I know that the charging speed for phones depends not only the amount of power being used while charging, but also on the type of power supply (ie USB is typically slower)...
Are there any apps that tell you exactly how much incoming power there is from the charger? I know most battery monitors have graphs showing battery life over time, but i'm more concerned with which of my chargers works better...
Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums
I am not aware of any app that specifically demonstrates the charging efficiency of a particular charger over another, or an app that shows the "charging rate" per se'. There are apps that let you see things like voltages and temperatures of the various components, and by way of the voltage of the battery, you can begin to chart or estimate the charging capacity, charging rate, etc. I can see how something like this would be a useful app. There are external charger devices that monitor the charging rate and determine the healthiness of the particular battery but they are rather expensive and typically only purchased by manufacturers, stores, or fleet managers such as for a trucking company for instance where they need to know the appliances are going to last the duration of the working timeframe.
As for what charger is working better than another, you already konw that the USB power sources like from the computer or a laptop, which typically only produce 500mAh, versus the one which shipped with the phone (which are 750mAh) will charge slower. There are also "rapid charger adapters" for car accessory jacks which produce a higher current level, but again within the ranges acceptable by the manufacturer's specs. I have said many times on this and other forums that you should only be using the chargers that are approved by Motorola and Verizon. There is a clause in the warranty that says if you use a non-approved charger, any problems you have with battery or power are not covered under warranty. Given that the phone IS smart enough to know what voltages and amperages are being infused into it by the charger, and since the OS DOES keep logs of these kinds of data, there IS the possibility that they can tell if you've used a charger that is not approved and thereby void your warranty. The phones (i.e. the Droid 1 & Droid 2) can recognize a battery that is not an OEM battery so I don't think it's very far-fetched that the phone can identify a charge that's not approved. There are "signatures" produced by all electronics and it's fairly easy to see if one device either matches or doesn't match a known signature.
Finally, there are potential damages that can occur from chargers which are designed to be "universal", especially if they are manufactured by less than reputable companies and with all that's coming over in containers from China, the possibility of such "dirty power" devices being one of the ones you may be considering is very real. You are ALWAYS best using ONLY Verizon branded or Motorola branded chargers which list the RAZR as an approved device. There are also "temporary" effects that can be visualized when using "dirty power" chargers such as the digitizer acting strangely when they are plugged into the charger, sometimes selecting items on the screen on their own, scrolling can be erratic at best and sometimes non-functioning at all. There are very possibly even long-term damages that such "dirty power" chargers can cause to both the battery, the phone or both.
