Faulty chargers causing battery problems? - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm wondering what the easiest way would be to test the charging voltage going to your phone from the charger. My experience has been that the first time I charged my phone it seemed to charge up just fine pretty quickly, but then drained pretty quickly also. The second time I plugged it in for about an hour or so and it had only charged up 10 or so percent and the phone was pretty hot. I was thinking maybe it was the outlet or something, but when I plugged it in to another one the charger started making this buzzing noise, and continued to buzz for about 6 or 7 seconds after being unplugged. This concerned me, so I switched chargers to a different one and it charged up my phone no problem and I have pretty good battery life.
I'm not sure how widespread this is, but I've had a few other people say they have the same issue as me with the buzzing and everything. One guy's phone phone got bricked completely before I mentioned to him that my charger was buzzing and he found his was also buzzing. This is just something to be aware of if you're experiencing heat issues or charging issues. Is there maybe an app that displays charging voltage?
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jtroye32 said:
I'm wondering what the easiest way would be to test the charging voltage going to your phone from the charger. My experience has been that the first time I charged my phone it seemed to charge up just fine pretty quickly, but then drained pretty quickly also. The second time I plugged it in for about an hour or so and it had only charged up 10 or so percent and the phone was pretty hot. I was thinking maybe it was the outlet or something, but when I plugged it in to another one the charger started making this buzzing noise, and continued to buzz for about 6 or 7 seconds after being unplugged. This concerned me, so I switched chargers to a different one and it charged up my phone no problem and I have pretty good battery life.
I'm not sure how widespread this is, but I've had a few other people say they have the same issue as me with the buzzing and everything. One guy's phone phone got bricked completely before I mentioned to him that my charger was buzzing and he found his was also buzzing. This is just something to be aware of if you're experiencing heat issues or charging issues. Is there maybe an app that displays charging voltage?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Hmm... My charger also buzzes when unplugged and plugged in. I noticed it before but didn't pay attention to it. I guess I'll use a different charger. I hope this hasn't killed my battery in any way.

did anyone request a replacement charger from Google or is everyone just accepting it for what it is?

My GNex came with a buzzy charger, I used it for two days before swapping for a new one and had no problems with it.
Is the LG charger broke? Maybe. Is the LG battery super sensitive? Possibly.
I use about 3 different charging blocks and cables on with my HTC onex and My Nexus 4, It doesn't matter at all which I use with either phone, the n4 still has crazy heat.
One thing either way, Never use a noisy charging block IMO.

My charger buzzes as well, and my battery life seems to be on the poorer side. I kind of doubt the are related, but perhaps they are. Would they send a new charger with a replacement unit?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

My charger also buzzes occasionally and will continue to do so for ~10 seconds after being unplugged. Should I be concerned?

Banished Angel said:
My charger also buzzes occasionally and will continue to do so for ~10 seconds after being unplugged. Should I be concerned?
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I'm in the same boat. What's the deal with the charger?

My charger also buzzes. I don't think it's defective though... Seems like everyone's does, plus it seems to be working fine. I just assumed it was some kind of capacitor discharging inside or something.
Just played around with it and it seems like the block buzzes when plugged in until you plug the phone in and it stops. Mine proceeds to buzz for a few seconds after unplugging as well, as others have mentioned.

Related

Gps drain faster than can charge?

