I have a OnePlus phone and I know that to fast charge it I need to use a special USB cable.
But Samsung phones, for example, also have their own fast charging cables.
So why can’t those phones fast charge with the other manufacturer’s cables if the cable is able to transfer enough power anyway?
At the end of the day the cables are simply transferring electricity, and the more watts the faster it should charge, no? At least that’s the way I see it
In: Technology
you have to understand several things about usb cables.
a basic cable is just a cable, its just a piece of metal which conducts electricity and signals.
now, depending on what you want to transmit through it, you can have the cable be higher or lower quality.
lets first start with the leads.
The leads can be : (from worst to best)
– Tin
– Aluminium
– Copper coated Aluminium
– Pure copper
– Silver coated copper
– Silver
Tin is cheaper then aluminium, Aluminium is cheaper then copper, Copper is cheaper then silver.
but when it comes to conductivity, silver is better then copper that is better then aluminium that is better then tin. the less conductive the material is, the more resistant it is, meaning more of the electricity is lost to heat dissipation.
Then theres the issue of American Wire Gauge, AWG is the thickness of the cable in inch/X, so a 24AWG cable is thicker then a 28AWG cable (1/24 of an inch is thicker than 1/28 of an inch).
So a 28 AWG cable might be able to carry 2-3 watts maximum while a 24 or 22 AWG cable will be able to carry around 100 watt for a 5 foot distance
Then theres the soldering and connector quality, cheap thin connectors with weak stress relief will break easly, stronger cables are stiffer but worth it, also some USB cables have a small microcontroler inside to control flow and make sure you dont fry anything.
Personally. as long as you check your cables are at least 24 AWG and have decent stress reliefs,you shuld be fine.
you should be more worried about getting quality chargers.
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