Pixel: Quick Charge 3.0 or USB-C PD?

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

But the Pixel supports USB power delivery that does rapid charge by sending more than 5V (9V to be exact) based on the charger it comes with, 9V by 2A for 18W. I'm sure it's done differently than Quick Charge however and not interchangeable.

Correct. PD 2.0 is a separate standard, but is fully backwards compliant with USB-C.

Neither work with Quick Charge or turbo Charge or Samsung Fast Charge

For the record, I'm not sure i trust PD anymore than I trust Quick Charge. The connector body and wire gauges used weren't designed to use that high current or voltage. But trusting the people who developed and designed the standard is probably safe and I'm just too cautious.

 

[billykac]

In Benson's spreadsheet, only two chargers listed have PD, and they are marked as being able to charge a Pixel at full speed.

Other car chargers listed do not have PD, and they are rated accordingly - not full-speed capable.

My research shows that the new Aukey has all the specs needed to charge a Pixel full-speed, including PD, but it's not on Benson's list.

Does anyone own one of these?

*Update: No reviewers on Amazon yet. Specs look right. Bought it. I'll report back.

Got it, and connected it up with the supplied Google C to C cable.
Works perfectly. Charges Rapidly.
Nice.

Now all I need to do is find some C to C cables that are also at a more affordable price than the one from Google, that will be 100% PD-compliant, resulting in Rapid Charging. I am well-aware of the Benson spreadsheet, and the cables he recommends, but they are all somewhat expensive, IMO.

 

[Ry]

Got it, and connected it up with the supplied Google C to C cable.
Works perfectly. Charges Rapidly.
Nice.

Now all I need to do is find some C to C cables that are also at a more affordable price than the one from Google, that will be 100% PD-compliant, resulting in Rapid Charging. I am well-aware of the Benson spreadsheet, and the cables he recommends, but they are all somewhat expensive, IMO.

What's an affordable price to you?

 

[Ry]

Correct. PD 2.0 is a separate standard, but is fully backwards compliant with USB-C.

Neither work with Quick Charge or turbo Charge or Samsung Fast Charge

For the record, I'm not sure i trust PD anymore than I trust Quick Charge. The connector body and wire gauges used weren't designed to use that high current or voltage. But trusting the people who developed and designed the standard is probably safe and I'm just too cautious.

For what it's worth, 5V/3A charging (via C-to-C) triggers the Turbo Power toast message on the USB Type-C equipped Moto Zs. Of course, it's slower than the proprietary 5V/5.7A TurboPower 30 that's included with the Moto Z Force Droid.

 

[billykac]

What's an affordable price to you?

Just bought a Black Squid C to C PD-compliant cable for $12.
For me, that seems a bit more realistic than the $25 from Google - although I already own two of those that came with the OEM chargers.
I needed an additional cable for use with my Aukey PD-compliant car charger.
Rumor has it, it should actually be PD-compliant. Here's hoping!

 

[brado380]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0146FK...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5558706

Had a look around and this looks to be the best option, opinions?

 

[Impulses]

In Benson's spreadsheet, only two chargers listed have PD, and they are marked as being able to charge a Pixel at full speed.

Other car chargers listed do not have PD, and they are rated accordingly - not full-speed capable.

My research shows that the new Aukey has all the specs needed to charge a Pixel full-speed, including PD, but it's not on Benson's list.

Does anyone own one of these?

*Update: No reviewers on Amazon yet. Specs look right. Bought it. I'll report back.

From the looks of it, Aukey's isn't even remotely PD compliant despite all their marketing about it...

https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378/posts/C6iWFDfSGt4?sfc=true

I think you're better off with Belkin's or Verizon's PD chargers if you absolutely must have one and don't their price (and single port/device arrangement) OR the cheap Nekteck on Amazon...

If it's mostly for the Pixel (non XL) and/or an older device I'd just get the Nekteck, it doesn't support every PD charge rate under the sun IIRC but the smaller Pixel only ever uses one PD profile and it only goes up to 15W (not 18W unlike the XL) - 5V at 3A, and only when <50% battery for that matter.

That's precisely what the Nekteck gets you (15W, 5V at 3A), and it doesn't appear to have any other issues when using both ports unlike other options like the Vinsic. There's only two versions too, coiled cable or not, unlike the Tronsmart that had some early bad revisions.

