Mobile Phone Charging (Cable/Wireless and Fast/Slow)

[AdrianH]

POLL: So as wondering how you guys normally charge your mobile phones?

I have a Samsung S23, so I can charge with cable or wireless, and both support normal (slow) and fast charging.

I think I am just old school as I prefer to always slow charge, normally overnight via wireless charger, because my brain says slow charging is better and less harmful to the battery. Also, prefer the wireless charging as then it reduces wear and tear on the USB port. Only when I really need some charge and I am in rush to leave will I use fast charging.

 

[biometrics]

After a decade on Android I switched to Apple last year and use this for iPhone, Watch and Airpods, wireless and magnetic. I assume it’s slow charging.

 

[Evil_Villain]

The wireless charge will probably do a lot more wear and tear on your phones battery then plugging in a cable.

I always plug in, my 10 years Xperia Z Ultra still works and battery lasts micro USB port is still fine, but the flap/cover has deteriorated, but I don't use it really these days,

My 5 year old xz2 premium also no signs of battery wear I charge it when I need to with the original Sony charger, I've wireless charged a few times when I needed to but it's not something I would do over just plugging it in.

Recently bought a zte nubia z50 ultra that does 80w charging and it's pretty neat but I need to get an adapter for the charger, but too lazy to switchover from the xz2 premium.

I really don't understand how people destroy USB ports, not sure if low quality parts on most phones or I'm just lucky.

 

[Old User]

The wireless charge will probably do a lot more wear and tear on your phones battery then plugging in a cable.

I always plug in, my 10 years Xperia Z Ultra still works and battery lasts micro USB port is still fine, but the flap/cover has deteriorated, but I don't use it really these days,

My 5 year old xz2 premium also no signs of battery wear I charge it when I need to with the original Sony charger, I've wireless charged a few times when I needed to but it's not something I would do over just plugging it in.

Recently bought a zte nubia z50 ultra that does 80w charging and it's pretty neat but I need to get an adapter for the charger, but too lazy to switchover from the xz2 premium.

I really don't understand how people destroy USB ports, not sure if low quality parts on most phones or I'm just lucky.

Other way round.

The slow charge rate of wireless charging at low amperage is a lot better than the fast charging over cable.

This of course makes no real world difference and whether you look after the thing like a puppy or burn it like a 600cc superbike the real world different will be at best 1% or luck of the draw will see you with a dud battery and your friends with one that lasts 10 years.

There’s no reason to even think about this stuff in the modern world. Plug it in when you need it to charge…the phone will figure out the rest.

 

[Old User]

After a decade on Android I switched to Apple last year and use this for iPhone, Watch and Airpods, wireless and magnetic. I assume it’s slow charging.

Same story just a different product.

Does that have MagSafe? I’m keen to get a new one with a new phone for the standby mode.

Watch, iPhone and AirPods all on one dock.

Only the iPad is plugged into my Mac most of the time.

 

[Evil_Villain]

Other way round.

The slow charge rate of wireless charging at low amperage is a lot better than the fast charging over cable.

This of course makes no real world difference and whether you look after the thing like a puppy or burn it like a 600cc superbike the real world different will be at best 1% or luck of the draw will see you with a dud battery and your friends with one that lasts 10 years.

There’s no reason to even think about this stuff in the modern world. Plug it in when you need it to charge…the phone will figure out the rest.

Not sure, I don't like the amount of heat wireless charging generates. Doesn't seem healthy but it's probably designed for that. To be fair I don't see any Samsung phones lasting past 2 3 years either so it doesn't matter.

 

[Old User]

Not sure, I don't like the amount of heat wireless charging generates. Doesn't seem healthy but it's probably designed for that. To be fair I don't see any Samsung phones lasting past 2 3 years either so it doesn't matter.

Looks at almost 4 year old iPhone….

Anyway I’ve never noticed a heat problem wirelessly, it’s wired that gets it crazy hot.

But I also understand everything not an iPhone is inferior so it makes sense.

 

[AdrianH]

Not sure, I don't like the amount of heat wireless charging generates. Doesn't seem healthy but it's probably designed for that. To be fair I don't see any Samsung phones lasting past 2 3 years either so it doesn't matter.

I used my Hauwei P10 from mid-2017 up until late last year when the battery really went belly up and struggled to hold a charge for longer than a few hours.

Only reason I chose Samsung S23 is because it's one of the smallest Android phones around. For some reason, most other phones have this massive screen which is not something I want. Must say, it's a decent phone though, quite happy with it.

 

[Evil_Villain]

Looks at almost 4 year old iPhone….

Anyway I’ve never noticed a heat problem wirelessly, it’s wired that gets it crazy hot.

But I also understand everything not an iPhone is inferior so it makes sense.

Specifically mentioned Samsung because I see the iPhones around me tend to age much better than any kind of Samsung or xiaomi.

I used my Hauwei P10 from mid-2017 up until late last year when the battery really went belly up and struggled to hold a charge for longer than a few hours.

Only reason I chose Samsung S23 is because it's one of the smallest Android phones around. For some reason, most other phones have this massive screen which is not something I want. Must say, it's a decent phone though, quite happy with it.

I really hate the round corners and notches and cutouts on 98% of modern phones, hence why I bought a z50 ultra nice and square and not cutout.

Didnt feel like spending 30K+ to import a Xperia 1 V either.

