does your 4g phone use battery faster than charger can recharge it?

[OBLAMA2009]

if youre web browsing or tethering with your 4g phone while plugging it in does it discharge faster than the charger can charge it? how about if its plugged into a car charger?

 

[trmiv]

Only if use a crappy charger. The Motorola car charger is about the best I've found for my galaxy nexus

 

[OBLAMA2009]

so if youre doing gps or web surfing with your charger in your car, the battery level never goes down? also do you know if there are different settings on a car usb port, my car port charges really slowly even with the usb cord from my motorola charger

 

[iahk]

look for 1 amp car chargers. they'll be able to charge your phone well even while you use it on 4g. it sounds like you probably have a 0.5 amp charger. it's the same as charging it directly from a usb port.

 

[trmiv]

This is the charger I have. Always charges more than I drain when using it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA

 

[corkyg]

My Moto charger is spec'd for UPS - 5.1 vdc @ 850ma. It will dishcarge faster than charge when VZF Hotspot mode is in play. Whether it is using 3G, 4G or 1XRTT doesn't use higher charge - but the HotSpot function does, and the manual caveats it.

 

[MotionMan]

if youre web browsing or tethering with your 4g phone while plugging it in does it discharge faster than the charger can charge it? how about if its plugged into a car charger?

I have never had this happen to me with any charger; car, USB or wall.

MotionMan

 

[devilchrist]

My verizon galaxy nexus would drain faster with 1amp charger. If..

Hotspot 4g
On call
With screen on

All things I do when at work.
So I got sgs3. Now I don't even need to plug it while working most of the time.

 

[wirednuts]

this is a common problem dating back to winmo5 smartphone days. wifi tethering usually does it, and add that to the fact that it heats the phone and battery up too also shortens its power output.

 

[cytoSiN]

This is the charger I have. Always charges more than I drain when using it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA

Thanks, was looking for one of these.

 

[CVSiN]

nope GS3 getting over a full day of use..
most of the time 40% left after 12+ hours.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Galaxy Nexus. Only happens when it's plugged into my computer's USB port. Using the wall charger it will still charge if on 4G. Don't have a car charger.

 

[podspi]

It depends on what you are doing. I was recently playing a game with a Bluetooth controller, outputting the display to my TV over HDMI, and the battery was being discharged faster than the charger could charge (Kindle Fire charger too, so it is a 1.7A charger I think).


Doesn't happen very often though.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Even when I'm multitasking with palringo Facebook gtalk and tapatalk it still charges fast enough

 

[cytoSiN]

nope GS3 getting over a full day of use..
most of the time 40% left after 12+ hours.

What app, if any, are you using to monitor battery usage? My battery on a brand new GS3 seems to be draining faster than that, although it still seems like I'll easily get a normal day's use out of it.

 

[Thegonagle]

Been here, done this; here's what I figured out:

The phone has two distinct charging rates, a slow rate for when it's plugged into a USB port, and a fast rate for when it's plugged into a charger.

The catch is finding a charger that the phone identifies as a charger and not a USB port. I'm not sure about the specifics, but the primary way it tells has something to do with how the charger and/or USB cord is wired.

I've found that the majority of cheap 3rd party chargers can't actually be identified by the phone as a charger (instead of a USB port), so the phone chooses the slow rate.

Use a battery status monitor to determine how the phone is "seeing" your charger when it's plugged in. It will say something like "Charging -- USB" or "Charging -- AC." (I use an app called "Battery Monitor Widget Pro." The free version, "Battery Monitor Widget," will also work.)

You'll need to find a good quality charger/cable combination, and the problem should go away.

EDIT: Oops, I see you're tethering on USB, in which case, I don't think there's anything you can do except switch to wireless tethering, and plug in with your AC charger. The AC charger should be able charge and run the hotspot at the same time no problem. (With my Thunderbolt, I do prefer to start any hotspot sessions will a near-full battery, or else it tends to overheat and stop charging. In any case, it does not discharge during hotspot usage with a good charger.)

 

[Bateluer]

Its not only 4G phones. With max brightness, a full throttle 3G signal, and a 1.2Ghz clock, I could drain my OG Droid faster than it could charge too.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I definitely drained my Motorola Milestone faster than it could charge while tethering. Screen wasn't on IIRC. This was 3G.

 

[ponyo]

If you wifi tether and run the GPS at the same time, you'll drain faster than you charge.