What makes the optimal wall charger for the Motorola Moto G (2nd Gen.)?
October 20, 2014 2:00 PM Subscribe
I have recently obtained a Moto G (2nd Gen.) and it comes without a wall charger, while Motorola’s support gleefully mentions (archive.today) it ‘is best to use the Motorola charger that came with your phone.’ What output does a USB power adapter need to give to charge the phone quickest and cleanest?
I realise USB power adapters are near incapable of harming the device you plug into them, and this question collaborates that. But I would like my phone to charge as fast as possible. I found it extremely hard to get any solid facts out of Motorola.
Motorola recommends only those chargers that ‘meet CE marking requirements and support the USB Battery Charging Specification 1.2.’ (User Guide (PDF, 3.3MB).)
The support page on how to properly charge the device (archive.today) reads:
I understand the ampere output affects the charging speed? So I should be looking for an 1.5A output to reach optimal charging speed? Or can’t I go wrong by getting one with a higher output?
I am getting a left-over (Apple) iPod USB Adapter later this week which I guess should work, but at 1A output it seems to me it wouldn’t be the optimal solution. If I got the facts right. If not, please put me straight!
I realise USB power adapters are near incapable of harming the device you plug into them, and this question collaborates that. But I would like my phone to charge as fast as possible. I found it extremely hard to get any solid facts out of Motorola.
Motorola recommends only those chargers that ‘meet CE marking requirements and support the USB Battery Charging Specification 1.2.’ (User Guide (PDF, 3.3MB).)
The support page on how to properly charge the device (archive.today) reads:
Any Motorola charger with the correct micro-USB tip will charge your device. You will see the best results when the output of the charger is between 500 mA and 1.5 A. The higher the output, the faster your Moto G will charge.So I should be on the look-out for a charger with CE markings, this shouldn’t be too hard. But it should also be in accordance with the USB Battery Charging Specification 1.2? What is this and how do I check this?
If your charger output is higher, the MOTO G will automatically restrict the charging rate. If your charger is lower, it will simply take longer to reach a full charge.
Note: Some Non-Motorola charger fail to comply with USB Standards and as a result may cause device performance issues when connected to your Moto G. If you are experiencing issues please try either a different charger or connect device directly to a computer using a Micro-USB data cable.
I understand the ampere output affects the charging speed? So I should be looking for an 1.5A output to reach optimal charging speed? Or can’t I go wrong by getting one with a higher output?
I am getting a left-over (Apple) iPod USB Adapter later this week which I guess should work, but at 1A output it seems to me it wouldn’t be the optimal solution. If I got the facts right. If not, please put me straight!
Best answer: Apple chargers definitely don't follow the spec. They communicate with the phone using the data pin and perform a handshake before providing full power. Absent that, they fall back to standard USB power of 500mA.
You want a generic charger (ideally one that specifies it works with Android phones), and rated at least 1.5A. Larger is fine. Most cheap chargers you find these days at convenience stores and such are rated either 500mA or 1A at most. You are better off looking at an electronics store or online for one that is rated higher. Currently, the best go up to 2.4A per charging port (to accommodate tablets) but the phone itself will restrict the charging rate to something it can handle, as your support docs indicate.
Personally, I've had great luck with Anker products (search Amazon), especially the new ones with their PowerIQ technology that tries to identify the max current supported by the device and provides the best charging rate, even for those devices that may utilize a handshake or other method like pin-shorting before drawing more than 500mA. This definitely eliminates the "slow charging" message you see when connected to an old charger or one from a different manufacturer.
posted by trivia genius at 2:08 PM on October 20, 2014
You want a generic charger (ideally one that specifies it works with Android phones), and rated at least 1.5A. Larger is fine. Most cheap chargers you find these days at convenience stores and such are rated either 500mA or 1A at most. You are better off looking at an electronics store or online for one that is rated higher. Currently, the best go up to 2.4A per charging port (to accommodate tablets) but the phone itself will restrict the charging rate to something it can handle, as your support docs indicate.
Personally, I've had great luck with Anker products (search Amazon), especially the new ones with their PowerIQ technology that tries to identify the max current supported by the device and provides the best charging rate, even for those devices that may utilize a handshake or other method like pin-shorting before drawing more than 500mA. This definitely eliminates the "slow charging" message you see when connected to an old charger or one from a different manufacturer.
posted by trivia genius at 2:08 PM on October 20, 2014
Yeah you want a 1.5A charger. I've had good luck with generic USB adapters (for both home and car use) that say they are "designed for iPad" or "designed for tablets" as I think they produce 2A (or even higher in some cases).
For instance, I have this thing and it will charge both a MotoG and a MotoX at the same time, at full speed. It will do 2.5A per port but not exceeding 5A total across all ports. So you can do 3 x 1.5A phones and still have enough left over to charge a small Bluetooth or similar.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:13 PM on October 20, 2014
For instance, I have this thing and it will charge both a MotoG and a MotoX at the same time, at full speed. It will do 2.5A per port but not exceeding 5A total across all ports. So you can do 3 x 1.5A phones and still have enough left over to charge a small Bluetooth or similar.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:13 PM on October 20, 2014
My favorite quick charger for Android devices is (ironically) the Blackberry Playbook Charger. Even though it was originally marketed for BlackBerry's ill-fated tablet, it can output up to 1.8 amps and charges Android devices perfectly. It's also around $4 on Amazon, which is a bonus.
posted by dcjd at 2:20 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by dcjd at 2:20 PM on October 20, 2014
In the past month I've cycled between probably 6 different USB chargers trying to find a replacement charger for my Chromebook when I broke its dongle and replacement Chromebook chargers were on backorder.
