Yay! I finally bought a phone... help with chargers

So it only took three months but I bought a Pixel 2.  Trying Project Fi as a virtual carrier. (Thanks, RevRico)

Now I need help with chargers.  Over the years I have amassed dozens of chargers for micro USB.  I have one for the office, two at home, one for each car, one for Baltimore girl's house, plus a few extras sitting around.  They are all the USB-A type, where a USB cable plugs into a wall (or car) transformer.  My first thought was to just buy a bunch of USB-A to C cords to use with my existing transformers, but I want to know something.

The charger that comes with the phone is 18w.  Most of the chargers I have range from 5w to 10w.  Should I get higher-amp chargers to take advantage?  I guess I'm wondering what is best for the battery.  I would think that one of the lower-wattage units would be great for overnight charging, then a higher wattage one in the car and office for quick boosts?  Or just go high-wattage for all of them?  What will keep the battery happiest?

TL;DR:  My chargers look something like these, all ranging from 5w to 10w.  Should I just get USB-C to A cords, or should I upgrade the transformer parts to higher wattage units?

I run the highest current chargers I can just for faster charging. 

That's not me saying run out and buy all new, I've just got a bunch floating around from old phones and tablets. That is me saying throw away anything that puts out less than an amp and replace it with at least a 2A Model. 

From my experience, less than 1 amp on most modern phones just creates heat, with very little charging. Meanwhile a good 3 amp charger with the Moto "enhanced charging" will go from dead to 85% in 15-20 minutes. 

These are the cables I use. Bought them in 2016, and haven't had a single issue with them.

I'm still not sure if it's just that they are USB C or if something else changed, but I haven't had a single bad cable or sorry connection since moving to USB C devices with these cables.  I'm fairly certain it's the USB C, since you can't put them in backwards, and there's nowhere near the play in the port from the micro USB days. 

An edit now that I don't have a 2 year old screaming in my ear and can think better. 10 watts or higher will be faster, 5 watts may not even charge. 

I use a Koolpad Qi wireless charger.  Just set the phone on it.

I detest micro USB.  I'm glad to get rid of it.

Thanks for the link.  Those look like great cables.  I put two packs in my cart (office, baltimore girl's house, my house, and travel)

Any truth that slower charging is healthier?  Like maybe a 10w for overnight, but a higher wattage for quicker charges at the office?

Am I also correct that higher amperage (meaning too high) won't make a difference... the phone only accepts what it can, right?  I won't kill anything with a 4A charger, for instance because the phone only takes what it needs?

The faster you charge, the more heat the battery develops during the charging process. So from that perspective, charging slower helps with longevity. 

Honestly I've quit plugging in over night. Hard habit to break, but with the phone in idle, I only lose 2 percent while sleeping, so I'm essentially experimenting to see if it will lead to longer overall battery life. 

I've been on the lookout for a 4+ amp charger, but all the ones I can find are split to several ports, usually 2A per port. 

Looking at the charger I use the most, which is from my old LG, it puts out 9v at 1.8A OR 5V at 1.8A. Weird, I thought it was a 3 amp charger. My G5 had the same "fast charge" the X4 does, maybe it's stepping up voltage for faster charging? 

I know I charge much much slower on my 5v 1.5A tablet charger than I do on the LG charger, but .3A shouldn't make that much difference. 

Now I'm curious. Time to whip up a spread sheet and do some testing. 

RevRico said:

Honestly I've quit plugging in over night. Hard habit to break, but with the phone in idle, I only lose 2 percent while sleeping, so I'm essentially experimenting to see if it will lead to longer overall battery life. 

 

I usually do that for the first several months of owning a phone until the battery starts crapping out on me.  My 3-year-old Galaxy S5 is lucky to make it 6 hours before I hear the low battery chime, and that is just normal use.  The way it works for me, I need to start the day with a full charge, then do a couple touch-ups during the day.  By the time bedtime rolls around, its usually off or down to almost dead.

I would love to only charge when it needs it, but that usually means several times a day.  Just makes sense to plug it in at night for me.

