How to test your Android charger with Ampere

Current being consumed by the phone (charger disconnected)

If the phone battery takes time to charge, you are probably using a poor quality generic charger, it is a charger that offers low output current (this data can be seen on the charger chassis: something similar should appear to Output: 700mA ) or the cable is in poor condition.

That charger can be tested with the Ampere app for Android. Just connect the phone to the charger and see the value displayed by the application.

That value is the amount of current the charger is charging the battery with. The higher this value, the faster the battery will charge, so it will be a matter of using another charger that indicates a higher value to accelerate charging.

Current charging to battery (phone connected to charger) Current charging to battery (phone connected to charger)

Current charging to battery (phone connected to charger)

That is the most interesting use that can be given to Ampere, but with this application you can also check something else: see if the output current indicated by the manufacturer is the real one (the «Output» indicated above).

For this, you only have to add the value indicated by the application when the phone is connected and disconnected from the charger, that is, the value in green plus the value in orange (ignore the negative sign in the latter).

Current being consumed by the phone (charger disconnected) Current being consumed by the phone (charger disconnected)

Current being consumed by the phone (charger disconnected)

This sum should be equal to (or at least approximate) the manufacturer’s output current value. For example, if the charger has an output of 700 mA and the application indicates a value of -300 mA when the phone is disconnected from the charger (charge consumed by the phone), then the application should display a value of 400 mA when it is plugged in to the charger (dedicated charge for the battery). 300 + 400 = 700.

If this is not true, there may be two possibilities: it is surely a poor quality charger, or this sum can NOT be the same because the charger is much larger than the phone can accept. In this case, the battery charge value (green) will only go up to a certain limit and when added to the charge consumed by the phone (orange) the result will not be equal to the total provided by the charger.

Ampere does not offer exact values, but the approximate information it indicates is sufficient to test chargers and keep the fastest.

It is used for devices with Android 4.0.3 or higher versions. It does not work on all devices, because on certain Android mobiles there is no appropriate support to make these measurements, as indicated by the developer. In case of problems and inconveniences, the application download page (mentioned above), has all the information about this and other details.

Note : if the application indicates a value of 0mA, go to Settings (by tapping on the gear button at the top), choose “Basic Settings” and select the “Enhanced Measurement” box there.

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