It's metal and pretty well made, I like that the cord exits down from the charger and for the price I don't mind that it's permanently attached.

 

[Impulses]

Build it, and they will come.

Now that Pixel is out, we will see more off-brand chargers for less than $40, just like we have for micro USB now. Give it some time, and suffer with your old QC chargers and AUTHORIZED A-C adapter cables meanwhile. The difference between QC3 and PD are not enough to worry about speed wise, and I just cannot bring myself to spend $40 on a charger.

Actually, with most older chargers (QC or not) the Pixels will probably default to BC1.2 spec, or a bit over 7W... So a PD or 15W charger will be about twice as fast. The Nekteck car charger will charge the smaller Pixel at max speed (15W) and the XL at close to it, and it's like $16.

For an AC charger just get Google's 18W charger (same as what comes w/phone), there's a TON of bad ones out there, and the only decent one is $20 but comes with a crap cable so add $7 for a decent Type C to C cable... Google's is $35 and comes with a really nice 6ft cable plus free shipping, it's actually a solid deal given the state of the market.

I've gone thru just about all the reviews and those two chargers are still the best bang for the buck out there IMO.

 

[Impulses]

That charger (according to listed specs) is fully PD 2.0 compliant. That means it's fully USB-C complaint and won't overcharge things that are not PD 2 compliant as well as charge things like the Pixel or a Macbook.

Unfortunately listed specs are worthless right now, see post above... Given the messy state of the market and the many shortcuts being taken, I wouldn't spend good money on something that isn't well reviewed/tested or isn't at least USB-IF certified.

 

[Impulses]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0146FK...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5559147

Had a look around and this looks to be the best option, opinions?

Make sure you're getting the latest revision (v3 I think? check Benson's review).

 

[Impulses]

From the looks of it, Aukey's isn't even remotely PD compliant despite all their marketing about it...

https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378/posts/C6iWFDfSGt4?sfc=true

I think you're better off with Belkin's or Verizon's PD chargers if you absolutely must have one and don't their price (and single port/device arrangement) OR the cheap Nekteck on Amazon...

...

I should add, I wasn't trying to be an alarmist, if it's worked so far it's probably not an imminent danger... But the entire point of PD is the versatility to charge larger devices safely (or not, if the wattage isn't there, but still with a safe fail mode), it seems like plugging anything but your phone into the Aukey could trigger some pretty bad behavior.

I have a sweet little 4.8A dual port charger from Aukey btw (old dual Type A), nothing against them... Even larger players like Anker have put out some shoddy Type C stuff and issued recalls in some cases. I imagine many of them pull from common suppliers or share manufacturing facilities etc.

For instance, Monoprice's Type C cable specs are bogus top to bottom, not because the cables are bad (wouldn't know) but the specs just make no sense and were obviously cobbled together by some marketing lackey. They seem to equate charging ability with USB speed at times even tho there's no correlation...

The OEM Pixel 6ft charge cable is USB 2.0 FYI, makes it far simpler/cheaper (lot less wires). Monoprice even has some adapters that blatantly violate the spec regardless of how they're wired. Again, I'm a big fan of Monoprice, spent a bundle on their active Redmere HDMI cables the last time I redid my home theater...

They've made a mess of their Type C lineup tho, enough so that I wouldn't bother with any of it until they reorganize and catalog stuff properly. Point is no one is handling this transition flawlessly, not even Apple/Google/MS... The previous Nexus chargers had issues and Apple has had cable recalls too plus some spec fudging, and it's an even bigger deal on 75W+ laptop chargers.

 

[billykac]

Impulse - thanks again.

I've written to Aukey about this. Let's see what they say.

PD-compliance is a challenge for us consumers to navigate. Both of my wall chargers are from Google, and I've purchased a Black Squid cable for use with the Aukey. All achieve "Rapid Charging", but I am aware that this does not actually indicate PD-compliance. There's more to it than that.

I'll report back when I hear from Aukey.

 

[SteelGator]

I agree with others that are sticking with devices reviewed and recommended by Benson. He has been testing chargers and chords in this space for a while now. He makes sure the live up to the spec and calls them out if they don't.

Since he works for Google, he is doing this all with an eye on their products. I have purchased and use several that he recommends and I am very happy with theirs quality and function. Some may cost more ATM, you get what you pay for.

