(3 PACK) Samsung 1 Meter USB-C to USB-C Cable

(3 PACK) Samsung 1 Meter USB-C to USB-C Cable

These Samsung cables support up to 5A charging, but I have no idea how many watts that translates to. Samsung devices always demand their cables to be “5A cable (E-marked)”, which I honestly am not even sure what that later part means, as I certainly cannot see any E’s written on these Samsung cables.

Got curious. Found this:

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The lack of clear specs for cables can be frustrating - Especially when they go through the effort of marking one part of that, but don’t actually tell you all of it :sweat_smile:

Luckily, there are a few ways to kind of guesstimate this, since the basics of the electricity are fairly simple:

Watts = Volts x Amps (P = V x I , or Power = Voltage x Current)

So, if you match your known 5A/amps against the common voltages that are part of the USB-C PD (Power Delivery) specification, you can kind of figure out where this cable should perform in terms of wattage capacity.
Voltages from that spec include:
5V → 25W (5V x 5A)
9V → 45W
15V → 75W
20V → 100W
28V → 140W
Etc.

From this, I would guess that the 45W and the 75W are likely, but perhaps the lower end of that. It is possible that it could do 100W, but I would doubt it…

Many very good, reputable cables that are meant to handle higher power, like 100W or more, will often cost more than this Woot/Samsung multi-pack for a single cable. And those are quite often only for power - NOT e-marked for data as well. So, once you say that it’s been given an e-marker for data, and then you also want higher power…? I would typically expect many manufacturers to charge you for the privilege, and their cost in making and certifying the thing.

This isn’t to say that these aren’t good cables, or manufactured well - Just that they’re made for a price point, and not everybody needs high wattage. As an example, an iPhone rarely charges at higher than 25W, and even the fastest Android devices don’t typically do more than a quick burst at 45-75W, and then drop to a lower voltage and power draw for the second half of charging, to minimize heat.

TL/DR: These will do great for most smaller mobile devices like phones and tablets, but perhaps not for the highest power laptops.

Hopefully that helps!

Note:
USB type A is slightly more finicky with this, since you get all sorts of weird voltages that relate to Qualcomm and their older QuickCharge standard instead of USB-PD. Technically, some USB-C devices still use these too, but they’re becoming less common, since weird numbers like 3.6 or 12.5V just make things harder, and the USB universal standard is just more convenient after years of proprietary standards.

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