Why Apple Couldn’t Go to Micro USB Charging
techpinions.com
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As a side note, the nexus 7 charger is also special in itself, as it is capable of outputting 2.1 amps of currents, so you also need to use that to achieve the maximum charging speed.
I, like many people I know, end up having multiple cables: even non-technical people I know often end up buying an extra cable, so they aren't screwed if they lose one. A lot of people who splurge for Android tablets probably also like Android enough to have an Android phone, so they will simply already have a micro-USB cable lying around anyway.
Assuming this is true for a second (and I currently have no reason to disbelieve you), I have a friend who was actually complaining just a few days ago that "my nexus 7 is really, really bad at charging". We were all discussing it, many of us commiserating that the Nexus 7 seems to be the worst of all of our devices when it comes to charging.
However, now, it could be that we are all just using "the wrong cable", because no one at Google thought it important to mention "this cable is a magic voodoo cable; the manual might claim it is micro-USB, but you cannot use a normal micro-USB cable to replace it". At least with Apple, I can look at the cable and tell if it will work for me or not.
I've successfully charged it with at least the included charger and its cable, with an 1A USB charger and its included cable that originally came with an older HTC Android phone, and with yet another cable that was connected straight to an USB port in a computer.
tl;dr: to my experience, Nexus 7 charges just fine anywhere like any other micro USB device does.
That said, I've found some other people talking about similar issues.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-acces...
Apparently, in their version of the manual (maybe it was changed after Google I/O) there is even a statement about the cable: "use the charging unit and micro USB cable that come with your Nexus 7; other charging units and USB cables may charge more slowly or not at all".
http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/StereoMike7/86ee9ea1...
I then maintain that if this is true, they should have provided a bright blue cable that said "Nexus" on it, so I'd always be able to know "ok, that's the cable that came with my Nexus 7 that I should be using when I charge it", as otherwise you end up with this horrible set of folklore surrounding how the charging sucks (as, seriously: how many people read or pay heed to the fine print warnings in the manual? ;P).