What is Power Delivery Charging?

Fast chargers are getting popular these days. PD charger, QC charger, and other new nouns might make you confused. What’s the best quick charger for your phone? Read this article before you buy one for your phone.

What is Power Delivery?

USB Power Delivery, also known as PD, is an industry-standard open specification expanding USB to deliver up to 100 W (20 V, 5 A) of power, so you can enjoy the fast charging for your cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other USB-C(Type-C) port devices. Please note PD is one standard for USB-C only. You can learn about USB-C here.

Is PD the same with QC?

QC, the abbreviation of Quick Charge, is a fast charging technology found by the famous chip-making company, Qualcomm.

If your devices get the certification from Qualcomm (through UL), or you can understand as if your phone uses a Qualcomm CPU, your devices can support QC. Apple makes its own CPU, so iPhones are not compatible with QC. Check the phone list supporting QC on Qualcomm’s official site.

PD and QC are both the fast charging standard. Which is better? Let’s read the list below:

Data from zdnet.com 

The more current, the faster the charging.  

PD provides high-speed charging with variable voltage up to 20V using intelligent device negotiation up to 5A at 100W. Common PD chargers most output at 30W because that is on the upper range of what most smartphones and tablets can handle, whereas laptops need output at a higher wattage.

Another detail we should notice is that PD only works from C-C. So both your device and your charger should have a USB-C port then you can enjoy the fast charging. Here iPhone is an exception. iPhone can support PD charging with a C to Lightning cable. As all the devices manufacturer started to bundle USB-C, QC changed to USB-C port too. 

Do all USB-C chargers and cables support PD?

No, not all USB-C chargers and cables support the full range of power supply as the PD specifies. The most common voltage the chargers could provide is 5V, 12V, and 20V. Although not all the chargers and cables reach the highest voltage, it’s enough for your devices as we write above, 30W is the top edge for most smartphone and tablets.

How to choose the right PD charger?

First, make sure your devices support PD charging.  Check the phone list made by Android Authority: https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-chargers-964827/

If you use iPhone,  fast charging is only available for iPhone 8 or later. You need a USB-C to lightning cable and a USB-C Power Adapter (power supply over 18W) from Apple or other comparable third-party. Amoner smart PD & QC charger and Amoner USB C to Lightning Cable is a good set for your phone. 

If you have an old phone model, it’s better not to choose a high voltage PD charger because your battery may lack the protection on overload and the high current may damage your phone battery.