookDroid]

No difference whatsoever on charging; the difference in USB 2 vs 3 is data transfer speeds.

HOWEVER the difference lies in two things, mainly:
1) The port you're using. Most PC USB ports will only output 500mA, some 700mA, and very rare ones 1A. If you connect your phone to a port with a limited current output, no matter if you use a cable made of unicorn hairs and Irish gold, it will still charge your phone 500mA at a time.
2) The cable rating. If the port you're using can output enough Amps to make charging faster (newer wall chargers will output 1.5 or 2A, typically), you also need a good cable to go along. If your cable came with your phone, chances are it will be able to sustain 2A charging rates without problems. But if you're buying a 3rd party cable, check the Amp rating. USB 2 or 3 won't matter if the cable can only sustain 1A charges.

 

[pcguys]

Good points Everyone. I have a 2.4 Amp dual usb port charger in the car, and I'd be buying a 2.4amp (dual usb) charger for home.

So, if I get a legit cable that supports the amps, and I'm using a USB connector, it sounds like that's the way to go for a 2 hour charge, not a 4 hour charge!!!

Thanks!
-Mike

 

[Spencerdl]

I was wondering the same thing OP. Thanks for the info everyone

 

[rusty502]

On the same power supply (wall wort, or 12v adapter) with equal quality cables you will see no difference, on a USB 3 computer with a USB 3 cable, you will see a hugh difference, I have two identical 1.5 amp power supplies, one with the supplied usb 3 cable, one with a high quality micro usb 2, charge time is the same. Any difference people are seeing between the two, on the same power supply, is due to cable length, and or quality, don't buy cheap cables for charging.

 

[SpookDroid]

Good points Everyone. I have a 2.4 Amp dual usb port charger in the car, and I'd be buying a 2.4amp (dual usb) charger for home.

So, if I get a legit cable that supports the amps, and I'm using a USB connector, it sounds like that's the way to go for a 2 hour charge, not a 4 hour charge!!!

Thanks!
-Mike

In this case, yeah... But I also forgot to mention that your device should support fast charging. Same thing with the cable, if the device can't 'sink' more than a certain amount of current, it doesn't matter that you're using a 5A charger, the phone just won't be able to draw that much. Now, I'm not sure about the Note 3, but I think (again, not sure) it's rated at 2.5A, so a 2.4 should work as expected, but remember that the supplied charger is already 2A, so if it takes 4 hours to charge in that one, the difference won't be abysmal on a 2.4A charger.

And also, make sure your car's outlet can stand it! 2.4A is A LOT to draw from a car and some models won't stand that much current draw (some even have two outlets; one for high-power consumption like DC/AC converters and laptop adapters and one for low-power stuff like the cigarette lighter and such).

 

[rusty502]

In this case, yeah... But I also forgot to mention that your device should support fast charging. Same thing with the cable, if the device can't 'sink' more than a certain amount of current, it doesn't matter that you're using a 5A charger, the phone just won't be able to draw that much. Now, I'm not sure about the Note 3, but I think (again, not sure) it's rated at 2.5A, so a 2.4 should work as expected, but remember that the supplied charger is already 2A, so if it takes 4 hours to charge in that one, the difference won't be abysmal on a 2.4A charger.

And also, make sure your car's outlet can stand it! 2.4A is A LOT to draw from a car and some models won't stand that much current draw (some even have two outlets; one for high-power consumption like DC/AC converters and laptop adapters and one for low-power stuff like the cigarette lighter and such).

Spookdroid brings up a good point, older cars with a cigarette lighter typically used a15 amp circuit, the power outlet in a lot of late model cars are not rated near that, if it had a LIGHTER socket you're good, if not, you need to check your manual and make sure you don't overload it.

 

[dpham00]

Good points Everyone. I have a 2.4 Amp dual usb port charger in the car, and I'd be buying a 2.4amp (dual usb) charger for home.

