Pixel: Quick Charge 3.0 or USB-C PD?

[Ry]

OK, so for car chargers, I am not clear on the best charger to use with a Pixel.

Not sure the question got answered about the real-life advantages of the Belkin PD car charger.

Any updates or clarity on this topic?

Look for a USB Type-C power adapter, it likely does 5V/3A charging.

The look for a quality, "Benson-approved" Type-C to Type-C USB cable.

 

[Ry]

Hmm... Qualcomm 821 does offer native support for Quick Charge 3.0 (source), but maybe there are other co-requirements Google didn't implement in the design to enable it? Kind of a shame, if so, even if they did enable a 'newer' system, as many of us already have numerous QC3.0 chargers lying around.

Note: same thing with last year's Nexus phones.

 

[billykac]

Look for a USB Type-C power adapter, it likely does 5V/3A charging.

The look for a quality, "Benson-approved" Type-C to Type-C USB cable.

I am just beginning to become familiar with this topic, but it appears that for car chargers, 5V/3A is not the same as USB-PD. The Belkin is expensive and it looks like it's the only car charger that matches the same spec as the OEM wall charger that comes with the Pixel.

Again, not sure, just learning now...

 

[Ry]

I am just beginning to become familiar with this topic, but it appears that for car chargers, 5V/3A is not the same as USB-PD. The Belkin is expensive and it looks like it's the only car charger that matches the same spec as the OEM wall charger that comes with the Pixel.

Again, not sure, just learning now...

I'm 90% sure 15W, 5V 3A charging triggers "rapid" or "quick" charging for the Pixel.

 

[billykac]

Thanks - would be great for someone to verify this.

So, if this is the case, then "PD" doesn't really offer any benefit for Pixel owners?

 

[Jeremy8000]

I'm 90% sure 15W, 5V 3A charging triggers "rapid" or "quick" charging for the Pixel.

It may trigger the indicator, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's charging as fast. Still, iif that's lighting up, it ought to be fairly quick regardless.

 

[loraque]

Jerry had an article about this with his 6p. You can get an app to see how much power each type delivers. For me, qc3 was a little slower than the included adapter, but not by much.

 

[billykac]

I am actually interested in getting optimum charging performance - that's why I bought a second OEM wall charger. I've never done this before, I've always purchased inexpensive 3rd party chargers. If I can get optimum performance for the Pixel at less cost than the Belkin USB-PD charger (about $44), I'd be down to know what to buy.

Maybe it will just take some time for other manufacturers to create high-powered USB-PD car chargers for the prices to drop closer to what we are more used to paying for 3rd party chargers.

 

[Ry]

It may trigger the indicator, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's charging as fast. Still, iif that's lighting up, it ought to be fairly quick regardless.

What I'm trying to say is that I think 15W, 5V 3A charging is the minimum to qualify as actual rapid charging.

 

[Jeremy8000]

I am actually interested in getting optimum charging performance - that's why I bought a second OEM wall charger. I've never done this before, I've always purchased inexpensive 3rd party chargers. If I can get optimum performance for the Pixel at less cost than the Belkin USB-PD charger (about $44), I'd be down to know what to buy.

Maybe it will just take some time for other manufacturers to create high-powered USB-PD car chargers for the prices to drop closer to what we are more used to paying for 3rd party chargers.

There's a lot of stuff coming out for that, and a lot of it (both cables and chargers) being identified as non-compliant to spec - and thereby could easily damage your equipment. Check https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/pubhtml# for some ideas.

 

[billykac]

Yup - familiar with Benson's spreadsheet. Great resource.

 

[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.

 

[Jeremy8000]

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.

Haven't tried Aukey's products, but haven't heard bad things of them in the past. There'll end up being a googol of these things coming out, so not expecting Benson to get to all of them. Let us know what you find (just make sure to use a safe cable!). I picked up one of the Belkin chargers at Verizon for $40, figuring it's not much more than aftermarkets after you factor in buying a cable (I probably would have gone with an Anker had one been available - never had any issues with anything they make).

 

[loraque]

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.

 

[dpham00]

So for purposes of a car charger, there's no practical benefit in paying $40 for the Belkin USB-C PD Car Charger over something like this Aukey QC 3.0 Car Charger for $15 (though it would require buying a separate cable)?

If not, I'd be heavily inclined towards the latter which would also provide a 'traditional' USB connection for charging other devices...

It does but Google chose not to implement it. And honestly I don't blame them since quick charge doesn't fully comply with USB c specs

 

[annduhroo]

With all of my old Note 7 chargers and cables, and Micro USB to USB Cable adapters from Samsung, is it safe to use these to charge my Pixel? I also have Aukey QC 3.0 and 2.0 car chargers and wall chargers... I'll throw down more money if these could possibly damage my phone. Anyone know?

 

[hal1]

I'll throw down more money if these could possibly damage my phone. Anyone know?

Same here. I'd like to use my existing Chargers, especially my turbo 2 turbo chargers, with Aukey micro-to-C adapters. If it charges slower, so be it. As long as it's not damaging anything.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Quick Charge works by sending more voltage. The USB standards say that anything higher than 5 volts is out of spec and potentially dangerous. ( as an aside, I agree and don't use quick charge). Companies that use Quick Charge only guarantee their equipment is safe, and as soon as you change something you are on your own. Qualcomm does say anything that is certified is safe, though.

All Snapdragon processor have the needed i2c connector for Quick Charge. The Pixel also has the needed controller chip. It does not have the software required, and never will because Google chose not to license it. The controller was used because it also functions as a normal controller very well and is readily available.

A phone that is quick charge certified can't use any USB device that requires the voltage to be on the correct pins, requires the voltage to be a steady nominal 5v and requires the source/sink to not be flipped. Didn't matter with micro USB because there weren't enough free pins to do anything cool with. USB C has a whole lot more data connection points.

USB C is just a connector. Anyone can use it, and while you're encouraged to use it according to standards that's not required. It's like your uncle using an electric drill to mix paint with a paddle attachment — it wasn't designed to be used that way, but nobody is stopping him. The USB specifications also cover the bus (the data and power channel used on both things that are plugged in) but there are many different USB specifications. Just because something has a USB-C connector body and plug doesn't mean it's using standards compliant wiring.

When you use a USB A (regular USB plug) to USB - C cable, for the power to be safely regulated you need to use a 56k ohm pullup resistor across VBUS pins 2 and 17, This is required so the phone can send the signal to the charger to stop sending power or that you're sending power at too high of a current or voltage. The USB (bus) supports 30 wires. USB C has room for 24 wires. "Regular" USB has 10. Micro USB has 5. When you connect one to another you either follow the standards and pullup the VBUS or you ignore the standards and use custom wiring. We already know that Qualcomm (and Samsung, and Motorola and OnePlus) ignore the standards.

At this point in time there is no excuse for a company to sell USB cables that do not meet the standards to power USB C devices safely. But they do. I can;t tell you if your Samsung or Aukey cables and chargers are safe without holding them and using a multimeter to test them. If you know an exact part number, you can check online to see if anyone else has tested them. Samsung and Aukey both make compliant cables and chargers, so there's a good chance they are safe, but this is just a guess.

tl;dr — if you want to be sure, use the stuff that came in the box or something you bought from the same company as a direct replacement.

 

[gabbott]

Quick Charge works by sending more voltage. The USB standards say that anything higher than 5 volts is out of spec and potentially dangerous. ( as an aside, I agree and don't use quick charge). Companies that use Quick Charge only guarantee their equipment is safe, and as soon as you change something you are on your own. Qualcomm does say anything that is certified is safe, though.

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.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

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.

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.