 

[AdrianH]

Specifically mentioned Samsung because I see the iPhones around me tend to age much better than any kind of Samsung or xiaomi.

I really hate the round corners and notches and cutouts on 98% of modern phones. Hence why why I bought a z50 ultra nice and square and not cutout.

Didnt feel like spending 30K+ to import a Xperia 1 V either.

I actually had a Sony Xperia Z, got it in 2013 sometime. Was a fantastic phone, was water resistant even if it still had those funny flaps over the ports. Unfortunately one day in 2017 the screen just stopped responding to touch, and to send it in for repairs was expensive. So I got the Hauwei P10 which was also a good phone.

 

[Evil_Villain]

I actually had a Sony Xperia Z, got it in 2013 sometime. Was a fantastic phone, was water resistant even if it still had those funny flaps over the ports. Unfortunately one day in 2017 the screen just stopped responding to touch, and to send it in for repairs was expensive. So I got the Hauwei P10 which was also a good phone.

The flaps on my Z Ultra are the only things that haven't lasted, but it's a bit slow these days with the modern apps,

Asus zenfone & Xperia 5 series are the ones to go for for something smaller. Am actually considering getting a Xperia 5 V later on because I would like something smaller too.

 

[biometrics]

Same story just a different product.

Does that have MagSafe? I’m keen to get a new one with a new phone for the standby mode.

Watch, iPhone and AirPods all on one dock.

Only the iPad is plugged into my Mac most of the time.

Yes, the phone case has it printed on the back.

 

[s@tanboy]

I've been wirelessly charging my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 since 2018. The battery still behaves the same since then.

 

[JoE]

Been using wireless charging ever since I owned devices that could. I only ever use a cable when there's no wireless charger around.

My phone has all radios (wifi, BT, GPS) turned on and lasts me a day so usually just sleeps on my bedside clock where it charges overnight and stops around 90% and tops up before I wake up.

I only set it to charge once it drops below 20% and remove it from charging anytime it's above 80% if it's not charging overnight.

My iPhone 8 lasted me 4 years and had 83% battery efficiency when I upgraded to my iPhone 12 mini which I plan to replace next year when the USB C iPhone's are around.

 

[AdrianH]

Been using wireless charging ever since I owned devices that could. I only ever use a cable when there's no wireless charger around.

My phone has all radios (wifi, BT, GPS) turned on and lasts me a day so usually just sleeps on my bedside clock where it charges overnight and stops around 90% and tops up before I wake up.

I only set it to charge once it drops below 20% and remove it from charging anytime it's above 80% if it's not charging overnight.

My iPhone 8 lasted me 4 years and had 83% battery efficiency when I upgraded to my iPhone 12 mini which I plan to replace next year when the USB C iPhone's are around.

I try get my phone on a charger if it goes below 15%. Also, the Samsung has a setting to stop charging at 85% which I have turned on. I wish I could actually change this to 90%.

Maybe I can do this in Tasker, will have to check.

 

[Evil_Villain]

I always just charge as I need to, but will do a complete 0-100 every once in a while, usually when my phone reminds me it's not been reset in over a month.

 

[AdrianH]

Been doing a bit of investigation on my phone with regards to battery. Over night when not charging, I was losing between 1%-3% per hour when not charging. This seemed excessive to me.

So I installed Gsam Battery Monitor (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm) to check which apps were keeping the phone awake. I normally use BetterBatteryStats to do this, but seems to not work correctly with Android 13.

Anyway, after a few hours I determined

1) Samsung Health app is quite regularly getting the location. This isn't needed for me, so removed the location permission of the app and that sorted that out.

2) Then I also had a UK banking app that would wake up often, not sure why. So I just turned on restrictive battery on that which basically means it only works in the foreground.

3) A digital clock widget which could also show the weather was really keeping the phone awake , 12 minutes over 6 hours of no use. So I tried a few things to fix this. One was to disable the live weather. The other was the options to send back diagnostic data to the author. Now it also behaves.

Now I am between 0% to 1% per hour, with an average of 0.56% per hour which is how things should be.

 

[MarioAna]

I just charge my phone next to my bed through the night, never need to charge it during the day. Guess my usage isn't all that high. No idea if it's good or bad for the battery to do it that way but i'm not overly concerned about it.

 

[Tag11]

Same story just a different product.

Does that have MagSafe? I’m keen to get a new one with a new phone for the standby mode.

Watch, iPhone and AirPods all on one dock.

Only the iPad is plugged into my Mac most of the time.

Me too...

I found that the USB-A to USB-C cable and brick that came with mine never manages to get the phone fully charged overnight.

So I got a more powerful (I think 65W) brick, and upgraded to a USB-C to USB-C cable into the desktop stand and now airpods, watch and phone all charge perfectly.

Very convenient, and it freed up 2 lightning cables and a watch charging cable for the rest of the family to use.

 

[Old User]

Me too...

I found that the USB-A to USB-C cable and brick that came with mine never manages to get the phone fully charged overnight.

So I got a more powerful (I think 65W) brick, and upgraded to a USB-C to USB-C cable into the desktop stand and now airpods, watch and phone all charge perfectly.

Very convenient, and it freed up 2 lightning cables and a watch charging cable for the rest of the family to use.

Aaah yes I remember that way back when I also needed to change the power supply for it to actually allow all three devices to charge at full power otherwise I had very similar things that I either needed charge only my phone or leave it on literally forever.

Now I have my old wireless charger in the kitchen and anyone can use it who visits.