How does Power Delivery Charging work?
A few changes have to be made from your average phone charging cable to handle the enormous step up in power. The first I have mentioned above: switching from the near-archaic USB-A to the new shiny USB-C. However, this on its own isn’t enough. A standard USB-C can operate up to 3A. But that alone isn’t enough to reach those record charging speeds.
As a force, Power is measured in watts (W), which means that having a higher wattage allows a wire to carry more power. You may remember the equation P = IV from your school physics classes. Where P = Power, I = Current, and V = Voltage. I promise I won’t get too scientific here.
To briefly summarise, most cables are limited by the current or Amperes (A) that can flow down their fibres. Lowering Amps will lower the Watts, and therefore reducing the power being delivered. Hence, Power Delivery chargers. Increase the current, increase the power, increase the speed at which you can charge your phone to full battery.
However, just because your cable can carry 60W doesn’t mean your phone can. Not that it will damage your phone in any way. But in the chain from the wall to your phone, the weakest link will limit the speed of charge. Be that the wall adaptor, your cable or your phone.
The best thing you can do is buy a phone cable and a wall charger that are the best they can be and feel safe knowing your phone filling up the best it can. As PD cables operate on USB-C, not your standard USB-A, you will also need a wall outlet with USB fast charging capabilities. These carry not just a USB-C port to allow you to connect. But also have significantly higher Wattage capabilities so that you can hit the charging heights that this new tech promises.
Point to note: Be careful of power banks that offer 60W charging and a PD port. Unless they specifically mention that the PD port can charge in itself up to 60W. Some of these banks are designed to spread this power across all of their ports, meaning that none of them can actually reach the power you so desire.