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Help Question about charging cable

A

artbytes

Android Enthusiast
The GS5 uses the USB3 cable, but is supposed to be compatible with my old micro USB cables, as well. However, I've heard a few different things about the cables. I've heard that when you use the old micro USB cables, the phone won't charge as quickly as with the new USB 3 cables. Then, from another source, I was told that the phone would charge just as fast with the old micro USB cable as on the new USB 3 cable. That source said that the new cable was mostly useful to transfer data at a faster speed.

Does anyone know what the truth about the new cable is? Does it speed up the charging speed of the phone, or the data transfer rate of the phone, or both?

Thanks for the info.
 
the phone will charge the same with either cable, the speed of the charge is only as good as the amperage of the charger. the only benefit of the new cable is the usb 3 transfer rate. keep in mind you can have some cheap cables that will effect charge. like the ones you find in the 5 dollar bin at cvs.
 
Download a charging current app (I'm using the paid version of the Galaxy Charging Current app) and monitor the current when the phone is connected to a USB port.

The Samsung charger with the microUSB 3 cable appears to consistently get 1200mA. Using the same charger with microUSB 2 cables will get currents ranging from 450mA to 1200mA.

The same is true if using a "fast USB charger" - I've found several that are rated to provide up to 2100mA both connected to a wall outlet or through a car adapter.

USB 3 ports on PCs can provide between 450mA to 1200mA (my laptop only provides 1200mA on the "PowerShare" port when the laptop is powered off - otherwise the current is reduced to 450mA while the PC is running).

What I found is significant difference in charging rates on the microUSB 2 cables - some cables support the faster charging rates - and others limit the phone to 450mA or 800mA.

Since purchasing the phone - I've bought fast USB chargers for car and wall outlets. I've tested all of the micoUSB 2 cables - and threw out the cables that don't support the faster charging rates (wasn't able to find any visual indicator to indicate which cables supported fast charging) - and bought a couple of extra microUSB 3 cables - which are a little easier to plug into the phone.
 
dcap0187 said:
the phone will charge the same with either cable, the speed of the charge is only as good as the amperage of the charger. the only benefit of the new cable is the usb 3 transfer rate. keep in mind you can have some cheap cables that will effect charge. like the ones you find in the 5 dollar bin at cvs.
Click to expand...

Mine charges much faster with the 3.0 than it does with the 2.0.
 
Thanks for all of the great info. I downloaded the app, and am now starting to test all of my cables and plug adapters. The good news so far:

I got this USB3 cable from Amazon. It's testing at 1200mA and is a very reasonable price.

Amazon.com: 2 x Zeimax
 
I also ordered the same make cable in a 6 foot length. The 6 footers appear to be a bit slower. Instead of 1200, they come in at 700 - 1000, partly depending on the plug adapter I'm using.

I'm doing more testing with other cords and plug adapters. I have some USB2 cords that are retractable from Lenmar, which I got on Amazon. They are testing at 1200, the same as my USB3 cord, as long as I use a good plug adapter. I'm happy about that, because the retractable cords are great for travel. I'm finding that performance seems to depend more on the plug adapter than the cord. The plug adapters from Samsung are the highest quality that I have tested so far.
 
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