I think the Chromebook charger is a 5A (which are basically impossible to find) but back when it worked, it charged my phone lickety split. Like crazy fast. Similarly, it charged my kindle superfast.
I got a 3A charger to replace the broken Chromebook charger. It charges my Chromebook, though not quite as well, and it also charges my phone super fast.
I got a 2.1A charger that didn't work for the Chromebook but did work really well for my phone, though not as well as the Chromebook charger. I ended up keeping that one. It works about the same as when I plug my phone dongle into my ipad wall hub.
Pretty sure the charger my phone came with is 1.5A, which works fine, but honestly it's my "I'm sleeping and it's going to be sitting in the same place for many hours not needing to be used anyway" charger now. My 2.1 charger is just so much faster.
Got all the chargers on Amazon, none was more than I think 8 bucks at most. Just make sure to read the specs. Some of them are crafty little bastards and will say "4 Amp charger" when really it's just got two 2.1A ports and you open the box and see it and are all the fuck.
posted by phunniemee at 2:44 PM on October 20, 2014
I think the Chromebook charger is a 5A (which are basically impossible to find) but back when it worked, it charged my phone lickety split. Like crazy fast. Similarly, it charged my kindle superfast.
I got a 3A charger to replace the broken Chromebook charger. It charges my Chromebook, though not quite as well, and it also charges my phone super fast.
I got a 2.1A charger that didn't work for the Chromebook but did work really well for my phone, though not as well as the Chromebook charger. I ended up keeping that one. It works about the same as when I plug my phone dongle into my ipad wall hub.
Pretty sure the charger my phone came with is 1.5A, which works fine, but honestly it's my "I'm sleeping and it's going to be sitting in the same place for many hours not needing to be used anyway" charger now. My 2.1 charger is just so much faster.
Got all the chargers on Amazon, none was more than I think 8 bucks at most. Just make sure to read the specs. Some of them are crafty little bastards and will say "4 Amp charger" when really it's just got two 2.1A ports and you open the box and see it and are all the fuck.
posted by phunniemee at 2:44 PM on October 20, 2014
Most of my chargers are generic things I bought on Amazon, but the best are rated at 2.1A. Some chargers have multiple ports, allowing you to charge two or more devices at once (useful for my family), although many of those only have one 2.1A port, so that's something to watch for. CE marks and support for particular specs aren't something you generally need to worry much about in my experience.
posted by pipeski at 3:11 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by pipeski at 3:11 PM on October 20, 2014
We use a couple of Anker chargers and a Nexus 7 (2012) charger to charge a number of different Android devices. They all work fine and charge fast.
posted by cnc at 3:42 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by cnc at 3:42 PM on October 20, 2014
Best answer: buy this or a similar cheaper version and use any adapter capable of 2a, including the apple ones.
The difference here as mentioned above about apple not following spec, is whether the center pins are shorted, just have a resistor, or if the charger tries to handshake with the device. Phones like this, and many android tablets, just want the simple shorted solution. That adapter cable does that.
The aforementioned anker charger is a good suggestion. I've had amazing luck using older samsung phone chargers that supplied higher current with various tablets and such, they'll charge anything. Even non-apple stuff like dell tablets that are picky about what charger they'll play nice with.
To get very verbose though, i think the charger motorola is hinting at here is this. That's horribly overpriced though, and i'd wait to see if anyone confirms it does anything but shorts the pins before i hunted down anything.
I would bet good money that the short the pins and supply 2a thing is what you want. My friend has a 1st gen moto g, and it seemed to charge SUPER fast off of my 10k mah mobile power bank on the 2.1a socket, which is of the simple shorted pin variety. It wouldn't shock me if they changed it on the new moto g because of that new charger being available, but it would surprise me if it wasn't capable of both for some reason.
check xdadev and stuff, someone is going to test this and figure it out. that's a very, very popular phone. especially outside of the US.
posted by emptythought at 3:59 PM on October 20, 2014
The difference here as mentioned above about apple not following spec, is whether the center pins are shorted, just have a resistor, or if the charger tries to handshake with the device. Phones like this, and many android tablets, just want the simple shorted solution. That adapter cable does that.
The aforementioned anker charger is a good suggestion. I've had amazing luck using older samsung phone chargers that supplied higher current with various tablets and such, they'll charge anything. Even non-apple stuff like dell tablets that are picky about what charger they'll play nice with.
To get very verbose though, i think the charger motorola is hinting at here is this. That's horribly overpriced though, and i'd wait to see if anyone confirms it does anything but shorts the pins before i hunted down anything.
I would bet good money that the short the pins and supply 2a thing is what you want. My friend has a 1st gen moto g, and it seemed to charge SUPER fast off of my 10k mah mobile power bank on the 2.1a socket, which is of the simple shorted pin variety. It wouldn't shock me if they changed it on the new moto g because of that new charger being available, but it would surprise me if it wasn't capable of both for some reason.
check xdadev and stuff, someone is going to test this and figure it out. that's a very, very popular phone. especially outside of the US.
posted by emptythought at 3:59 PM on October 20, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ambrosen at 2:02 PM on October 20, 2014