Hello everyone. Since my pile of USB C to USB C cables is growing I’d like to switch to those cables only. But, in doing so, I’d like to not necessarely charge my phone at over 10W (more or less). I tried buying some USB A to C adapters but, for some reason, they trick my Motorola Edge Plus 2022 into thinking it’s fast charging. Even the app Ampere, that measures the amps in and out, is reporting 2.8A instead of 1.4A.
For this reason I was wondering if there was any charger around that could do 10W without needing adapters. I guess I could mod a USB A one, but I’d be afraid to use it since my soldering skills are zero.
Yes, I agree that fast charging is too prevalent and can reduce battery lifespan, but I think it’s less of a concern now that more devices support adaptive charging. I believe my Pixel will automatically charge at a lower speed overnight, stop when it hits ~90%, then top off right before my normal wake up time. Apple and Samsung phones have similar features.
Another option is to use a Qi wireless charging pad/stand at 10W or 15W. It generates more heat, but charges more slowly, so I guess there’s a bit of a tradeoff.
I can tell you what I’ve been doing for years. I try not to let my phone drop below 20%, and I stop charging when it hits 80% (i.e. when AccuBattery sounds an alarm). This boils down to popping it on a ~18W USB-PD fast charger for 15–30 minutes once or twice a day. I also don’t charge it or use it when it’s hot.
The results have been great. I’ve had my Pixel 6 since launch day, so for about 10 months prior to the September update that nuked battery life for me. At that time I was seeing 101% battery health in AccuBattery. In other words, the battery is rated for 4,614 mAh but I was able to get 4,660 mAh on a full charge. (Now it’s all screwed up; I’m waiting for them to fix the battery drain issue(s) before recalibrating and reassessing.)
My phone does too. But it’s hit and miss because I don’t charge my phone consistently every time. And I always turn it off since it stays by my bed and I don’t want to have it on during night time near my head, even in airplane mode.
I’m worried that would generate too much unnecessary heat and basically be as bad as charging at faster speeds.
I used to do that with my previous device, but this one looks like it gets all wonky if I don’t do that. I’m seeing consistently better discharging patterns while doing so. But I don’t let it drop below 20% almost ever.
Wow, it charges really fast for being an 18W charger. My phone takes waay longer to charge up to 80% from 20% with a Motorola 18W charger. Maybe the charging curve is different.
So you want USB-C only, 10W, and 1/1.4/2A? Some weird requirements…
Look at the Step Down Voltage Regulator rather. But I don’t see any point in doing it for one phone.
Instead, I would just use two chargers, one USB-C and the other one suitable for the phone.
Or power your phone from bench power supply, but imho this is an abstraction.
If two chargers are a problem, buy one that has USB-C and USB-A, but do not expect low voltages.
Yeah, I know. I have an old USB A 4 port Anker charger that does 2.4A max out of each port and wanted to replace that with one that has USB C but not over 5V charging at least. I don’t think 15W charging is gonna degrade the battery too much.
Yep, that’s how I do it now. I was just wondering if there was a way to stop using USB A cables entirely, while not giving in to crazy high speed charging. Got a 68W charger for a phone, pure insanity!
This could work, but I should spoof the controller inside into thinking there’s a load to one of the USB A ports in order to cap the other one to 5V 3A. Also it would be USB A. I’m trying to consolidate cables for now, I can handle having more chargers.
And under spec cable, interesting and worrying at the same time. The phone is gonna negotiate the maximum charging speed anyway so I bet it would cook a cable like that.
So I’m wondering if a USB-C cable with only the power pins would do what you’re asking about here, since I’m assuming USB-PD runs over the data pins. I found this link which talks a little about it, and it sounds promising.
Though I’m not aware of any standards compliant USB-C cable that is power only.
Please note that since the data transfer pins have been removed, the USB 3.0 power negotiation process does not occur, in which case the charging device will revert to the USB standard power transfer rate of 5 V and 1 A. For all other applications, the connector will function like any other power jack and the charging will be governed by the adapter/charging circuit.
I don’t think it’s gonna work for one reason: Android doesn’t support “analog” devices through the USB so just giving it power it’s gonna result in that message appearing. I tested an analog USB C to 3.5mm jack adapter I got with my camera to see if I could avoid using a DAC, but it said exactly that. And i think the same would happen with a device like that.
It’s the opposite, it’s a USB A to C adapter. It works, it transfer data without issues. I think the problem lies in the adapter being also created to work with host devices. This confuses my phone for some reason.
I tried looking for those things but I couldn’t find it anywere!
Fire hazard for sure! hahaha
No phone without fast charging is gonna be enough for what I do unfortunately.
If I were to charge my phone every day at 68W the battery would be dead in a blink of an eye I’ll try to find a 5V 3A adapter and be okay with that I guess.
Looks promising indeed, but, as I said to Tim, I think Android is gonna stop me from using something like that. I think it’s also due to safety reasons because there’s a battery involved and nobody wants be a Samsung.
To be honest I’d be afraid of frying my phone feeding it power without data pins and charging negotiation.
I won’t be worried very much. I don’t know why “geeks” usually over do and feel like they know better than engineers who designed the product.
At the same time, I’m also puzzled why Android cannot provide user options to customize USB-PD negotiation e.g. limit the charge current below what your phone’s capable of.
Kinda waste of money IMO. Generate e-Waste at the same time.
Perhaps look for a “dumb Type-C cable” on the market which cripples USB-PD negotiation. So you can get either 1.5A or 3A. Very likely just 1.5A at most.
Or perhaps simply charge your beloved phone with a USB 3.0 Type-A port on your PC. You get close to 1A max. Some motherboards like MSI has Super Charger Utitility to output 1.5A on specific USB 2.0 ports. So don’t ignore what you already have.
Open the Settings menu and navigate to Battery and device care . Tap on Battery from the page that opens.
Scroll to the bottom and tap More battery settings .
Under Charging, you’ll find the option to disable Fast charging , Super fast charging , and Fast wireless charging . Simply toggle off the options you want to disable.
I don’t think I know better than the engineers. I know better than the marketing department that asked the engineers to build something convenient that wears out the battery much quicker in order to sell more phones.
Those usually get picked up by Android as “analog devices” and don’t work. Looks like charging negotiation is mandatory for safety reasons.
My USB A 4 port Anker charger is about to give up so I was trying to find a solution so consolidate the cable situation. If I just wanted to pick up a slow charger I wouldn’t have posted. But I agree on trying to reduce waste as much as possible, 100%.
Saw that while googling around, thanks for posting! If I found a way to spoof the USB A port into thinking there’s a load connected to it the other USB C port would charge at 2.1A. I guess I could try.
USB A would defeat the purpose of my search unfortunately.
I’ll try to find a 5V 3A adapter and be okay with that I guess.
