Reasoning
With my late Samsung Galaxy S5, I used a usb OTG host cable (turn my micro usb into a full size usb port), and previously used to charge my personal device from that year (LG G3) using a micro usb cable. This is the reason i want to do this with my current work device, the iPhone 6S Plus.My employer used to give us the choice between a Samsung Galaxy S5 and the iPhone (at the time 6).
This year we moved to only using apple devices (unfortunate for me ;) ).
While its great having a free expensive device in your pocket, its not quite as useful as an android device for multi-functional use. Sure you get most of your apps to sync across devices, but its yet a secondary phone you must carry around. I now have the 6s plus, which has a decent battery life - and as i always say that apple devices are hands down THE BEST at doing nothing. Thats no joke, you turn it on standby, dont touch it and 3-4 days later still 70+%.
Why would you want to do this?
Well either way i need to carry around both devices, as the locked down work device has limitations of its own, and i have a crazy good data plan on my personal device. instead of lugging an external battery pack which you need to remember to charge, and cary extra cables as well as - doesnt work well for a last minute trip out and to have your battery to last with you. this way some short 10-15cm cables will do the trick - all while staying in your pocket.
Using Galaxy S5 as an external battery pack
A full Samsung Galaxy S5 (2800mah) battery would get me ~30% juice on my LG G3 (3000mah), and with the device turned off around ~40% (note: Samsung extreme battery saver mode was active)- while it was no competitor to an external battery it was a secondary device i must carry around, and didnt care if i left it on charge all day at work.
I recently performed the same test using my work iPhone 6s plus (2750mah) and my current device - the Google Pixel XL. Firstly note the Pixel XL has a larger battery (3450mah) than the LG G3, so that will have an effect on % levels.
Setup (Experiment 1)
Limitations
Due to iOS/hardware limitations (i have to repeat this everytime i mention the iPhone), the device does not continually output current to the OTG cable whilst the screen is off.
Workaround
Keeping the display on. Due to device policies i cannot select the screen not to time-out. This is easily solved by using an app to keep the screen on (I used 'Keep Screen On - battery level monitor' by Xiaobai Ma). This will have a noteable effect on battery life, and will absolutely tank it, even when i put it to minimum brightness.The Experiment
To avoid long device names i will refer to the iPhone 6s Plus as the iPhone and the Google Pixel XL as the Pixel
- Connect the iPhone and the pixel together using a ligthning to USB A Female adapter and a USB A to type c cable (courtesy of oneplus 3)
- I will take a measurement of the iPhone and Pixel battery
- once the Pixel shows the charging symbol on the battery icon, i switch the Pixel off
- After 30 minutes, the device will be switched back on while still being connected.
- I will take a measurement of the iPhone and Pixel battery at that moment
Result
The outcome of this test, is that the iPhone failed to charge the Pixel at all, in fact over the course of half an hour the battery dropped from 61% to 57%, which is a decrease of 4%. which seems to shows that current is being drawn from both devices which does not produce admirable results, as the iPhone also went from 99% to 92%.
Now there may be a few reasons for this:
- iPhone screen is hogging the battery power, effectively limiting the output current
- the lightning to USB A Female cable is faulty
Setup (Experiment 2)
Coming soon!
Conclusion
So as far as this test goes, you cannot use an iPhone to charge your android device, like i did with my samsung and other android devices. I will update this post with any new tests i perform in the future. One of them may be using power save mode on iOS and seeing if that has any affect on the charge.
I'm all for technology, so i will always try and find new ways to use devices and technology.
