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Help Using battery quicker than it will charge?

C

crackface

Member
I've had this annoying issue for some time - when my phone is charging, and I use it, it drains quicker than it charges and results in an auto power down when depleted. Seems to be worse on car charger than wall charger, but both do it. Left me lost without a GPS the other day cuz I couldn't power phone back up. Are my expectations unreasonable that I get unlimited use while plugged in?

Thx in advance for any advice..
 
crackface said:
I've had this annoying issue for some time - when my phone is charging, and I use it, it drains quicker than it charges and results in an auto power down when depleted. Seems to be worse on car charger than wall charger, but both do it. Left me lost without a GPS the other day cuz I couldn't power phone back up. Are my expectations unreasonable that I get unlimited use while plugged in?

Thx in advance for any advice..
Click to expand...

1. is the unit brand new?
2. no updates/ugrades done?
3. is the battery NOT bloated??
4. have you check your battery usage?
 
Are you using the OEM car charger and OEM cable? Many 3rd party cables/chargers cannot charge at the same rate as the OEM gear.

I can charge my GS4 and run Waze with out issue. If I drive long enough, I end up with a fully charged GS4. I gained 15+% on a 30 minute drive tonight with Waze running (screen on, GPS on, etc.)

There's an app that will tell you the rate your GS4 is being charged:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abmantis.galaxychargingcurrent.free&hl=en

You can compare your charger and various cables to see what is going on.
 
Like the members above me have suggested, it sounds like something is wrong with your device or chargers.

If we can have more information we can help diagnose the issue.
 
My question would be if it's even charging at all with some of your chargers. With 4.3 the phone is very picky about the charger/cable combination, and many combinations either won't charge at all or will quit charging after a period of time.

For the wall charger, stick with the OEM product and white cable. For the car charger I've posted a combination that works in another thread on the 4.3 charging issue.
 
The S4 likes to see 2 amps from the charger but will work ok with as low as 1.5 amps. Many after market chargers do not produce enough current to keep up with the S4's demands. Check the fine print on your charger to know what you've got.
 
Thanks all for the advice, I do in fact have after market stuff, perhaps that's the issue. I will try with original charger and see if I exhibit the issue. Should I avoid aftermarket chargers entirely, or are there specs/info I should look for?

Also to address questions from icedtea:
- Unit is not brand new, had it since May
- Device is rooted and running Hyperdrive 1.0
- If by bloated you mean does it look physically bloated, no
- I haven't gone through to nitpick through the battery usage, as I hoped it didn't matter what that showed, as I thought the charger should be able to provide ample power to whatever I'm running.

Thanks everyone for the advice!!
 
I just tested original white charger plug and cord, and with Copilot GPS running it not only is charging, but charging much quicker than I'm used to. Clearly these other cheap chargers and/or cables are my issue.

I'll search forum for what people are buying, but any recommendations are of course welcome. Also wondering about usb extender cables, as I had those in use as well in some (not all) cases.

Thanks everyone for the help!!!
 
The S4 charger supplies 2A, most other mains mini-USB chargers only provide 1A and USB-connections to computers top-out at 0.5A. The S4 needs at least a 1A in my experience and using the charger that comes with it definitely works best.

My car-dock (a Brodit active dock) seems to provide around 1/1.5A and that means I can still get a charge while running a Sat Nav app (Waze usually).

HTH.
 
This is the one we've used in our car when we had our Galaxy Nexus's and now for our S4s. It's kept the phones charged to 100% even while we use the phone for Google Maps routing, playing Solitaire, Music, using a news reader, or perusing Facebook or Google+. Oddly enough, the USB cables we're using in the car are the black ones that came with our Google Edition Galaxy Nexus (which do not charge the S4s from the PC).

Amazon.com: Ultra Compact High 2.1A Output Dual USB Car Charger - Ideal for Charging iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPhone, iPod, HTC, Droid, GPS, Smart Phones,Tablets and USB Powered Devices: Cell Phones & Accessories

Edit: Forgot to add this one. We also use it in the center console (the covered cubby between the seats).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VBA4R8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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