A4 phone charging?

BPH

Any one has 08/09 A4 and has a charger for there android phone. I know there's couple connections in center console and maybe one in glove box. I'm looking for connection to charge the phone, don't want to go down the cigarette lighter route. I had a couple of google searches but nothing came up. Just said I'd ask to see what's out there and see what people are using and are happy with. Thanks.

dr.fuzzenstein

Cigarette lighter is really the way to go unless you Audi has a USB connector somewhere.
Really the only 3 ways to charge your phone is via USB cable, cigarette lighter and 220 volt socket. So the only other way would be to plug an inverter into the cigarette lighter and charge the phone off that, but that would be just daft.

Earlier (much earlier) I said to get a cigarette lighter USB charger from the €2 shop, that is a waste of time of course, they deliver very little power and you will need something that delivers 1 amp at the very least, or even better 2 or more, otherwise the phone will draw more power than it delivers.

BPH

Thanks for the info, I see you can get this phone charger kit that sits in the center console with connections on the back and sit on connections in the console itself but they cost about €130, very fancy things. I'll look into it in more detail and as you say settle for the cigarette charger.

dr.fuzzenstein

BPH wrote: »

Thanks for the info, I see you can get this phone charger kit that sits in the center console with connections on the back and sit on connections in the console itself but they cost about €130, very fancy things. I'll look into it in more detail and as you say settle for the cigarette charger.

That would be more than a charger kit, got a link? Parrot maybe? Would like to see.
For something like that you would be taking out the center console and splicing into wires, that is not a 5 minute job. But if you want something integrated that will also function as a hands free kit, I say go for it.
I use a cradle with suction cup, cigarette lighter charger and bluetooth headset. The drawback is that the wires do get a bit messy, so if you want something neat, a built in kit is the way to go.
There is a cost factor, the cradle, charger and headset together cost me around €40, a built in kit, well you know yourself, plus fitting.
If it is just a charger for €130, I'd say that's a lot of money to just charge your phone.

creedp

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Cigarette lighter is really the way to go unless you Audi has a USB connector somewhere.
Really the only 3 ways to charge your phone is via USB cable, cigarette lighter and 220 volt socket. So the only other way would be to plug an inverter into the cigarette lighter and charge the phone off that, but that would be just daft.

Earlier (much earlier) I said to get a cigarette lighter USB charger from the €2 shop, that is a waste of time of course, they deliver very little power and you will need something that delivers 1 amp at the very least, or even better 2 or more, otherwise the phone will draw more power than it delivers.

Never did the maths on this but would a 5v 750mA usb charger connected to the cigarette lighter be slower that a 220v 700mA charger?

R.O.R

Presume Audi do a cable from the MMI input in the glovebox to a mini USB cable, but I've only ever seen the iPhone cables

They are about 40 quid from parts

dr.fuzzenstein

creedp wrote: »

Never did the maths on this but would a 5v 750mA usb charger connected to the cigarette lighter be slower that a 220v 700mA charger?

Not so important what goes in (12V vs 220V), but what comes out, which is 5 Volt, but now the Ampere figure becomes interesting. 750 mA is more juice than 700, so that should be faster.
It's on the lower end of the scale, better off using something that can supply 2 Amps, but 750 will do it, just take longer to charge.

creedp

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Not so important what goes in (12V vs 220V), but what comes out, which is 5 Volt, but now the Ampere figure becomes interesting. 750 mA is more juice than 700, so that should be faster.
It's on the lower end of the scale, better off using something that can supply 2 Amps, but 750 will do it, just take longer to charge.

That what I was thinking. However, I have never liked using chargers that vary in output significantly from that specified for the item being charged. However, I think it doesn't matter so long as the voltage output is within the specified value .. would that be correct?

Gazzmonkey

@ OP

I use a simple cig charger from a tomtom satnav, stick it and phone inside armrest & charges fine. there's an AUX port in there as well so you can play tunes from your phone through car speakers.

dr.fuzzenstein

creedp wrote: »

That what I was thinking. However, I have never liked using chargers that vary in output significantly from that specified for the item being charged. However, I think it doesn't matter so long as the voltage output is within the specified value .. would that be correct?

Higher ampage is not a problem, the voltage is important (standard USB is 5 volt).
That's why you could hook a 12 volt lightbulb directly across a battery (which can supply very high ampere load) and it's no problem.