Yesterday I left my house with around 75% battery left to drive 40 minutes or so using the Google Nav app. I also had it charging using the included data cable and a usb conversion plugin.
I was also listening to Pandora as it was navigating with the screen on low brightness. However, when I got to my destination, the battery was at around 45%. I know the converter piece isn't broke as my ipod charges fairly quickly via usb when plugged into that same piece.
Is the data cable that's included really that bad at providing enough power to run the phone, as well as a mild charging?
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Car vs Plug
Your car charger may be outputting at .5 Amp rather than 1 Amp; models exist for both. I do not pretend to know if .5 puts out more or less than GPS+Pandora; but your mileage may vary if you changed over to a 1.
I had a very similar issue this weekend. My problem was with overheating.
I left with my battery at about 60%, setup the GPS for travel. After about 20 minutes i noticed the charging light start flashing orange and green, and i noticed my battery was draining pretty quickly. The end result was that the battery was over heating (very hot to touch) and wouldn't charge because it was too hot, i had to remove the phone from the dock and put it in front of the air conditioner before it would continue to charge. This resulted in me holding the phone in front of the AC for about 2 hours because it could only last about 10-20 minutes before it would over heat again.
The dock is basically useless because the phone over heats, i have no idea if this would work differently if you start at 100%, but with anything lower it definitely fights to charge the battery and power GPS usage causing over heating.
Incase it matters i am using the Motorola P513 Car Charger (http://j.mp/cuOqWH) and the official car dock for the Incredible from Verizon.
That's definitely interesting. I wonder why they released something with that obvious of a fault. Major heat can't be good on the life of the battery.
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I had problem with charging while using GPS and listening to Slacker but that was with this cheap charger I had. Once I used a higher quality charger (dont remember amps) it was able to charge and use GPS and Slacker at the same time no problems. It gets to about 115 degrees though. Battery says 140 is too hot so I figure its ok. If it fries....sending back under warranty.
It's definitely important to charge at 1 amp and not .5 or .75. I fried my battery to the point where it wouldn't hold a charge. Its worth the money for the right charger.
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It's definitely important to charge at 1 amp and not .5 or .75. I fried my battery to the point where it wouldn't hold a charge. Its worth the money for the right charger.
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Thanks for the heads up
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When you guys have the phone in the dock with the gps on are you leaving the screen on as well? If so that could be a big killer of the battery expecially if you have your brightness set way up.
I just got back from a long road trip (22 hours each way) and noticed the phone would get warm if i had the screen on so I could see the map but if I shut the screen off it would stay pretty cool while charging. It will still talk and let you know when you need to turn even if your screen is off. Maybe something for you to try?
Just throwing this out there because of the overheating issues but Proclip will be offering the Incredible package soon. Not only can it be positioned right in front of the A/C but it will come with a charging cable that can be ran to a 12v(?) source cable such as an after market stereo's power cable.
Sounds like, for me, I will be able to get a solid stable charge and have it in front of the A/C for cooling if I get that problem.
Again, just throwing out what I'm planning. I emailed proclip and they said early June for a release date!
money226 said:
It's definitely important to charge at 1 amp and not .5 or .75. I fried my battery to the point where it wouldn't hold a charge. Its worth the money for the right charger.
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Agreed. 9 times out of 10 when using a charger not meant for your device specifically, the charger has the wrong voltage and/or amperage or it doesn't communicate that the battery is full properly.
The wrong charger will either not work at all right away (best case), kill the battery slowly by overcharging it, or cause some immediate overheating issues through overcharging or improper charging (worst case).
tl;dr: buy your chargers from reputable places, specifically for your device! It's worth it!
I am still holding out hope that they will release the same type of car dock that nexus one has. That thing was almost perfect as far as car docks go. At least imo.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
I drove from Mississippi to Florida and never had an issue. In fact, I listened to Pandora without a single interruption the entire way. Thats just awesome that Verizon's network had a data connection through rural parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Most of my trip was off the interstate.
FYI, I was using the rocket fish charger from Best Buy. It didn't have a proper dock, so my phone set in a cup holder. It never over heated but was slightly warm to the touch.
gummehbear said:
I had a very similar issue this weekend. My problem was with overheating.
I left with my battery at about 60%, setup the GPS for travel. After about 20 minutes i noticed the charging light start flashing orange and green, and i noticed my battery was draining pretty quickly. The end result was that the battery was over heating (very hot to touch) and wouldn't charge because it was too hot, i had to remove the phone from the dock and put it in front of the air conditioner before it would continue to charge. This resulted in me holding the phone in front of the AC for about 2 hours because it could only last about 10-20 minutes before it would over heat again.
The dock is basically useless because the phone over heats, i have no idea if this would work differently if you start at 100%, but with anything lower it definitely fights to charge the battery and power GPS usage causing over heating.
Incase it matters i am using the Motorola P513 Car Charger (http://j.mp/cuOqWH) and the official car dock for the Incredible from Verizon.
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gummehbear, I have the same car charger and same problem as you. I tried looking online to see how many amps that charger puts out but I can't tell. So our phone needs a one amp charger?
rkaplins said:
gummehbear, I have the same car charger and same problem as you. I tried looking online to see how many amps that charger puts out but I can't tell. So our phone needs a one amp charger?
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sounds like what ever amperage it is, isn't enough. I have a verizon car charger in one car and one I bought at Radio Shack in the other and they both charge while phone is in use fine
As much as i would like to say its just the charger, i do believe it has something to do with the device trying to charge itself.
Yesterday I used the same setup as i did when i had the overheating issue, but this time i didnt have an issue. The difference was that the phone was at about 94% compared to the previous when it was at about 65%.
Yesterday the phone charged up to 100% before the overheating could become a problem.
I will continue to analyse it the more i use it, i am trying to figure out exactly what the factors are. So far from my experience i believe that if your device is charged up enough, you won't encounter this problem. It seems to be the charging event in conjunction with the GPS drain causing the battery to overheat.
I had the same issues on a trip to the Bay Area, up Highway 1 yesterday. The phone actually came up with a warning message that the charger I was using wasn't able to supply an adequate charge + power for GPS.
I purchased the Official car charger directly from Verizon and I have come across this issue. So the problem is within the phone, not the charger.
Sunlight: heat.
Using the device: Heat
Charging the device: heat
Is it hard to understand why its overheating?

