What's with all these different charging cables for Iphones & androids? USB USBC UBC?

We currently have Iphone 11 Pro & Iphone XS. Before that we had the previous generations every year.

Only recently I learnt a big about the different charger cable options for Iphone. I never knew about fast charging or what do I need to fats charge etc.

So currently, we use the regular lightning cable that came with Iphone XS and I use the standard wall charger.

I also use the cable and wall charger that came with the iphone 11 pro.

It seems like the regular iphone cable works fine on XS and 11 pro with regular wall charger that are not PD.

Can you tell me the different charging cables for the iphones ? What are usb-c, usbc-a etc?
What cable do I need to fast charge my iphones? What cable do I need to fast charge powerbank battery charger that has PD? Is there a cable that will work on iphones and android and devices that uses usb ports like amazon fire HD tablets?

Thanks

To fast charge iPhones you need a USB-C to Lightning cable (this also fast charges XS even though it didn’t come with one)

To fast charge PD power banks you need a USB-C to USB-C cable.

As far as a one-for-all solution, Anker offers this 3-in-1 cable, but as it’s USB-A it won’t fast charge for iPhone or PD…

2 Likes

Thanks a lot for this very helpful info.
You said “To fast charge PD power banks you need a USB-C to USB-C cable”. Is it this one https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerline-iii-usbc-to-usbc-cable/A8853021? I see 2.0 3.1 like this https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Powerline-Delivery-Charging-Chromebook/dp/B01EMINIWW/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=USB-C+to+USB-C+cable&qid=1584380098&sr=8-19 It is confusing. Do you have correct links?This is the cable I need to charge the PD powerbank by plugging one end to wall charger and one end to the PD powerbank right? I need a wall charger that says PD right? I bought the anker one that has 2 PD powers recently on sale.
I can’t use the same USB-C to Lightning cable to charge the PD powerbank from the wall outlet using the PD wallcharger?

I just wish Anker has deals on all those three you listed above but so far none.
Am sure there will be a sale soon

Both cables will work to fast charge :+1:

which ones? will this fast charge any powerbank PD charger? USB-C to USB-A Fast Charging Type C Cable
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DC5PPFV?tag=slickdeals09-20&ascsubtag=ff084eb867e311eaab52ce95ad32fc490INT&th=1?

Note the cables aren’t really an issue unless they’re really poorly made. While this was kind of a big problem initially with USB C, these days even the knock off USB C cables are “ok”-ish

If you need fast charging it’s more about the power block you put into the cable that you need to be concerned about

The iPhones pretty much cap out at 18W so there’s little point in getting more expensive chargers as they don’t provide much benefit.

No, that one will not, @sangyerose, as that is USB-A to USB-C. You need USB-C to USB-C. Here is a great option.

Please note that this may not fast charge any power bank with PD as it doesn’t support more than 60W. Some portable chargers may accept up to 100W.

And no, you can’t use the USB-C to Lightning cable that came with your iPhone because the portable charger is USB-C, not Lightning!

Hope this helps :slightly_smiling_face:

I have this, bought few days ago. USB C Charger, Anker 60W 2-Port PowerPort Atom PD 2.
Do I need to plug the usb-c to usbc cable to this and other end to any Powerbank PD charger to fast charge the Powerbank PD right?
The USB-C to USB-C cable link you gave is $15. I also saw ones that are $9.99. How do I make sure I buy the correct USB-C to USB-C cable that will fast charge the Powerbank PD? Not all USB-C to USB-C will fast charge? Thanks.

Yes, again provided that its input is not over 60W, in which case your wall charger would also have to be replaced.

All USB-C to USB-C cables should fast charge power banks with PD (up to 60W), but not all do. That’s why it’s best to buy from a reputable brand like Anker.

That specific one I linked to is a bit more expensive because it’s newer, more durable, and comes with a lifetime warranty.

kindly explain what you mean by “provided that its input is not over 60W”?
“INPUT” is the separate port that is to charge the powerbank itself right? It should say how many W it is? Must be 60w or lower?

Yes, for you to charge it at its fastest possible speed with the devices we’ve been discussing, which support up to only 60W.

