Help with cell phone charging?

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

I know this is not directly related to media or Emby or other topics related to this forum but i need some advice and, after searching the web I found so much info, much of which contradicts itself, that I am lost more than I usually am.
I need to find a good, reliable external charger for my cell phone that can also run my phone while charging. It would be a huge boost if I could find one that can maintain operation and recharge from moderately bright room lights. (That is not a requirement but it is a good boost.)

My phone uses a USB C cable for charging and I have plenty of cables for that and I have found that a simple USB port works fine. It just does not charge fast.

I have searched and searched and read and read and I have managed to produce much more confusion than clarity.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

NOTE: I will not be using the phone for calls when on the battery pack, recharger or whatever. I just want to be able to listen to books and/or music when I do not have access to regular electric power.

Size/weight is not much of an issue but the charger should be no more than three or four times the size of my phone.

If it is not able to operate via light then it should be able to run the phone for 14-24 hours or more. By itself my phone can play audio for about 10 hours. I have even looked at packs that come in multiples but that does not seem to really be a good solution. I am looking quite seriously at:Solar cell phone charger. but I can not really tell if that is a good option for me and "FakeSpot" finds deception in the reviews.. I "think" it might be but I am not sure and I am not sure if there are better options.

One more thing is I cannot go to stores so I must order on-line or have some way to have the product delivered.

Thanks in advance for any all help. This search got complicated and out of control quickly.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Gilgamesh_48

[Chyron 221]

Quote

My phone uses a USB C cable for charging and I have plenty of cables for that and I have found that a simple USB port works fine. It just does not charge fast.

To clarify, USB-C is the shape of the port. USB-C is rounded and reversable, whereas USB-A is rectangular and only fits one way. USB 2.0, 3.0, 3.2, et al. is a standard specifying how much electricity/data the device can draw/transfer. That is, if you have a USB-C cable, but a USB 2.0 charging brick, the brick is not going to draw much electricity from the wall even if your phone can handle more.

Additionally, there is also a power standard called Quick Charge (QC). Quick-Charge-compatible devices can draw more electricity from the wall than the USB standard allows for. My Moto G Power (2020) is QC3.0 compatible, which means if I use a QC3.0 brick the phone will say "TurboPower Connected" and charge more quickly.

The reason why it's confusing is because the standards keep changing as data transfer rates increase and such.

 

What kind of phone do you have, @Gilgamesh_48?

Edited December 3, 2021 by Chyron

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

8 minutes ago, Chyron said:

What kind of phone do you have, @Gilgamesh_48?

Thanks for the response but:
I am not quite stupid enough to not know what USB-C is. I just included that as a bit of info.

Also I do not see what the make of my phone matters to this as I simply need a charger that charges via USB. However it is a Moto G Power. It is the best cell phone for me that I have ever found and its normal batter usage is very low. I get standby time of over 128 hours and I have never even seen the battery get too low during normal use. I only recharge about every three or four days.

I just need to find a way to handle operation when I am in a location with no or limited access to "regular" electric power.

I cannot count on power when I make my jump to the Paleozoic Era. I just need to make sure my Flux Capacitor is well charged and I cannot use the capacitor to charge my phone during the trip because I do not want to risk getting back by running it down.

[Chyron 221]

1 hour ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I am not quite stupid enough to not know what USB-C is.

In IT it's often necessary to explain things as though to the lowest common denominator because one does not know what the user is educated about. Also, you said you have a USB-C cable but didn't say what kind of brick it was, which also matters.

1 hour ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Also I do not see what the make of my phone matters to this as I simply need a charger that charges via USB.

Because, as I said, different devices can handle different levels of power draw. Better bricks that draw more power can sometimes cost more.

Moto G Power 2020 and 2021 models support Quick Charge 3.0. To that end, I recommend these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QK7PXZK

They're what I bought for myself.

EDIT: Now, the price of those bricks kind of undoes my argument a bit, since they are very inexpensive. But I still assert that whether or not I needed to recommend QC-capable charging bricks depended on whether your phone supported it or not. And also, I had a QC2.0 brick that came with a previous phone, but my current phone won't say "TurboPower Connected" with it because QC3.0 has a higher voltage draw.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Chyron

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

10 minutes ago, Chyron said:

Because, as I said, different devices can handle different levels of power draw. Better bricks that draw more power can sometimes cost more.

Moto G Power 2020 and 2021 models support Quick Charge 3.0. To that end, I recommend these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QK7PXZK 

They're what I bought for myself.

That link is to wall chargers BUT that is not what I want. As I said in my first post I need a charger for when I have zero access to regular power. I have plenty of wall chargers that work very well.

I need a solar or light powered charger or a battery pack with a long battery life. Where I will be going there is little or no AC power and i do not wish to be without my phone for long periods of time.

The link I provided in my first post points to the kind of thing I need.

I only mentioned the USB-C cable to show I do NOT need cables as I will be charging from lower powered chargers. I have tested and my phone will charge from a regular USB port just fine. It just takes a bit longer. In fact my default charger is just a regular USB wall wart. I carry the fast charger (higher power) with me when I go places but where I will be going there is almost no AC power so I need/want an alternative.

It does seem to me that any charger, other than the wireless junk that is now becoming common, should work just fine if it fills my other needs. I am just unable to decide from so many alternatives. The solar charger I linked may do what i want but I cannot tell how it will do in lower light levels.

It could be that I just need more than one of the simple chargers/battery packs that I have seen throughout the web and on Amazon and then I can recharge them when I can get to electricity. I "should" be able to get recharged by electricity every three or four days.

My phone has one of the longer battery lives I have found, that is why I chose it, so I do not need anything fancy. I am just trying to cover all my bases and be able to keep my phone operational at all times.

A solar or light powered charger would be ideal but the light level will often be low and that is really the only reason I am looking for alternatives to the one I linked.

Since money is not much of an issue for this maybe I will get the one I linked and two or three "regular" batter packs like: Portable Charger Power Bank 25800mAh I just do not want to over think this but I "think" I am.

[Q-Droid 641]

Anker is a reputable and reliable brand of phone charging accessories. Search on Amazon for Anker power banks, they even have solar powered ones. You can also expect Anker's power ratings (mAH) to be truthful compared to the claims from lesser brands.

Solar does mean solar. You can't expect enough energy from indoor lighting to do much more than run a calculator.

 

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

31 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

Solar does mean solar. You can't expect enough energy from indoor lighting to do much more than run a calculator.

Thanks. I "think" that my cellphone does not use more than a calculator when not being used as a "phone." I can turn on airplane mode (and turn off Bluetooth.) and the phone will not be drawing much at all when it is just playing audiobooks.

For my use I may find it better to simply get a mp3 player like a Sandisk or some such but that would give me a device I rarely use except when I cannot use my phone. But that may be the best solution in the long run.

[rbjtech 4257]

I'm not aware of any USB battery packs that will fast charge because as has been said about, a fast charge is not just about the increased current - it raises the voltage to 9v at the same current - thus more power = faster charge.  This has to be negotiated by the phone - and there are many 'standards' - tbh it's a bit of a mess ..

The only possible option is to look at car booster packs with USB power outlets - a) they are going to have a massive capacity and b) they 'may' fast charge as they will be 14.8v battery source (4 x 3.7v cells) as opposed to 7.4v (2 x 3.7v cells) in a standard USB battery pack (making fast charge impossible).

tbh - I think your solution of multiple standard USB packs is probably the best (and cheapest..) option. 

I hope this helps.