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Is there a difference in chargers?

LKitsch

Lurker
Jun 21, 2012
3
0
I have the charger that came with my Stratosphere (the one that the usb cable plugs into), and a generic "aftermarket" charger.

The generic aftermarket charger will not recharge the battery if the phone is turned on, although it will keep it from losing additional charge if I am using the phone. And it will fully charge the battery if the phone is turned off.

The Samsung charger will recharge the battery regardless of whether or not the phone is turned on.

Is this normal? Is there something wrong with the generic charger, or is it somehow not up to spec?

Anybody else have this issue?
 
I have the charger that came with my Stratosphere (the one that the usb cable plugs into), and a generic "aftermarket" charger.

The generic aftermarket charger will not recharge the battery if the phone is turned on, although it will keep it from losing additional charge if I am using the phone. And it will fully charge the battery if the phone is turned off.

The Samsung charger will recharge the battery regardless of whether or not the phone is turned on.

Is this normal? Is there something wrong with the generic charger, or is it somehow not up to spec?

Anybody else have this issue?
This is NOT normal, a properly functioning compatible charger should charge the phone whether it is powered on or not, when it is powered on it may take longer to fully charge then when powered off... although Samsung only officially supports their own branded chargers, there are many quality aftermarket chargers are out there that work just fine. The problem is some of the el-cheapo (and some not so cheap) generic ones just are not up to spec one reason or another, some won't charge in all states (like yours), some overcharge, or won't charge at all and even though a lot of phone's chargers are interchangeable, it doesn't mean they are all compatible with each other (My Samsung, LG, and HTC micro-USB chargers all have the same specs yet the LG charger does not charge my Samsung phone but the Samsung charger does charge the LG).

Also be aware that a malfunctioning, under/over rated charger, or incorrect one for your device can actually damage the battery in your phone.

I usually recommend buying quality, rated products, although definitely not from my carrier's store... the stock Samsung travel charger can be purchased for well under $10 on Amazon: Amazon.com: Samsung OEM 1.0A Travel USB Wall Charger with Detachable Micro USB Data/Charge Cable - Bulk Packaging: Cell Phones & Accessories and for car chargers I have actually had the best luck with the ones at Sam's Club that are just under $10. There are lots of quality products out there, and you don't need to spend $20+ to get a good one...
 
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I have a battery widget on my phone that says AC or USB. When it says USB it barely charges the phone. Some chargers like old Motorola ones and some car chargers show up as USB.
This is because of the current provided on the connection, traditionally USB only supports up to 500ma (0.5A), and most OEM chargers now provide 1000ma (1.0A) of current, and some of aftermarket chargers are rated as high as 2200ma (2.2A) of current (saw a dual A/C charger at Wal-Mart the other day, one USB port @1.0A, the other @2.2A). So I am guessing that the phone can tell if it is getting 500ma or close to it and knows that is USB and not A/C.

Indeed... I just tried this using "Phone Tester" and watching the Battery Status screen, when connected to my OEM charger it said "Power Plug: AC", when I plugged it into my PC it changed to "Power Plug: USB", into an LG 700ma charger with Samsung Cord (phone doesn't like the LG cord) it said AC, but when I connected it to an older aftermarket 600ma rated USB power supply that plugged into the wall it said USB! Moral of the story, use a quality power supply rated equivalent to the OEM one for your phone or you can have charging issues!
 
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Thanks for the feedback. I, too, tried phone tester and it is now apparent that all chargers are NOT created equal. The one that came with the phone says "AC" when plugged in; the aftermarket one I was using says "not connected" although it also says the battery is charging!

But it works if the phone is off---since I turn it off at night, I will keep using it for overnight charging. As for the car charger---hmm.
 
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I think it is more the phone than the charger... I can plug any charger into my evo lte.. but my gfs stratosphere is so picky. it will say its charging when it isnt... and even die while on the charger. sometimes she will have it charging for hours and take it off and the phone will be at 8%... I came to this neck of the woods to see if this is a common issue and its definetly looking like it is.
 
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This is clearly a charger issue... the phone is doing exactly what is supposed to and reporting the proper charging. For A/C charging it expects ~650ma or more, below that it knows that it is being charged via USB. My phone will fully charge from about 35% to 100% via a USB port on my laptop PC in about 5-6 hours or about 2-3 hours with the OEM A/C adapter.

No offense, but your girlfriends phone has a problem and should be repaired/replaced by Verizon... the behavior you describe is not normal.
 
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This is clearly a charger issue... the phone is doing exactly what is supposed to and reporting the proper charging. For A/C charging it expects ~650ma or more, below that it knows that it is being charged via USB. My phone will fully charge from about 35% to 100% via a USB port on my laptop PC in about 5-6 hours or about 2-3 hours with the OEM A/C adapter.

No offense, but your girlfriends phone has a problem and should be repaired/replaced by Verizon... the behavior you describe is not normal.

So which has a problem the charger or the phone? Your kind of contradicting yourself.. I clearly said the phone has an issue
 
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