Currently, most portable chargers are below this limit.

Watts are Volts x Amps.

The higher the Volts the more chance electrons accidentally jump between wires, known as a spark. To reduce this, thickness of the insulation between wires increases. Thicker plastic typically.

The higher the Amps the more heat from resistance in the wire, which reduces efficiency, ages the wire faster, and ultimately causes wire to melt. Resistance is lower in thicker wires, the metal inside the plastic.

So in general you’re seeking ideally the shortest wire for purpose, as less total distance for resistance, and thicker cables.

Each cable design has been tested by reputable manufacturers to a stated voltage (thickness of insulation) and Watts (Volts x Amps, thickness of wires).

USB-C comes in versions designed for differents Volts and Watts. The highest is 20V 5A 100W, cables for that are quite thick.

Your device, phone for example, will have a min and max Voltage it supports. You really need to focus on the Volts mostly and seek cables and chargers which overlap those Volts the most.

I notice you only seem interested in Watts, while if you really want to make the best decisions you must research the Volts supported as input to your device, overlap as much as possible the Volts of output of your charger. If you dont you really risk something not working. For example a 60W charger can be made which is 20V 3A but if you connected to a phone only capable of input at 5V and 9V then the phone will refuse the charger.

The energy transfer rate of electricity, measured in Power Watts, can be made into any Voltage using induction , known as step up or step down, which is being done inside the charger. As energy lost in wires is a function of Amps x distance, good engineering is to use a high voltage, so lower Amps, over long distances. This is why electrical distribution is to your wall at 110V-240V.

But your phone would need much thicker insulation if it were designed for 110V-240V, it is usually 5V to keep it thinner. So the charger steps-down 110V-240V to 5V-20V. Then the USBC cable between your charger and phone.

So in general you want to avoid wall chargers and long USB cables, but go for power extension to near your phone and short USB cables.

The Lithium cells in your device are designed for a specific input (charging) and output (discharging) Voltage. Typically in phones is around 3.7V, tablets 7.8V and laptops 18V. To get energy into a cell you must push at a higher voltage than it outputs, so say a phone 3.8V cell output needs 4.2V input.

Step up/down converters lose energy, inefficiency, usually as heat, as a function of the ratio of step. So wall sockets steping down from 110V-240V to 5V create more heat than your phone stepping down 5V to 4.2V.

So what means is a phone, trying to avoid heat so it performs well as a phone while being charged, really wants a Voltage as low as possible nearer to 5V, so you’d often see phone chargers supporting the lower USBC Voltages of 5V 9V. 9V 2A is 18W for example. So say a 60W charger which output only 12V, 15V, 20V would not work in the phone.

A laptop with 18V cells really wants 20V and to make itself generate least heat in its step-up/down converter, will refuse the lowest USB C voltages like 5V, 9V, 12V. So say one 45W charger of 20V would work, another of 15V would not.

So to reduce the chance of chargers not working, seek chargers with the maximum range and diversity of Voltages, so 5V,9V,12V,15V,20V.

So really, if you want to research and make the least likely wrong buying decisions, you must not look at Watts, but instead look up the Volts of everything, the device, cable and charger.

Portable chargers have a fixed amount of stored energy, the smaller they are the more relatively important it is efficiently consumed. So actually in portable chargers in general higher Wattage is worse than lower Wattage, but it very specific. So say if Anker connected 3.8V cells in serial to make 7.6V, it can equally make 5V and 9V. But if they had 3.8V in parallel to be 3.8V then even if it could offer 9V you’d want 5V. My phone has 3.8V cells so I carry a 5V Powercore, but my tablet has 7.8V cells so I carry a 9V Powercore. Notice the attention to Voltage, not Watts.

Here endeth the lesson.

<vent-mode=on>

I wish USB consortium would have more mandatory specs so all to that standard must support all the voltages in the standard, so you can be sure all USB type X work interoperate so the geeks can step back and less falling on Amazon renewed returns to circulate the accidental bad fit purchases.

I wish phone engineers would make phones work with any voltage, particularly flagship ones as the $ extra cost is noise.

<vent-mode=off>