One of the most positive tech developments of this decade has been the mass adoption of USB-C over the old micro-USB, USB-A, and other lesser-used gadget ports. Whether you’re powering your earbuds, smartphone, or laptop, one little port can charge them all — at least in theory. Unfortunately, if you’ve spent any time trying to charge all these gadgets optimally with even the best third-party adapters, you’ll doubtless be aware of the labyrinth of charging standards and protocols that must be navigated to have everything play nicely together.
At the heart of modern charging is USB Power Delivery (USB PD), the USB Implementers Forum’s official fast charging standard that can supply more power than a USB-C port’s basic capabilities. Apple, Google, and Samsung smartphones, as well as virtually every other handset and laptop on the market today, support USB Power Delivery in one form or another.
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Like any technology standard, the trick is that the charger and device must support the same capabilities and power levels. This means you’ll need 100W USB Power Delivery on your laptop and charger, for example. Thankfully, this is easy enough to obtain, but the USB Power Delivery landscape is complicated by its various revisions (1,0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2) and optional protocol levels.
To help us understand this charging quagmire, I’ll explain everything you need to know about USB Power Delivery.
USB Power Delivery explained
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
USB Power Delivery has actually been around since before USB-C, but it only really took off once the universal port hit the scene. At its core, USB PD does two things: it lets devices agree on how much power to deliver and it defines the current and voltage at which that power can be supplied.
The first part — the handshake — happens automatically whenever two PD-capable devices are connected. Using the USB data lines, the charger and device quickly exchange information about what they can provide or accept. In some cases, this handshake repeats as the charging session goes on, so the device always shares the most efficient power level.
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