Instead of the sane approach of specifying 5, 9, 12, 15, and/or 20 volts and the amperages, products insist on listing every model of device in existence instead.
Most will do 12V, but I always want to make sure it’ll power my laptop (20V) as well.
A big thank you to reviewers who post images of the actual products where it shows the relevant info in one short line on the labels:
e.g. PD Output: 5V=3A, 9V=3A, 12V=3A, 15V=3A, 20V=3A
This is mostly the fault of what people search for.
90% of your average buyers don’t go on shopping sites and search “20W USB-C PD Charger” they go on and search “Samsung S22 charger” or whatever they’ve got.
Sellers are incentivised to design the listings around that, or they simply won’t get the clicks.
Yeah, I get the “SEO” aspect of it, but they could at least include the actual specs somewhere.
I could be wrong, but I just did some quick research and it looks like the PD spec always supports all of those voltages. I also did a reverse image search of the image you posted, and it’s some no-name brand from Amazon. Don’t buy no-name brands from Amazon. Stick to Anker.
Moved to UGreen after Anker’s nonsense with their cameras. Used Anker for many years up to that point though. Not that there should ever be security issues on a charger, but I’m happy with UGreen.
Same. And I’ve bought many UGreen chargers and cables since that whole ordeal. Since then I’ve seen some Anker chargers, batteries, and desk power strips that looked really appealing and that I would’ve bought if I wasn’t avoiding them.
Good to know. I had heard Anker did some shady stuff but never caught wind of a good replacement. The phone charger scene is obscene as seen by OP, and and I would rather buy from Anker than buy garbage.
Oh definitely. If my choices are no-name garbage or Anker, it’ll always be Anker. You’d be better off with nothing than that shit.
Looks like revision 2 of the PD spec requires all of those voltages, but in revision 1 it doesn’t require 20v. And if they’re not listing the voltages, they’re prob not listing the PD spec revision it adheres to.
RavPower was my jam before they got booted from Amazon, but yeah, I stick to Ankler for the most part (unless I just need a dumb power bank to dump solar into that’ll charge my better power banks - e.g. the 50,000 mAh behemoth I’ve got charging outside right now).
The reason I had to stray here is because I’m looking for a 12v -> USB PD adapter I can hook to a 12V solar panel. Not the “cigarette lighter” kind, but the kind you hard wire. No-name is about all you can really buy unless I want to crack open an Ankler or fuss with a cigarette lighter-style adapter (those are a PITA sometimes lol).
I’m having trouble imagining what you’re setting out to accomplish. 12v solar panels are higher than 12v. This one gets to 18v, for example. You need a solar charge controller to convert it to 12v, and then you’d need something like this to convert it to 5v to charge your battery bank. Whether your battery bank will “take” 12v without electronics to tell it to is beyond the scope of my knowledge, but AFAIK 5v is universally accepted.
I’ve got two sets of solar panels and two different use-cases.
The panels my power banks use are all regulated 5v output (3x 6 watts, one 20W, and one 12W). I take one or more of those backpacking.
The 12V->USB PD adapter I’m looking for is to hook into my 12V 50 or 100 watt panel I take camping (which one i take depends how many people plan to charge from it). In addition to being a charging point for my laptop, it would also charge my power banks much quicker since they support QC/PD charging at higher voltages than the 5V panels produce.
But yeah, PV panels “open circuit” voltage is closer to 17-21 volts, but once you put a load on them, they’re closer to 12-14.
Exactly. Except I’m trying to avoid those kinds of “cigarette lighter” style adapters, but I’ve used them before (which is why I’m trying to avoid them this time around lol).
Yeah, it’s hard to find good ones. You could invert it to 120v AC and plug in a regular charger, but you lose efficiency doing that, not to mention the added danger, weight, and complexity.
USB PD 1.0 is irredenta in 2025. 2.0 is basically irrevent outside of old device still on sale.
If the charger does 60 watts or greater it’s going to be 20v. https://www.renesas.com/sites/default/files/media/images/normative-voltage-source-pdp-rating.png
Everything made in the past like 4 years is 3.0. Ideally you shouldn’t buy anything that isn’t PPS (programmable power supply) because it makes charging a LOT more efficient.
But good luck finding a 12v adapter, they’re very hit or miss on supporting it since 12v is optional now and not a lot of things support it.
My understanding is that Samsung uses an odd standard that means they can’t quick charge from Anker devices. That was at least true a few years back. Would be great to know if that’s changed.
12v is optional from PD2.0 onward
Citizen, desist using science words immediately, and get back to consuming ContentSlop™ as appropriate for your clearance level.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit spicy, but getting googlebombed by basic stuff when I’m looking for something technical does feel like this. Duckduckgo will even replace your search with a totally different search sometimes!
Frustrates me as well, but the reason is quite simple that people search for “$device cable”, and sellers need to list all of them so the search engine of choice lands the user there.
They should still list the specs though.
For some reason, “amperage” mildly infuriates me. It’s current.
Voltage equals amperage times ohmage.
Ohmage? You mean resistance?
That was the joke. They are making everything in the equation end in -age. Because “amperage” bugs them.
Volt + age
Amper(e) + age
Ohm + ageIn other words, ohmage is an homage to amperage.
That’s the joke. Edit: oops, you got the message already! 😂
Why is ‘voltage’ fine then?
Because potential sounds weird?
It only sounds weird because you’re used to ‘voltage’.
And wattage only sounds weird because you’re used to power.
Where did I say wattage sounds weird?
I guess ohmage was the one that f4f mentioned.
Tension.
Tension makes me think of how one “can’t let go” if high-voltage AC is flowing through their arms. 😬
…and warnings in multiple languages. HAUTE TENSION!
Then why doesn’t “voltage” bug you? It’s the same sort of word: unit + “age”.
To fully satisfy you, it should be:
electrical potential difference = current * resistance.
Potential or electromotive force. “Voltage” is long accepted. The only use of “amperage” you’ll find in The Art of Electronics is in the index: Amperage, see current. Ampère called current “intensité du courant”, hence I in V = I × R.
I don’t know why it bugs me. This is Mildly Infuriating… The place for nitpicking! 😅
Agreed, and thanks for the history lesson!
I raise you “cubic capacity” meaning volume.
Lmao, I got this same problem looking for webcams. It has “1080p” in the title, but it doesn’t says how much MP has, so I can’t buy a proper webcam because I can get a shitty ass camera with 1080p but with a shitty image quality.
Also it should be ‘any device’
Any device made according to the spec. So mostly “not Nintendo Switch”.
Should be, but not all of them support 20V. I’m less concerned with the wattage (I usually buy a minimum of 20W) since my laptop is designed for 45W but is smart enough to throttle and not charge the battery if supplied with less. I’ve tested it down to 20W (which the BIOS warned me about) and it works about the same as when it’s in “Battery saver” mode. However, if I put it to sleep or power it down, it’ll charge from 20W just fine.
I meant the grammatical error of putting a plural after any.
Oh, well, silver lining: the misinterpretation of that comment inspired more discussion than it would have had it been interpreted correctly as grammar pedantry lol
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Don’t buy cheap Chinese shit off Amazon and you won’t have this problem
To be faaaaaaair… The devices no longer have the DC voltage and current ratings listed on them like they used to.
