Yes, that was the main idea for superseding the µUSB standard.
But is it lack of communication or fear of damaging something,
these days still many look curious when seeing a mobile connected to a notebook psu.
But yes, there were and probably still are cable types and chargers out there not being certified causing severe damage.
We are talking about the FP4 here. This phone supports USB PD as well because that is part of the QC 4.0 specification, hence it should do fast charging with both phone (QC) and laptop (PD) chargers.
For the FP3 you are right, fast charging is not guaranteed with that phone.
Overcharging in this situation is where a charger isn’t communicting well with the device and keeps charging it.
Contrary to comon sense a battery can be overcharge and it will be possible to get 110% of the designed AmpHours.
Trickle charging can do this and the only thing stopping it is a reliable communication between the battery and the charger and reasonbly accurate monitoring of the battery by the phone and the batteries intrenal safety features.
None of the auto safety measures are fail safe so it is always wise to unplug the device from the charger when it had reached a user desired level 100% or 90%
100% doesn’t equate to a full battery just to the maximum the software has set. For ‘longevity’ of the battery it would make senes to have the 100% readout for the user to be only, maybe, 90% of the real maximum capacity of the battery.
It is the phone, not the charger, which prevents overcharging. The charger and phone negotiate a maximum current, after which the phone may draw that current, or less.
The phone will simply draw progressively less current if it’s close to 100%. The charger can’t “push” more current through the phone.
What could happen with a faulty charger is that it goes outside its voltage range if little current is drawn. But that would simply cause the charge controller in the phone to heat up or shut down, as that controller limits the voltage to the battery in any case.
I would hope that is the case, as designed, that the charger can respond to the phone as designed and the phone, with it’s design, and the battery with it’s safety measure all work in harmony. Probably fine 99.9% of the time when using a recommended charger, otherwise it can be comforting to keep an eye on the charge level and the heat of the phone.
I have no recommended chargers. I use 12V to 5V USB A, 12V to QC 18W QC USB A and 12V to PD 60W USB C. It’s taken a while to get comfortable with my charging methods, some 19 months.
But I did buy a couple of ‘official’ fairphone cables 
Some correction is in order here.
USB power supplies actually don’t controll the charging of the battery at all.
All they do, is provide a negotiated voltage up to a given current. By default, that’s 5V at 900mA (=0.9A) for USB 3, or 5V at 500mA for USB 2.
USB PD (which stands for Power Delivery, not Power Direct) can be used to negotiate up to 20V at 5A. This only happens, when a USB PD negotiation is successful, so this cannot harm devices that don’t support USB PD. In that case, it falls back to 5V.
The voltage is supplied by the power supply, but how much current (ampere) is actually used is determined by the device. The ampere ratings of the power supply don’t determine how much current flows, but what’s the maximum amount of current, that can be drawn safely.
Overcharge protection, same as the charge process in general is completely managed by the phone and has nothing at all to do with the charger.
Otherwise, phones would blow up each time you connect them on a dumb charcher which just supplies 5V and leave them there over night.
To prove the point, I’ve got a non-USB power supply here, that supplys 5V with 11A at maximum. That’s about 12 times as much maximum current as USB 3 normally supplys. I cut up a USB cable and connected it only to the 5V output. So here we got a supply, that can supply crazy amounts of current at regular USB voltage, but with no USB PD negotiation.
When I connected it to my phone, it totally worked, and charged my phone. At 0.9A. The reason is, that, since there was no USB PD negotiation, the phone didn’t know the capabilities of the power supply and thus fell back to only using as much current as it knew would be safe: USB 3 standard 5V@0.9A.
TLDR:
The explanation might sound impressive, sadly almost everything of it is wrong…
Hi.
Maybe you could correct me and I could edit or delete my comment. Thanks
OK I don’t see a problem but you may not like one part
“The only concern is that if there no control the phone may take a bit too much when it is already nearly fully charged, you can only tell by looking at the rate of charge which isn’t easy.”