Loud buzzing from wall charger

Just wondering if anyone else noticed this. I unplugged the wall charger today and noticed it was buzzing. It continued to buzz for about 30 seconds after I unplugged it.
Maybe I have a bad unit? Or is it normal. It takes about 3 hours to charge to full and for it being a 1.2 amp output charger that seems kinda slow. I figured it has something to do with the lithium polymer battery but maybe it's the charger?
Going to bed now but I'll try to get a video recording of the buzzing noise in the morning.
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Would it be more like a "whining" sound from an internal capacitor discharging? I recall hearing that sound as well, when I switched off the charger and unplugged my phone. I think my previous HTC charger had that sound as well.
My OEM gnex charger does this but it's going through a UK adapter also
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I'm pretty sure this is actually a fairly common trait of mobile device chargers, and it has something to do with the rectifier(?) used to change the current from AC to DC to charge the phone. It shouldn't buzz at all when you have the phone plugged into the charger.
I simply remove my charger from the wall when the phone is not plugged in. I save a (minuscule) amount of energy this way, too.
FWIW my charger buzzes like crazy too (UK).
did anyone request a replacement charger from Google or is everyone just accepting it for what it is?
p.s. i found 3 threads for this issue...
klownkillah said:
did anyone request a replacement charger from Google or is everyone just accepting it for what it is?
p.s. i found 3 threads for this issue...
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I just realized my charger was having this issue too. It's too quiet to hear in most instances but if I get real close it easy to hear. It's very high pitch.
so is this normal?
fashofasho said:
so is this normal?
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It's normal. My Gnex charger does this as well. There was a thread in the Gnex forum that discussed this and I believe it was said that it was the capacitors making the sounds which is why when you unplug it the sound goes for another second or two before fading away.
snickerpop said:
I just realized my charger was having this issue too. It's too quiet to hear in most instances but if I get real close it easy to hear. It's very high pitch.
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I thought I was hearing things until I put my ear up to the charger. It's definitely audible from a distance...but mine isn't high pitched. The buzz I'm hearing is almost a tiny motor as odd as that sounds.
lazy-buntu said:
I thought I was hearing things until I put my ear up to the charger. It's definitely audible from a distance...but mine isn't high pitched. The buzz I'm hearing is almost a tiny motor as odd as that sounds.
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Same here. I can't sleep with it next to my bed it's so loud. I'm just using a charger from my old phone. I've used like 10 different mobile chargers and the n4 one in the only one that I've ever had that has this issue. US version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk²

