Accessories Is it safe to use a standard micro usb charger?

[droidros]

The S5 comes with the weird double-port charger and the instructions give dire warnings about using not using an unapproved charger. I bought my S5 at Costco and they gave me a standard micro USB car charger. I'm assuming it's safe to use -- is it?

What is the purpose of the second (tiny) port? Does it speed up the charge?

 

[AZgl1500]

Yup.... works just fine.

The USB 2.0 port is the only port that contains the charging wires.

The USB 3.0 port is only used for the much faster data transfer speeds for USB 3.0 specifications.

Your only concern about using the USB 2.0 charging cords and a/c adapters is concerning that they must be capable of 2.0 amps or more. Less does not hurt the phone, it just won't charge as fast as it should.

The shorter the cord, the better it can handle the larger charging current.
Or, the heavier the wire gauge in the USB 2.0 cord/cable the better it can handle heavy charging currents.

Always use at least a 2.0 amp a/c adapter or a car charger plug with a large fuse ( 2 to 5 amps ).

I have several of the older generation a/c adapters around and some of them only handle 0.5 amps, one is 0.750 amps, a couple are 1.0 amps.
____________________________________
Verizon Galaxy S5 since Launch Day, using ART
Box Stock, not rooted
Nova Prime, Textra, Blue Mail
MacroDroid senses Scrn off, turns Wifi & Data OFF,
MD senses Scrn on, turns WiFi & Data ON

 

[droidros]

Thank you for your reply. I have so many micro USB cords, plugs, and adapters and I don't know how to tell which ones are which except that some are marked with the brand. For example, I have a Kindle Fire HD and it charges fine with a certain cord (not sure whether it was the one that came with the Kindle) plugged into the AC adapter that came with my Motorola phone but very slowly with other chargers. Are the cords themselves different, or the chargers/adapters that plug into the AC? I don't see any markings on the cords. I find this topic very confusing.

 

[DonB]

Micro has a smaller fit and has to little clips that stick out, versus the standard USB charging cable, One is standard the other is micro, the pic below are, one to the left is a regular one, and one to the center is a Micro and of course the one to the right is 3.0

 

[AZgl1500]

All cables are not alike.

For us the user, it is difficult to know if a particular cable we pick up out of our drawer is a "good one" for what we want to use it for.

I have a penchant, developed from decades of looking at cables, to use a TapeWriter and immediately identify a new cable as to Brand, associated device it came with, voltage or current specs if needed.

for example. IF a new USB cable comes into my house, I put a tape label on it as to its' "Quality" and intended use.

Those little black box power cubes we get for laptops? oh gawd, if you don't label those damn things, you can never find the one you need when you want it.

back before the guvamint made it a law that ALL cellphones are required to use the same identical type charging port, we were victims of the vendors who sold us over priced pieces of garbage that would only work with that one device. It had a unique charging port.... a $2.50 charger used to cost me $25-$35 for a stinking little cube with a small cord on it with a very fragile charging port.

In the picture just above, the cable on the left side is now almost reserved for 2.5" USB hard drives. At least that is all it is good for in my office now. I have three of them, all labeled and they get rubber banded to the hard drive they came with.

I go to Staples and buy a bag of 1/4 inch wide, heavy rubber bands.... they get used for everything under the sun. roll up the power cables and rubber band them to the power adapter they came with.

roll up a lap blanket and rubber band it so it does not unroll on you. Great for car trips. I just did this for my Christmas vacation trip down to Atlanta, Georgia and back to Oklahoma where I live. Rubber Bands can be your friend... once you get in the habit of using those things, you won't ever be caught without them.

Take your wallet for example. Throw a heavy rubber band around it crosswise and another one lengthwise. No way the credit cards will fall out of it, AND more important, no way a pick pocket thief can slip it out of your pocket w/o you feeling it. that is when you throw an elbow back into his face hard....

I drift a lot on some of these posts, but it is usually important "IMO".

 

[Keith Lebel]

Great info guys. I have been using a simple app that appears to do a pretty good job at helping me sort out my old cables and chargers. It can tell you what your battery charging current is when you have your phone plugged in: "Battery Charging Source and Current" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.promethyl.batterychargingsourcecurrent&hl=en.
(Disclosure: I have NO financial or non-financial relationship with the app developer FYI). Nothing elegant about the app but it does appear to work on my phone and it's free. I agree with AZgl1500 on all points- that it does not matter if you use the micro USB or the USB 3.0 but that you want to be mindful of the output of older USB AC adapters. My s5 seems to charge usually at 1200 mA most of the time but I believe it also might also sometimes charge at 1800 mA with the OEM charger or other chargers greater than or equal to 2.1 mA via micro USB or USB 3.0 (doesn't seem to matter) WHEN the screen is off. I noticed that when I run the meter app, it reads 1800 mA when I first turn the screen on and check, then it refreshes to 1200 mA. Does anyone know if this is true? I also agree that my older USB AC adapters with lower outputs do limit the charging current- I've seen 750 mA and 1000 mA from some of my older chargers- specifically it seems to be limited by the output mA of the USB AC adapter. To my knowledge, the lower charging currents just make for a slower charge and are not harmful. I haven't gone through my stack of old micro USB cables to see if the cables themselves vary in the charge that they provide.
Cheers,
Keith

 

[AZgl1500]

yes, I have used that same charging rate app and noticed the "Peak" charge rate at 1800 or 1200 but it always seems to drop back to 750 mA on my Qi chargers.

It has been so long since I actually used a USB cable to charge my phones, I can't remember the charging rate, or even if I happened to use that app to measure it.

The one thing I do remember about the Samsung 2.1 A OEM a/c module and their supplied USB 3.0 cable is:
The phone would completely recharge from 10-20 percent to 100 percent in 90 minutes or less.

Since I installed Qi wireless cards in both of our S5 phones, I don't even bother to let the battery get that low anymore.
If I am talking on the phone with a friend, the phone goes on the Qi charger pad and I turn on my BT headset. That allows the phone to be at the current battery level or more when the conversation is ended.

The reason the Qi charger doesn't do better is because it is plugged into a 4 port USB divider, which in turn is plugged into my big Gateway Desktop PC... a lot of power division occurring there, as I also am working with an external USB hard drive that is always in backup mode, a plug in USB Flash Drive that I use to carry stuff back and forth to the laptop, and a USB "Neat brand" portable sheet scanner. That is a lot of garbage to run off of one USB port from a PC, but it works, and I don't have to run and hunt up a cable to make "this thing work". All of it works all of the time, anytime I need it... data rates may suffer (may, not necessarily), and charging rates "might be" slower....... but who is counting?

I am busy on a full size keyboard, working on this forum, other forums, editing Word documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PDF files..... etc, time flies by and at the end of the day, everything gets done. so who cares how long it takes to Qi charge the phone?

____________________________________
2 ea. Verizon Galaxy S5, KK 4.4.4, ART
MyPhoneExplorer saves your tailbone
Nova Prime, Textra, Blue Mail, Qi wireless equipped
MacroDroid senses Screen off, turns Wifi & Data OFF
MacroDroid senses Screen on, turns WiFi & Data ON

 

[systemofadown]

Its normal for qi chargers to peak at around 700 ma. Haven't ever seen one go beyond that, probably to mitigate excessive heat.
If you never let your battery get low you're pretty good to go as AZgl said.
I stick with the fast charging "plugged in" option just because its soooo d**n Fast!!