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Powerbanks (at least those with USB-C) work with Nintendo Switch

digita1alchemy

digita1alchemy

Member
Most of the power banks people have linked to seem really big. I'd prefer something more portable but that could still provide an extra 2-3 hours for something like Zelda. Any suggestions?
 
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shiyrley

Banned
This is the one I ordered

No idea if it's also on Amazon US tho

please realise that the quickcharge functionality is only for ONE usb A port and the MICRO USB input port therefore the USB C port does not have this, so no problems with any quickcharge shenanigans
 
S

shiyrley

Banned
polygon_monkey said:
I have this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Z9UY65G/

Which says will charge a Macbook so I should be good, right? (If I get a USB A-C cable)
Click to expand...
If you are gonna get a new powerbank please get one with USB C, as these are the ones that will work for sure and there's no real reason to get a powerbank with only USB A on this day an age. If you want one with USB A then get one with both USB C and A just like the one I just posted
 
A

agentreza

Member
Minsc said:
This is probably one of the most prominent ones. Does everything too, so it's good for other devices as well.

Should be around $40-50 at a good price, and 20100mAh should let you enjoy Zelda for a good 12 hours or more without needing to plug in to an outlet. If you're going to get a cable though, make sure to grab one off the cables recommended here, especially if it's a USB A to USB C cable, but you'd most likely want a USB C to USB C cable for the quicker charging anyway (which are also reviewed there, but those shouldn't have the same quality issues of the A to C cables).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation! Is there a difference between the one you linked and the "newer version" amazon is advertising on the same page?
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
digita1alchemy said:
Most of the power banks people have linked to seem really big. I'd prefer something more portable but that could still provide an extra 2-3 hours for something like Zelda. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Figure every 6500 mAh provides about 1 full charge (6500 * .6 = 3900, transferring power from a bank to the Switch isn't a 1:1 process). So the 20,000 mAh power banks should provide a little over 3 full charges.

I don't think there's any big brand name USB-C power banks that are 10,000 mAh and significantly more portable, so you're probably looking at using a USB A power bank with a USB A to USB C cable.

Getting a USB A only power bank will limit your charging speed a little though. Should still be fine I think. But only USB C to USB C will do 5V / 3A, USB A is going to be 5V / 2.0-2.4A.

agentreza said:
Thanks for the recommendation! Is there a difference between the one you linked and the "newer version" amazon is advertising on the same page?
Click to expand...

Looks like they just added a wall plug and made it cheaper. Seems like a better deal. I prefer having a dedicated USB C output, like in the RAVPower vs the Anker where it's input/output on the same port, because it will actually take power away from your Switch to charge the power bank with the Anker one if you forget to push the button before connecting it (and possible reverse charge if left in too long, not sure).
 
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Thraktor

Member
People should read Ars Technica's comments on this:

Ars Technica said:
The included AC adapter seems to fill about 1 percent of the battery per minute (give or take) when the system is in sleep mode (that mode is very power conscious, incidentally—after eight hours in "sleep," a fully charged battery had only drained to 98 percent).

I thought the Switch's USB-C charging port would mean I could use any standard external battery pack to charge the system away from an outlet on long trips. Testing with the Jackery Titan S, though, I was only able to get a trickle charge of about 1 percent every six minutes. That charge was so weak that, during normal gameplay, the Switch actually died on me while it was still plugged in to the external battery pack.
Click to expand...

Standard USB power banks will charge Switch, but unless they're outputting the correct voltage/current there's no guarantee they're going to do so in any way quickly.
 
N30RYU

N30RYU

Member
What is de difference betwen a USB-A to USB-C cable and the same one with 3.1? Cause I have seen a cable and it's price is a 50% more than the other. Both Belkin F2CU032BT06 and F2CU029BT1M.

Also the important thing here isn't if a power bank can charge or not the switch... Is if it can charge as fast as how fast the Switch drains it's battery when playing a game like Zelda.