Why does the stock charger buzz so much?

When I leave the charger that came with the N4 plugged in, it makes a noticeable buzzing noise. Is this common?
I think some of the charges are just defective. Sometimes my charger makes a noise even after it's unplugged for a couple minutes. I tend to use one of my other chargers/usb cables for my phone because I never have luck with my pc seeing my Nexus when I use the factory usb. I use my Samsung camera usb or my old vibrant charger with no problems.
Mine stopped working after awhile I started noticing the buzzes.
sent from my Spicy Nexus 4
awtacular said:
I think some of the charges are just defective. Sometimes my charger makes a noise even after it's unplugged for a couple minutes. I tend to use one of my other chargers/usb cables for my phone because I never have luck with my pc seeing my Nexus when I use the factory usb. I use my Samsung camera usb or my old vibrant charger with no problems.
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That happens because there is still some charge available in the capacitors. When the charge is "gone" the buzzing stops.
I've had two Nexus 4s, as the first was defective, and both chargers buzzed when the phone was not plugged in.
Dark Emotion said:
That happens because there is still some charge available in the capacitors. When the charge is "gone" the buzzing stops.
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yup. plug a cable and your phone into it for a few seconds. buzzing will go away.

Anyone tried wireless charging ?

Anyone tried wireless charging on DT2 or MXF ? And how was the experience ?
Works, nothing special - overnight charge from 1% to 100%
It works, but many of us have problems with the Qi charger disconnecting charge at 100% and then reconnecting after about 5% has drained. Motorola is looking into it. I may be picky on which Qi charger you use.
Maybe I did not notice this problem - as I put the phone on charge in the evening, until the next morning I take it to work.
I use cheap qi charger from ebay - ~$2.5
Use a ravpower qi charger every night, no issues, phone comes off 100% full, cool to the touch. I know some units I've tried with my Maxx back in the day kept it warm through charging.
007shark said:
It works, but many of us have problems with the Qi charger disconnecting charge at 100% and then reconnecting after about 5% has drained. Motorola is looking into it. I may be picky on which Qi charger you use.
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Hm, I haven't had this issue yet. I use a cheap generic three coil Qi charger. Is the issue just Qi or PMA chargers too? Because I was looking at buying another but this issue would be a little annoying to me.
007shark said:
It works, but many of us have problems with the Qi charger disconnecting charge at 100% and then reconnecting after about 5% has drained. Motorola is looking into it. I may be picky on which Qi charger you use.
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Exactly how it should work to prolong battery life. Keeping any battery (especially lithium) full charger for long period of time will significantly decrease its capacity.
My phone gets very warm wireless charging. I prefer fast charge
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Zeljko1234 said:
Exactly how it should work to prolong battery life. Keeping any battery (especially lithium) full charger for long period of time will significantly decrease its capacity.
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Never had a problem with that in the past even with wired chargers. I don't think in recent phones that there is actual current on the battery at all times past 100% whether charging wirelessly or wired. I'm pretty sure it goes into a maintenance mode, but it will still show charging on the display which is the important part. That is important if you use it on your nightstand as an alarm clock with wireless charging. My Sony Z3v had no problems staying in a charge state even after 100% but my Turbo 2 does not which causes it to disconnect. It will reconnect after it loses about 5%. If I don't have it silenced, it will wake me up when it reconnects. It also affects any tasks you have programmed to happen when it is charging.
From my understanding, the first Turbo did not have this problem. I think it cropped up from the inclusion of the powermat charging or maybe something related to the 810 processor. Anyway, just waiting for a definitive answer from Moto.
---------- Post added at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------
Xelios029 said:
Hm, I haven't had this issue yet. I use a cheap generic three coil Qi charger. Is the issue just Qi or PMA chargers too? Because I was looking at buying another but this issue would be a little annoying to me.
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Read the thread at the Moto Support Forums. https://forums.motorola.com/posts/215aa2bb51
It doesn't seem to affect everyone which may mean it is more dependent on your charger.
damkol said:
Maybe I did not notice this problem - as I put the phone on charge in the evening, until the next morning I take it to work.
I use cheap qi charger from ebay - ~$2.5
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ahahahahhaha.....it's really cheap !!!:laugh::laugh::laugh:
RGDROID said:
Use a ravpower qi charger every night, no issues, phone comes off 100% full, cool to the touch. I know some units I've tried with my Maxx back in the day kept it warm through charging.