There is such a concern and this is why Fairphone note not to fully charge a battery if not essential as ‘fully’ charging can lead to quicker battery degradation. Even if a phone is plugged into 5V for an extended period the phone can ‘keep’ charging the battery even though it is ‘full’
Full is just a setting the battery can be pushed to that limit and being held there is not the healthiest thing for it.
That is just not true.
First of all, the USB port always supplies 5V, no matter what the phone does with it.
Maybe, I’ll first have to explain how charging of a Li-Ion or Li-Po battery works.
With those batteries (contrary to e.g. a lead acid battery) the charge level directly correlates to the voltage the battery outputs. A Li-Ion battery cannot discharged below 3.0V without causing permanent damage (deep discharge). So usually, a Li-Ion battery is only discharged to 3.3V or 3.5V (this is then 0% or an empty battery).
3.7-3.85V (80% charge) is the optimum level for the battery to be stored at.
4.2-4.4V is the full level of the battery. This is the highest voltage to which it is acceptable to charge a battery to. But this charge level is stressing the battery, so it should not be kept at that stage for extended periods.
The battery should NEVER be charged higher than that, since it can quickly cause bloating and fire from that point on.
No charge circuit will ever charge beyond that point, ever, unless they are trying to start a fire.
So, how then is a battery charged?
First, we start of with an empty battery, say at 3.3V. The charger will pull up the voltage from those 3.3V, which will cause current to flow into the battery, charging it. The higher the voltage difference between what the charger supplies and what the cell currently has, the more current flows into the battery.
This phase of the charge is called “fast charge” and the voltage is raised to the point, where a specific current flows, e.g. 3A. This current is limited by the cell’s maximum charge speed and the power the PSU supplys, what ever is lower.
Once the battery reaches around 3.7 to 3.85V (depending on the specific battery), the charging circuit switches to “trickle charge”. Here it will not pull the voltage higher than the cell’s maximum charge level (4.2-4.4V). This meansn charging slows down a lot.
Once the battery reaches its maximum charge level, it will stop charging. Your phone still displays the charging symbol (since it means “USB power is plugged in” and not “phone is actively charging”) but it is not charging, until the cell’s voltage discharges below a certain threshhold, then it will start charging again until it reaches maximum voltage.
So, no, a full battery will not be charged even a tiny bit.
But your bigger mistake is actually thinking, that the USB power supply is somehow responsible for limiting charge current. Thats utter nonsense. That’s the responsibility of the phone’s internal charging circuit.
You can take a USB chord, cut it open and remove all wires except VCC and GND ( the power wires), so that there is no communication between the PSU and the phone, and it will still charge and not overcharge (though USB PD will not be available).
Next issue: without USB PD negotiation, the fallback profile is 5V@0.9A for USB 3, not 5V@3A.
You didn’t even get the name of USB PD (which means Power Delivery, not Power Direct) right.
Honestly, there wasn’t much at all correct in your post.
I think the point people were trying to make, is that this none of this depends on the type of charger connected, and is thus off-topic here. You can’t create any more damage by connecting the wrong charger, unless that charger is doing something really off-spec.
Thanks for your detailed reply and
I’m not saying that 3A will be forced into the phone, just that the charger the person is using is capable of providing 3A. This is dependent upon the battery ~ a large battery may well take all the 3A. This was not a reference to a USB standard.
I’m sure I didn’t say that ???
This what I was referring to when saying not to leave it plugged in without paying attention as when the battery is ‘full’ it is still subject to intermittent charging to keep it so. And as you point out that isn’t a great idea.
So whereas I agree with your understanding I think you have somehow not seen my text in the same light.
There are parts of your tidy explanation that I would argue with, but it’s fine and more detailed than my effort.
So I will leave the issue to you to ponder. If there is any error in my post please specify so I can correct, otherwise I will end this discussion as it is getting very off topic.
Simple question, simple answer
Yes you can
Ok, let’s go through it. I see, you removed the “overcharge” part of your answer, which was the most dangerously wrong part, but let’s go through the rest:
Hi and hello
The voltage range and current are common for PD chargers and the Fairphone uses QC
[Power Dilivery or Quick Charge]
DElivery
They are different protocols which communicate the charging rate required by the device, depending upon it’s state of charge, but most modern chargers handle both protocols.
