Comment by nickm12 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nickm12 | Hacker News Reader

A while back I went down the USB-C charging rabbit hole with the simple goal of finding a 3rd party charger that could charge all my USB-C devices (13" Macbook, Motorola phone, Nintendo Switch) as fast as the charger that came in the box.

I found it tremendously difficult to make a purchase decision; the device manufacturers and 3rd party vendors provide very little information and everyone wants their own trademark: USB-PD, Quick Charge, PowerIQ, iSmart, VoltIQ, Turbopower... it just goes on and on.

However, I decided to hope for the best and get some well-reviewed USB-PD chargers and bought the following two chargers:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PLR7T1M/ (RAVPower 61w wall charger) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WQQG7C/ (Necktek 45w auto charger)

They work out really well and met my requirements, with the exception that the Necktek doesn't provide the full 60 watts the Macbook can use, but I knew that was the case.

It’s especially fun with the switch where third party chargers reportedly will break the device. Although afaik that only applies to docked mode.

I was really annoyed when I found out that only some USB C chargers can be used to support docking mode in the Switch.

So stupid.

That's on Nintendo, they use their own protocol for video instead of following the spec.

Why not just use the MacBook charger for everything? I've had no issues using a variety of MacBook usb-c chargers for lots of devices.

The RAVPower is 50% smaller than a 13-inch MacBook Pro's AC adapter while providing the same wattage. Also, the RAVPower has two ports, a USB-C and a USB Type A so you can charge two devices at a time.

The RAVPower is also cheaper than buying a 2nd Apple AC adapter when you want to leave an adapter at your desk and have a 2nd one in your bag to use elsewhere.

What extra88 said. My Macbook charger is fixed at my desk and I wanted a travel charger that was compact and also had a USB-A port for other low-power devices I need to charge when I travel like my Fitbit and Kindle.

All these names invented by phone manufacturers have nothing to do with USB-C capabilities, but to their branding.

It's worse. The phone manufacturers have one set of names and the 3rd party charger manufacturers like Anker and RAVPoewr have their own. My experience is that USB-PD actually works as advertised, but it's really difficult to tell if a device actually supports USB-PD.

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