This Pixel 2 has the same mAh as my S5.  Here's hoping I don't always have to plug in.  And here's hoping that display technology has become more efficient in the last three years. 

So when buying additional chargers, I'll look for 18w or higher (per connection).  Is the fast charge part of the charger, or the phone.  That is to say, can I supply it with up to "x" wattage and the phone will automatically fast charge, or does the charger have to be compatible?

I ask because I see lots of chargers advertising "smart switch compatible with fast charge" or something like that.  I'm wondering if I have to buy the $20 charger to take advantage of that feature, or if I can buy the $4 18w charger and the phone will do its magic?

Curtis, you want to buy the $20 charger with Quick Charge/Fast Charge. Get the name brand stuff. We have the Motorola chargers (both new style turbo and old style 15W).  Smart does not equal fast (but could). 

FWIW, we keep old slow chargers on the nightstands and have the fast ones at work, in the car, and by the couch.

You're speaking my language.  Thanks for that input.

I'm thinking fast for office and travel, slow for nightstands at my house and baltimore girl's house.  Then I have a few more bricks for other random places as needed.

Here is what I ended up buying:

This 18w USB-A brick (qty 1)
A few of these USB-A to C cords (three at 6ft, three at 3ft)

I already have:

- several bricks ranging from 5w to 10w (I think I'll donate anything less than 10w)
- several 12w USB-A car plugs

The brick says all the right keywords, but who knows if it works as advertised.  We shall see.  The cords are overkill for everything except the one brick I bought, but A) they were actually the same price as wimpier cords, and B) I'm thinking ahead to possible future upgrades.

So, I'll have:

- two quick chargers (the one that comes with it and the brick linked above)
- two slow chargers (keeping two of the 10w bricks and putting A-C cables on them)
- two slow chargers for the cars (using the 12w plugs and A-C cables)

... all for about the same cost as buying one extra charger from google.

Once I get it all here I'll report back.  I'll download an ampere app to get an idea of what the battery is actually seeing when its charging on all of the above combinations.

I've somehow amassed a small army of samsung fast charging bricks. I just use those with usb-c cords. 

So I received the brick and the cords.  No phone yet so I can't speak to how well they work.

But, I must say, for $5.99, the cords I bought (BlitzWolf) are impressive.  I wish they were one step more flexible but for 24ga charging conductors they are pretty good.  They also might loosen up as the sizing in the braid breaks down.

Ok, back to compulsively and repeatedly checking my tracking number for updates on when the phone will be here. 

Does the pixel use a standard quick-charge protocol?  My Nexus 5X (Also a Google/LG/USB-C phone) uses some bizarre protocol that LG came up with.  It will charge "charge rapidly" on the LG charger (pretty quick), but only "charge" on any other charger, or even "charge slowly" on a lot of car chargers or any PC USB port.  Plugging it into anything that will "charge slowly" is almost pointless.

I hate the mess that car chargers are anyway, so my next phone mount for the car will get one of these hot glued to the back of it.

I keep slow chargers in car and night stand and keep portable charging unit in my work bag and use that or charge from computer..

ProDarwin said:

Does the pixel use a standard quick-charge protocol?  

 

That is a very good question and I can't find a real answer.  According to folks on android forums, the Pixel automatically selects its own charge speed based on the generic juice you give it.

If you give it 3.6a, it will choose quick, rapid, or slow depending on its level of battery.  If you give it 2.4a, it can only do slow or rapid but not quick.  Give it less than   2.4a and it will only do slow.

But there isn't a clear consensus on that.  Some people have tried non-google chargers that should work and they say its a crap shoot.  Some times you plug it in and it will do quick and other times it won't  So is it because its a compatibility thing, or is it because the cheap brick doesn't supply advertised amperage?  Hard to tell.

Ok.  Initial reports say "no, it doesn't work," but more tests are needed.

The Pixel will select (up to) quick charge when the battery is below a certain percentage (which I haven't seen yet).  

In a side-by-side test using the Ampere app, I saw this when I plugged in one charger, then the next while the battery was at about 60%

Factory 18w charger:  2807 mAh

Amazon 18w brick and BlitzWolf A-C cable: 2017 mAh

More tests planned tonight