I’ve been watching the Atom PD4 since it was announced as it seems to be the ideal charger for both desktop and work travel use when high wattage output is needed. I use a variety of USB-C devices ranging from <18W to 100W, so the availability of 100W on one rail means the PD4 could (in theory) replace all of my other chargers.
Still, I have a few questions that the sales page doesn’t seem to address. I was planning to email Anker marketing, but I thought it might be more useful to post here first.
-
Is there a timeline for the PD4 to be in stock on Amazon again? It seems to have been continuously out of stock since release.
-
Are there plans to make the PD4 available in black as was done for the PD1? If so, is there a timeline for that?
-
On a more technical note, I am very curious about how the “intelligent power allocation” is implemented. Obviously, when one device is connected the device functions as a standard PD charger. What is the behavior when multiple devices are connected? Does the system provide the highest requested voltage by each device at whatever amperage (within PD profile amperage limits) is required to maintain <100W, does it only provide fixed pairings (100 + 0, 60 + 18, 27 + 18, etc), or does it simply provide the highest common voltage between the two attached devices?
It would be great if someone with a PD meter could specifically test a few scenarios like:
USB-C 1 | USB-C 2| USB-A 1| USB-A 2
100W | 18W | --- | ---
100W | 45W | --- | ---
100W | 18W | <12W | <12W
100W | 45W | <12W | <12W
Where the columns represent the maximum draw of the attached device. Given the rarity of 100W devices, something like an 87W macbook should be sufficient to test the highest PD profile.
And report back the specific voltage/amperage delivered on each output. I had hoped to purchase a device to test this for myself, but the lack of availability has made that difficult.