Choosing Anker cables to use with GoPros

#1

Hiya!

So, when I got my GoPro HERO 5 a while ago, I was one day browsing Youtube for videos about it and found this one:

So what he’s talking about there, is basically that, if you use a USB-C cable with power delivery, the GoPro will charge faster. And you can verify it’s working because the battery icon turns green (It’s usually white, and a little lightning bolt shows on top of it when it’s charging).
Now, I’m very surprised to see this is not mentioned anywhere in the manual (!!!).
Then, I got a HERO 7 and was wondering if the same thing would apply. But the battery display on the 7 is way different (it’s green, but when connected to power shows a white lightning bolt over it).
And, when it’s at half or below, it turns yellow. Futhermore, when it’s charging it actually displays a little animation of the battery filling up.

What I want to know is, how can I know I’m fast charging on the 7? I tried using two different USB-C cables (C to A actually, but one is 2.0 and the other is 3.0, I can tell because one has a white connector on the A end, and the other has the blue one), and I THINK the animation moved faster when I had the 3.0 cable plugged in. Not sure though.

Also, I bought an Anker charger that has a USB-C power delivery port, but a USB-C to USB-C cable connected to that and the GoPro, won’t charge it.
I need longer cables to keep the GoPros charged when I’m shooting music videos, instead of having to swap batteries.
Typically when I need to buy any sort of USB cable, I go for Anker ones.

So basically:

  • How do I know which cables to get, to have both my GoPros fast charging?
  • How do I make sure it’s working?

Cheers!

3 Likes
#2

As far as I know the cable isn’t what matters, it’s the actual charger (adapter block).

#3

If that’s true, then what determines which charger will work? Is it whether it has the “PD” designation, is it the wattage, what?
I have two Anker chargers. One has 4 USB A ports and a C port, the other has 4 A ports.
The first one has the IQ logo only on the C port and the other one has it on all 4 ports.

I’ve tried to charge my GoPro using all the different USB C cables I have (all of which came with the GoPros or the battery charger), and no fast charging yet.
If you’re correct, one charger purchase should solve the problem using the cables I already have, right?
Except of course, I still need longer cables but that’s a different issue.

#4

I didn’t know GoPros had fast charging. Could you provide me more info on that?

1 Like
#5

When charging anything, there are three factors…

The charger what speed/voltage it outputs

The lead again what speed rating it has…2, 3.0, 3.1

The device being charged. … each item has a max it can be charged with (Samsung galaxy mobiles is 15w, at the moment)

The quicker it all is, then obvs the faster the item/device will charge. If one is slow/slower, then the whole charge time will be to the max speed of the slowest item.

#6

Hi, this is Anker Customer Support.

So sorry to hear that the charger and cable do not work properly for you. In researching your case, we notice that the OEM GoPro SuperCharger supports 5.1V/3A, 5.5V/3A, 12V/1.67A, and 5.1V/1.5A. According to the output of the charger, I’m afraid that it does not support power delivery.

Normally, a 30W PD charger should support 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 15V/2A, 20V/1.5A. Therefore, this 30W power delivery PowerPort+ 5 USB-C Charger does not support to fast charge the GoPro HERO 5.

To understand your situation clearly, if possible, please try this PD port on a different device like Pixel XL/2/2 XL/3/ and iPhone 8/8 Plus/X/XS/XS MAX/XR. If it does not support to fast charge these PD devices or other PD devices, so sorry to say that there is something wrong with the charger, please contact us via email--support@anker.com with your order number, we will process a warranty claim.

Thanks for your patience. If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us via email.

#7

I thought this as well. Until just recently I was using a GoPro 7 with an “Anker PowerCore 10000” and an “Anker 6 ft Type C Charger Premium Nylon” USB Cable to record long bike rides. This setup was incredibly unreliable, in that the camera would randomly stop recording about 30% of the time, and I couldn’t figure out why. It was very frustrating. I thought it was overheating or possibly the PowerCore (which I have two versions of), because it is known that the camera can’t be used with any external power source while the battery is in the camera. But for me, removing the internal battery didn’t help much.
After doing some googling, I came across a post on youtube that claimed the cable is crucial, and recommended either the OEM gopro cable or ugreen. I tried ugreen and it has been 100% reliable since.
Using the Anker cable, all other functions, like charging the internal battery though the camera without recording or transferring videos seem to work fine.