Nope, devices don’t communicate the required charging rate, and that communication doesn’t depend on the state of charge.
They communicate power requirements, and the value is usually negotiated at the beginning of the communication and not changed afterwards. This is important, because USB PD can also power devices that don’t actually have a battery. (E.g. a laptop with disconnected battery.)
I the Fairphone gets no response from the charger it will just use the lowest voltage and but as, according to your ‘specs’ still provides 3A it should charge fairly rapidly. (rapidly may not happen)
Nope, it’s not 3A, but 0.5A on USB 2 and 0.9A on USB 3. That’s the maximum a device is allowed to draw, if no negotiation determined another voltage/current.
The only concern is that if there no control the phone may take a bit too much when it is already nearly fully charged, you can only tell by looking at the rate of charge which isn’t easy. (This refers to the fact that a fully charged battery left plugged in will be topped up keeping the battery at an increased stressful level)
Not true. USB PD communication will change nothing at that fact. Any USB power supply (PD or not) will keep delivering power, because it knows nothing of the charge state. And no matter what kind of power supply you use, the phone’s battery charging circuit will keep the battery topped up. And that circuit also reduces the current needed, if necessary.
Ensure you keep an eye on the phone as it reaches 90% 95% and see if it says it is charging slowly, that means it is communicating and there should be no concern that it overcharges.
Not true. Again, the charging speed during topup charge is controlled completely and only by the battery charging circuit built into the phone. There is no communication happening with the power supply that would limit anything here.
Saying that, there are many recommendations, including by Fairphone that battery ‘life’ can be extended by not fully charging the battery. Some people use 80% as a max so they either root the phone to install a control app or, as I do, keep my eye on the phone.
This is true, but again, has nothing to do with the USB power supply. In these control apps, the phone shuts down it’s charging circuit. It does not communicate with the USB power supply to turn of the power.
On the note of battery ‘longevity’ it is also touted not to let the battery go too low, especially in cold climes. Although I have no routine I rarely let the battery drop below 10% nor charge it above 90%, with commonly an even smaller range.
This is actually correct.
But the main point where you went wrong is that you think, a USB power supply can actually reduce it’s power output below 5V.
To get back to the basics: The PSU can only determine the voltage. And it has a certain “power” to hold that voltage, depending on how much current is drawn.
When a PSU says, it does 5V@3A, that doesn’t mean it can somehow limit how much current is flowing. That means, it promises to be able to safely deliver a voltage close to 5V if no more current is drawn than 3A. If you draw more, the PSU will likely get hot and the voltage will drop below the rated 5V.
A PSU usually has no way of limiting the current.
So when PD negotiation failed, the phone will only draw 5V@0.5A/5V@0.9A, not because the PSU did anything, but because that’s the highest current, that the phone knows is safe to draw. There is nothing stopping the phone from drawing more, but the phone doesn’t know if that might damage the PSU. So it sticks to the safe limit it knows.
Why would you think warning someone about overcharging would be dangerous ?
You seem to have read me wrong.
Again you seem to have misunderstood.
There is no mention in my post that the 3A is being supplied via a USB A comming from a computer using USB 2 or USB 3
In fact my
And you aknowledge the battery will keep charging ??
Though I could agrue your comments more, and no doubt you may have some ‘good’ intenttions, this is off topic and maybe a good idea to stop here
Why would you think warning someone about overcharging would be dangerous ?
Cause it will make them afraid of something that isn’t happening. You could also warn people from their TVs blowing up. Or air turning into butter.
I didn’t say a USB power supply can reduce it’s power below 5V
Ok, if the PSU does not reduce it’s power below 5V, how exactly do you suppose that it can then limit the charging rate in any way?
Go back to Ohm’s law. Current is a function of voltage and resistance. Resistance is controlled by the consumer, voltage is regulated by the power supply. The PSU cannot change the resistance (since that’s the domain of the consumer), only the voltage.
So if the PSU doesn’t change the voltage, it cannot control the current.
Power is a product of Amperage and Voltage and the power drawn from any source, including a USB can drop to almost zero once the battery is ‘charged’ or the laptop in hibernation.
