Samsung Phone - Problems keeping It Charged When Using GPS and Playing Music

[beemerdood]

Let me start out by saying that I'm "electronically challenged." I can run a multi meter, and do some simply things, but this is beyond my knowledge.

So, I'm wondering if the charging system on my 2011 R1200RT is working as it should? My issue is that when I used my Samsung Note 3 for GPS and to play music through the Bluetooth with my Sena 20s, it runs down the phone battery in a couple of hours, even though it's plugged into the USB port in the glove box and is charging the whole time. I close down all other apps in the File Manager.

The screen is set to full bright, otherwise it's difficult to see in the sun. I've tried some sun shades and they make the screen more visible, but still, on lower screen settings, it's hard to see.

Is this the state of the art today or is there a better way to do this and keep my phone charged?

What about plugging the phone into an aux battery that I'd charge with the USB plug at the same time as it was charging the phone. Any issues with doing that?

I can't imagine trying to keep the phone charged if I decided to use the seat and grip warmers.

I've got a BMW Navi IV but I prefer using Waze for the driver input and other info it provides.

It just occurred to me that I have not been turning off the Wi-Fi, so doing that will probably help, but still, it won't be enough to keep the phone charging, given that it runs down from full charge to dead in only a couple of hours.

 

[lkraus]

I had similar trouble with my Galaxy S2 smartphone, using it as my sole motorcycle GPS.

I used various adapters with the BMW accessory socket, different cords, direct wired a USB socket to the battery, replaced the USB port on the phone, etc. Finally came to the inescapable conclusion that the phone limited power coming in to a level lower than it was being used. I had plenty of power available(2.1 amp), the phone simply would not allow more than 0.5 amp through the charging port. The various radios(GPS, Bluetooth, 4G, cellular), display and processor simply used too much power.

The phone would gain charge using the CoPilot app, set to turn off the display and save power between turns. Then the problem was that I could not use the GPS to monitor speed and checking my progress between intersections required reaching over to the phone to activate the screen and open the lock screen.

Eventually, on-bike charging became intermittent due to vibration at the phones USB socket and I bought a generic Chinese motorcycle GPS. Works great for navigating and routes, but the music player does not remember its place in tracks or playlists.