So, if I get a legit cable that supports the amps, and I'm using a USB connector, it sounds like that's the way to go for a 2 hour charge, not a 4 hour charge!!!

Thanks!
-Mike

The Note 3 is limited to 2a,Even on my 8a charger.

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[dpham00]

No difference whatsoever on charging; the difference in USB 2 vs 3 is data transfer speeds.

HOWEVER the difference lies in two things, mainly:
1) The port you're using. Most PC USB ports will only output 500mA, some 700mA, and very rare ones 1A. If you connect your phone to a port with a limited current output, no matter if you use a cable made of unicorn hairs and Irish gold, it will still charge your phone 500mA at a time.
2) The cable rating. If the port you're using can output enough Amps to make charging faster (newer wall chargers will output 1.5 or 2A, typically), you also need a good cable to go along. If your cable came with your phone, chances are it will be able to sustain 2A charging rates without problems. But if you're buying a 3rd party cable, check the Amp rating. USB 2 or 3 won't matter if the cable can only sustain 1A charges.

I am pretty sure usb 3.0 standard is 900ma.

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[dpham00]

In this case, yeah... But I also forgot to mention that your device should support fast charging. Same thing with the cable, if the device can't 'sink' more than a certain amount of current, it doesn't matter that you're using a 5A charger, the phone just won't be able to draw that much. Now, I'm not sure about the Note 3, but I think (again, not sure) it's rated at 2.5A, so a 2.4 should work as expected, but remember that the supplied charger is already 2A, so if it takes 4 hours to charge in that one, the difference won't be abysmal on a 2.4A charger.

And also, make sure your car's outlet can stand it! 2.4A is A LOT to draw from a car and some models won't stand that much current draw (some even have two outlets; one for high-power consumption like DC/AC converters and laptop adapters and one for low-power stuff like the cigarette lighter and such).

It is fine. Even if the car only had a 10a fuse on the cigarette lighter, that is still 120W.

5v @ 2.4a is only 12W. Granted there is some loss going from 12v to 5v,but it should be well within limit

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[rusty502]

I am pretty sure usb 3.0 standard is 900ma.

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

That is correct, 900ma is the max, do you happen to know if all usb 3 equipped computers can deliver that though? I have one on my desktop that does, but a friend of mine has a laptop that I wonder about, I haven't checked it yet for him, but he thinks it's only outputting 500ma or so, maybe a hardware problem, but i'm curious if the output current should be 900ma to meet the standard to be advertised as 3.0

 

[zapfrog]

No difference?! At least with me the 3.0 charger only takes 1.5-2 hours and the 2.0 charger takes at least 4-5 hours. Maybe something is wrong with my 2.0 charger.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Rolon]

From 90 to 120min.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[rusty502]

No difference?! At least with me the 3.0 charger only takes 1.5-2 hours and the 2.0 charger takes at least 4-5 hours. Maybe something is wrong with my 2.0 charger.

Posted via Android Central App

The charger is actually in the phone, the wall wart is just a power supply, if you were to use the original power supply, and plug a high quality micro usb cable in instead of the 3.0 cable, it should charge at the same rate. Your 2.0 power supply must be a lower output unit.

 

[bobsacomano]

I do not notice any difference in charging speeds between USB 2 vs 3.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[thegame161]

you are saving a good 1-2 hours.

 

[pcguys]

Can someone recommend a 6' cord that is hearty enough to charge my might note 3?

I was thinking of getting this charger, but need a cord to go with it.

The samsung cord is 5' minus 1" in length.

Amazon.com: PowerGen Black 2.4-Amp (12 Watt) Dual USB Wall Charger w/flip down Plug Designed for Apple and Android Devices: Cell Phones & Accessories

Thanks
Mike

 

[pcguys]

I had been using a super-slow plantronics headset charger with my old galaxy S3. The cord was super-long (why I was using it).

My note 3 was at 33%.

7.5 hours later, it was at 90%.

Obviously, not acceptable

Per above, I'm now on the hunt for a 6' solution!

Thanks,
Mike