Correct, and that is purely the consumer’s domain to control, unless the PSU reduces the voltage, which (with USB) it doesn’t.
There is no mention in my post that the 3A is being supplied via a USB A comming from a computer using USB 2 or USB 3
You do know, that USB 2 and 3 are standards, that are not tied to a computer?
USB A can supply 2.4A and has a voltage range down to 3.4V
USB C provides 3.3A
Dude, basics. USB A and USB C are standards for plugs, they have nothing at all to do with what’s happening on them. Yes, they are rated for that current, but that doesn’t mean that they actually supply that current. It just means, that’s the maximum a basic USB A/USB C plug need to be able to supply without damage to the connector/cable (unless it’s a USB PD certified connector/cable, in which case they need to be able to supply more).
Just grab a random older, cheap USB Power Supply. They often have ratings as low as 1A or even 0.5A on them. They don’t supply 2.4A or even 3.3A.
And you aknowledge the battery will keep charging ??
No. A fully charged battery will not keep charging. Charging will be switched off, until the battery is not full any more, then it will start charging again. Google the word hysteresis for that concept.
Though I could agrue your comments more, and no doubt you may have some ‘good’ intenttions, this is off topic and maybe a good idea to stop here
Nothing to do with good intentions. You are posting quite a bit of nonsense, with most of what you post being misunderstandings. I am here to clear that up.
You:
-) Don’t know what’s the difference between USB A/C (which are standards for connectors), USB 2/3 (which are standards for protocols and minimum capabilities) and USB PD (which is a separate power supply standard)
-) Don’t know the difference between a power supply (which supplies power and doesn’t care what happens with it afterwards) and a charger (which knows about battery state and supplies the correct voltage/current fitting to a charging curve)
-) Don’t know Ohm’s law and it’s application (mainly, voltage is controlled by the power source, resistance is determined by the load)
-) Don’t know about charging control
-) Don’t know about the charging cycle of Li-Ion/Li-Po batteries
But still you defend your misunderstandings and keep adding others to the pile.
As I indicated you seem to be misunderstanding and repeatingly so. My comments were to the OP not to you, so sure you can be picky and have taken things out of context.
I have created a Guide to clarify, which you may have issues with, but as I have said this is way of topic here. See you there
By the way I was an electronics engineer some 60 years ago so have some understanding of Ohms law but I do have dyslexia and so spelling and word disassociation are common as you were so keen to note, 
in Power Direct and the spelling of delivery.
Hi @amoun, I am “misunderstanding” your posts in the same way. I understand that you don’t want to charge a phone to 100%, but there is no point going into that discussion in a topic about chargers and negotiation, because it is not related to the type of charger.
This quote is the one that bothered me:
You keep talking around this point by telling us why keeping a battery at 100% is bad.
Thanks for the input.
I can see how this may seem problematic.
Charging a phone to 100% isn’t argueably the best for the battery, though it may suit the user. Secondly as charging a phone to 100% requires accurate calibration of various pieced of equipment, especially communication between the battery and the phone there is an increased risk of damage to the battery by excessive charging that would occur if it is not charged according to the phone.
None of this relates to the actual battery state of charge just the perceived charge via the phone.
I’m not saying charging to 100% is bad, far from it, but I’m not saying it’s good. It’s a matter of choice for the user.
My intial response, which has been thorougly questioned was to say to a non tech user that if they use an unknown charger then if they have any worries about damaging the battery was a) not to charge fully, which in some case could amount to excessive and ‘overchrged’ and to keep an eye on it’s state. Unlike the FP3 there is no LED indicating when the battery is deemed 90% charged.
Thanks.
No specifc type of charger was mentioned only some specs, so my answer was a bit generalised to allow for caution with any type of charger.
65W
Input 100-240VAC 50/60Hz 1.7A Max
Output 5.0V/9.0V/12.0/15.0V=3.0A, 20.0V=3.25A
Total 65.0W Max
I won’t argue this point but you will find many that would argue it is not a good idea to keep a battery fully charged. Anyway unless you are plugged in continuously this won’t happen.