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Have any Qi charger brand to propose ?
I'm using a Samsung Qi puck - not the newer round plastic one, but the older more squared soft-touch one. Works great, I don't have the 100% disconnect issue.
I use the tylt qi charger the desk top one so my phone is sitting at a 60 degree angle. It works great no issues and every morning my phone is at 100% and cool to the touch
This all sounds encouraging. I think it would be helpful if people could also add a few common notes:
charger / model
any case they have on the phone (or not) when using a Qi charger
whether the phone must be in a certain orientation (e.g., horizontal vs vertical) to charge
whether the phone is at 100% - and stays there after a charge
whether the phone is cool / warm / hot once charged
A cleaned up list developed from this would be a good resource for the user community
Tylt works great phone gets warm. Itian charger is cheap from Amazon but is very finicky.
Sent from my XT1585 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Really, Zeljko?
Zeljko1234 said:
Exactly how it should work to prolong battery life. Keeping any battery (especially lithium) full charger for long period of time will significantly decrease its capacity.
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Click to collapse
Uhm, that's one of the sillier things I've read today.
If it drains to 5% it's not terribly useful as a charge system regardless.
A charge controller chip is supposed to be designed to PREVENT the problem you just described.
Each charge cycle, regardless of it's form shortens the life of the battery, period. If you charge it up and then let it deplete it like that, you're damaging it as much as if you left it charging.
You kind of need to leave the stupid thing plugged in or in some wireless charge hysteresis loop so that the device isn't drained. In light of the charge system being supposed to keep the battery out of the loop until it needs to charge it again (some threshold below 100%) it shouldn't MATTER if it's "plugged in" and the device won't be pulling from the battery.
madscientist_42 said:
Uhm, that's one of the sillier things I've read today.
If it drains to 5% it's not terribly useful as a charge system regardless.
A charge controller chip is supposed to be designed to PREVENT the problem you just described.
Each charge cycle, regardless of it's form shortens the life of the battery, period. If you charge it up and then let it deplete it like that, you're damaging it as much as if you left it charging.
You kind of need to leave the stupid thing plugged in or in some wireless charge hysteresis loop so that the device isn't drained. In light of the charge system being supposed to keep the battery out of the loop until it needs to charge it again (some threshold below 100%) it shouldn't MATTER if it's "plugged in" and the device won't be pulling from the battery.
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You're talking like battery expert. Well, maybe you're. Then contact those guys and tell them they're wrong
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/lithium_based_batteries
I picked up 3 Samsung qi chargers at 6 quid each on offer on Amazon (UK). They work very well although they are more a convenience thing rather than a method of charging. I use one at work. One in the bedroom and one next to the Xbox great for the work desk to keep the device topped up and frees you up from plugging and unplugging constantly BUT.... It takes absolutely ages to charge so you dont go expecting to be dumping your cabled chargers. I use the work one most of the time as I'm out and about a lot and its very useful to be able to just grab the phone without unplugging and placing back on the pad when at the desk. The turbo charger gets used at home more coz in more likely to plug in to that and jump in the shower knowing that I'll have a nice reserve of power for the pub so yes they work as advertised and work well great as a trickle charge device when you ain't in a rush. If anyone is interested ping me and I'll spend some time on giving more detailed stats such as charge times from 0% and model number of the devices I use. Away for work at the mo so probably the weekend
Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk
Raynic
I bought the Raynic Orchard I. It charges the phone just fine, but I noticed that if the phone wants to wake up because it senses movement, it detaches and reattaches to the charter, which gets very annoying. I moved the phone to an angle where it couldn't see me (but I could see it; sensors were under my monitor stand but the rest of the phone was sticking out) and everything went smoothly after that.
Verizon QI charge stand, Verizon case, have to charge upside down
To charge our new Turbo Droid 2 in a Verizon QI stand with the Verizon case on it, the phone must be upside down. It's OK if out of the case. We have a car QI 'base' which it won't charge in either; probably exact same issue, whatever that is. Any ideas appreciated!
jdmba said:
I bought the Raynic Orchard I. It charges the phone just fine, but I noticed that if the phone wants to wake up because it senses movement, it detaches and reattaches to the charter, which gets very annoying. I moved the phone to an angle where it couldn't see me (but I could see it; sensors were under my monitor stand but the rest of the phone was sticking out) and everything went smoothly after that.
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Weird problem(s) with my Moto X Style 1575

