Power Delivery

[boozie]

So I see this being touted for the Pixel 2 but it's very hard for me to understand. The pixel 2 is not compliant with QC 2.0/3.0 but uses "power delivery". Other than buying something with a crapload of watts I don't understand what that entails. I'm trying to buy a charger that will safely charge my phone as fast as possible.

Other than just searching Power Delivery on Amazon are there other options? What about in my car, are PD speeds not even feasible anyways so I should buy something else?

 

[sweenish]

It's really the other way around. QC is the non-compliant spec. USB-PD is part of the official USB spec.

Very few companies have compliant chargers. The safest best is just buying more wall chargers from Google. If you need a car option, I recently came across this one: link

Cables are also a tricky area. Again, sticking with the OEM will be the safest route. I really wish it wasn't like this, but it seems that anytime there is a big change in something like this, it takes a surprisingly long time for the general quality level to be high enough. And USB is not making it easy with all this 3.1 gen 2, fast revision crap. I think it's at least stabilized for now.

I'm still waiting for a multi-port wall charger that has more than one USB Type C connector, and can hopefully quickly charge at least two devices.

 

[Yuriman]

With my Pixel 1, all of my chargers that support QC 3.0 seem to charge very quickly.

 

[s44]

There are lots of good cables now. Chargers, not so much.

Check out Google engineer Benson Leung's cable list:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/IOGWYK5NXWAE/ref=pdp_new_wl

 

[hans007]

PD basically just means it has a chip on it to negotiate with the charger voltages / amperages higher than 5V .

theres tons of chargers out there. like i've used a chromebook charger, a macbook charger, etc on my smartphone and they all negotiate the right voltage for my phone

 

[Viper GTS]

PD basically just means it has a chip on it to negotiate with the charger voltages / amperages higher than 5V .

theres tons of chargers out there. like i've used a chromebook charger, a macbook charger, etc on my smartphone and they all negotiate the right voltage for my phone

If you are going to swap chargers around like that you need to be very sure that you understand the voltages each device will negotiate and what each charger/cable combination does when it doesn't have a device connected.

USB-PD in a mixed environment right now is dangerous, some combinations of chargers and cables will leave the connector hot at high negotiated voltages potentially destroying the next device you plug in if it can't handle that higher voltage.

Every time I look at going USB-PD I am reminded what a mess it is and stick with 5v gear. I rarely care about having the absolute fastest charge rate but I do care about not blowing up my or my guests stuff if they plug into a random USB C cable.

Viper GTS

 

[sweenish]

I doubt that the situation you're describing is something that the spec completely overlooks.

Instead, buy compliant cables and chargers.

 

[hans007]

If you are going to swap chargers around like that you need to be very sure that you understand the voltages each device will negotiate and what each charger/cable combination does when it doesn't have a device connected.

USB-PD in a mixed environment right now is dangerous, some combinations of chargers and cables will leave the connector hot at high negotiated voltages potentially destroying the next device you plug in if it can't handle that higher voltage.

Every time I look at going USB-PD I am reminded what a mess it is and stick with 5v gear. I rarely care about having the absolute fastest charge rate but I do care about not blowing up my or my guests stuff if they plug into a random USB C cable.

Viper GTS

if you get a big name charger they are up to spec . ive got the 61 W charger for amacbook pro... the 80w one at work and a 60W chrome book charger at home. they all seem to not be heating up excessively.

its nice to be able to charge a macbook pro with a 15W 5v x 3amp wall charger too (i have a nokia 950 one, and a moto 15w turbo charger). ive never really had any problems across chargers / devices

 

[Viper GTS]

Sadly you can't even rely on big names to be safe. Yes the spec clearly should not allow it but the number of fully compliant devices out there is dwarfed by the sheer quantity of garbage. Even chargers and cables shipped with Google devices are problematic.

https://android.gadgethacks.com/new...gerous-heres-why-you-need-be-careful-0172648/

They may appear to work fine but I won't buy or use anything that supports higher than 5v that has not been fully reviewed by an independent and found to be compliant.

https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378

And for how to blow up a device with what most people would consider a reasonable name charger and cable:

https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/TkAnhK84TT7

Viper GTS

 

[sweenish]

All you're saying is that you are playing it safe.

There is nothing wrong with that. However, your implication that it's not safe at all out there is borderline FUD. It currently takes more research than a keyword search and sorting by the lowest price, yes.

But there is enough compliant stuff out there, and enough sources to know what is compliant that an informed shopper won't have any worries. If we're giving advice to our tech-illiterate friends, then I would wholly do exactly what you're doing. I'm currently not looking at anything higher than the 18W what my Pixel 2 ships with, but Benson, Nathan K, and the community have done a great job of putting resources together to guide people toward compliant accessories.