I ordered 3 microUSB cables over ebay. My phone was at about 50% battery and I wanted to use it as a hot spot for some browsing on my laptop, so I plugged it in, a charging icon appeared on the phone, my laptop showed it as a connected usb device and so I went about my business.
About 30 minutes later I checked the phone and to my dismay saw 45% battery. But ahh, I thought, I have been putting the poor little thing under too much pressure, acting as a WiFi hotspot must drain the battery quicker than it can charge via usb, perhaps even using my laptops usb port wouldn't output enough power. Unscathed I continued on and when I was going to bed I plugged the usb cable into a mains adapter and switched everything battery consuming off and content, went to sleep.
The next morning I was awoken by my phones alarm which got cut off unexpectedly. I attempted to unlock my phone which showed no more signs of life.
Why isn't my phone charging with these new USB cables?
For clarity:
They transfer data with no problems
The phone appears to be charging, showing all the signs and lights it normally would,
the cable that came with the phone works as you would expect, so its not a fault with the phone,
I think they slow the discharging of the phone, but I could be wrong.
Are these just bad quality cables? Is there a way to fix this issue?