I just got a used Moto X Style from Swappa. The seller sold it because of a broken screen. I got a replacement screen on ebay and fixed it. However since I started using it I discovered many issues, primarily about battery and charging. The phone will look like it's charging (charging indicator is on the battery icon) yet it never gets fully charged and once I remove the charger, it may be on 70%, the battery drops to like 4% instantly. I sent the seller a message asking if the phone had any battery issues so I could know if changing the battery would solve it, and he said no such issues while he used the phone. I also noticed that when the charger is plugged in the audio becomes erratic, like if a call comes in the ringer sounds weird and I have to listen carefully to know the phone is even ringing. I've opened the phone over and over again to check connectors and the battery if anything is misaligned or anything I forgot to put back in its proper place, and nothing is missing or different. If anyone can help with this issue, especially the battery issues, I would be very glad and thankful. Cheers...
Have you tried a different charger? I would recommend a quality one rated at least 1A (preferably 1.5A-2A) and a quality cable.
Although, the symptoms your reporting of the battery making a sudden, drastic drop in %% available certainly sounds like a bad battery.
acejavelin said:
Have you tried a different charger? I would recommend a quality one rated at least 1A (preferably 1.5A-2A) and a quality cable.
Although, the symptoms your reporting of the battery making a sudden, drastic drop in %% available certainly sounds like a bad battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I'm using the original turbo charger the phone came with. I also tried an original Motorola charger that came with a Moto X 2014 I had once. Both give the same result. However, I noticed that the most 'regular' charge I get is when it's connected to my laptop and put on 'charging only', though this mode never charges it fully; only gets to about 80% and just stays there and drops drastically when unplugged. Thanks for your suggestion. I will wait a bit for any other opinions before concluding about battery replacement. Thanks again. I appreciate.
ezeuba said:
Actually I'm using the original turbo charger the phone came with. I also tried an original Motorola charger that came with a Moto X 2014 I had once. Both give the same result. However, I noticed that the most 'regular' charge I get is when it's connected to my laptop and put on 'charging only', though this mode never charges it fully; only gets to about 80% and just stays there and drops drastically when unplugged. Thanks for your suggestion. I will wait a bit for any other opinions before concluding about battery replacement. Thanks again. I appreciate.
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sounds like the cell is bunk, replace that sucker dude

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