 

[anon(9708869)]

What about the Yootech chargers. Are they compliant?

 

[ihbsbA]

TL;DR....

can someone just post links to acceptable car and wall chargers? I plug in the Google cable and see "rapid charging", and sorry... But 1% per minute is not rapid compared to what I was used to with Samsung... Am I missing something?

 

[SteelGator]

TL;DR....

can someone just post links to acceptable car and wall chargers? I plug in the Google cable and see "rapid charging", and sorry... But 1% per minute is not rapid compared to what I was used to with Samsung... Am I missing something?

This is the sheet I used to select my accessories. Benson tests extensively, with an eye towards compatibility with Pixel tablets & phones and Nexus devices.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/pubhtml#

 

[ihbsbA]

This is the sheet I used to select my accessories. Benson tests extensively, with an eye towards compatibility with Pixel tablets & phones and Nexus devices.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/pubhtml#

Sigh. Lol
For those of us who aren't amperage and megaherz geeks, I just need a charger and a car charger that will get me some juice quickly... I appreciate the work that went into this but I seriously just need the easy button here.

 

[SteelGator]

Sigh. Lol
For those of us who aren't amperage and megaherz geeks, I just need a charger and a car charger that will get me some juice quickly... I appreciate the work that went into this but I seriously just need the easy button here.

Sorry, that sheet looks worse than it is. There is an easy button in there. Look at 2 columns: Suggested a score of 2 or 3 is solid in my view. The type will tell you if it is an AC or Car charger.

Here is the AC charger I bought, I needed the extra outlets because I just have too many gadgets to charge anymore.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D8C6ULO

And the cable
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017V7SI30

If I were going to buy a car charger, I'd probably get this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0172QQNBY?tag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5559524

Hope that is more helpful.

 

[ihbsbA]

Sorry, that sheet looks worse than it is. There is an easy button in there. Look at 2 columns: Suggested a score of 2 or 3 is solid in my view. The type will tell you if it is an AC or Car charger.

Here is the AC charger I bought, I needed the extra outlets because I just have too many gadgets to charge anymore.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D8C6ULO

And the cable
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017V7SI30

If I were going to buy a car charger, I'd probably get this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0172QQNBY?tag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5559536

Hope that is more helpful.

Yes yes yes! ❤❤❤❤

 

[Impulses]

Sorry, that sheet looks worse than it is. There is an easy button in there. Look at 2 columns: Suggested a score of 2 or 3 is solid in my view. The type will tell you if it is an AC or Car charger.

Here is the AC charger I bought, I needed the extra outlets because I just have too many gadgets to charge anymore.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D8C6ULO

And the cable
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017V7SI30

If I were going to buy a car charger, I'd probably get this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0172QQNBY?tag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5559585

Hope that is more helpful.

I can second those recommendations, I had already mentioned the car charger before but I guess some of my walls of text get skipped over by the TL;DR'ists.

That Nekteck car charger is cheap, safe, effective, well built, comes with a straight or coiled cord, and has a second port. Unless you also need to charge a Macbook or something in the car, I wouldn't look any further. Yeah the built in cord is blah, but it's cheap enough it's easy to forgive.

The Anker 5-port AC charger is nice if you need that many ports, but again, for anyone that wants a small single port charger and/or need a good long (6ft) cable to go along with it: just get Google's 18W charger (same as what comes with your Pixel).

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e.../store.google.com/us/?hl=en-US&token=_5cQhQqe

$35 might seem a ted steep but consider this, the cheapest 3ft cables are still like $10+, probably $15+ for the cheapest 6ft (and they're harder to source)... The cheapest and in-spec 3rd party charger is close to $20... $15 + $20? Not worth the potential hassles.

The Black Squid cable (~$12?) is nice if you absolutely need/want a fast data cable that's also a good charging cable. There's slightly better built (single piece plugs instead of stamped and folded metal) cables that are also slightly cheaper but they'll be USB 2.0 - same charging abilities but slower for data (like the 6ft cable that comes w/phone).

Anything else I've seen that's USB 3.1 / TB compliant is usually at or over $20. I bought one by Kanex that's definitely nicer built than that Black Squid and even has smaller plug housings (also smaller than what Belkin is using) but it ran me $23.

Anker's PowerLine USB 2.0 cables seem fine, nice build, there was a recall around some of the 3.0/3.1 tho.