I have an iMuto 30000mAh with a 5V/3.4A
 
R

Rokuren

Member
Thraktor said:
People should read Ars Technica's comments on this:



Standard USB power banks will charge Switch, but unless they're outputting the correct voltage/current there's no guarantee they're going to do so in any way quickly.
Click to expand...

Yeah Ars's comment has me waiting; especially the following paragraph
Ars said:
This could just be an issue of Voltage—the packaged wall outlet is rated for 15V/2.6A, while the battery pack is only rated at 5V/3A—or it might be an issue with confusing USB-C charging standards. In any case, don't expect perfect compatibility with third-party chargers
Click to expand...
 
D

Diablohead

Member
Inferno313 said:
How is this news?

They work with like anything.
Click to expand...
My iPad does not charge from a basic USB source like the front of my pc, the iPad even says not charging but it knows it's plugged in.

The switch might need the right amp to begin charge, some power packs only squeeze out 1.0amp while better packs use 2.1
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Rokuren said:
Yeah Ars's comment has me waiting; especially the following paragraph
Click to expand...

Interesting. I guess maybe some further testing is needed then. I'm not sure how that power bank was operating since it is USB A not USB C, so perhaps the USB C ones will fair better. It's still bizarre to me that a 5V / 1A is enough to up charge an iPhone 7+ while in use (which can deplete just as fast as the Switch under heavy load and doesn't have that much smaller a battery), but a 5V / 3A would not be enough for the Switch... weird. And all my iPads also can up charge while in use from battery packs as well, so it is strange the Switch isn't able to, despite having access to even higher charge rates from USB-C than the iPhone or iPad get out of USB-A.

It does look like going through the comments in that Ars article a few PD USB Type C chargers are mentioned, like this one from RavPower, that's basically the same size as the earlier one I mentioned, just slightly more mAh, and supports much higher output: Type-C Output: DC 5V/3A,9V/2A,15V/2A,20V/1.5A; and this one from Razer, which is smaller sized, only 12,800 mAh, but supports higher output as well: USB Type-C | 5V 3A / 9V 3A / 12V 3A / 15V 3A / 20V 2.25A.

Other than those I don't see any others, oh there was a Dell power bank mentioned as well, but then those three would be about it at the moment.
 
T

TangoAlphaLima

Member
Diablohead said:
My iPad does not charge from a basic USB source like the front of my pc, the iPad even says not charging but it knows it's plugged in.

The switch might need the right amp to begin charge, some power packs only squeeze out 1.0amp while better packs use 2.1
Click to expand...

I think all iPads will charge from a USB port only supply 1.0 amps, but iOS doesn't actually acknowledge it, because it is charging much slower than what it registers.
 
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tiijj

Member
tkscz said:
This was something Nintendo revealed on the event last month. So it was known they would work as long as they are USB-C
Click to expand...

During last month's presentation they only said "USB Certified Portable Batteries" of course you need a USB C (usb a-c or usb c-c cable or just usb c, or maybe those permanently attached to the battery) to actually connect it but they didn't particularly said as long as they are USB C. The "USB Certified Portable Batteries" sounds too vague lol.
 
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Thraktor

Member
Minsc said:
Interesting. I guess maybe some further testing is needed then. I'm not sure how that power bank was operating since it is USB A not USB C, so perhaps the USB C ones will fair better. It's still bizarre to me that a 5V / 1A is enough to up charge an iPhone 7+ while in use (which can deplete just as fast as the Switch under heavy load and doesn't have that much smaller a battery), but a 5V / 3A would not be enough for the Switch... weird. And all my iPads also can up charge while in use from battery packs as well, so it is strange the Switch isn't able to, despite having access to even higher charge rates from USB-C than the iPhone or iPad get out of USB-A.

It does look like going through the comments in that Ars article a few PD USB Type C chargers are mentioned, like this one from RavPower, that's basically the same size as the earlier one I mentioned, just slightly more mAh, and supports much higher output: Type-C Output: DC 5V/3A,9V/2A,15V/2A,20V/1.5A; and this one from Razer, which is smaller sized, only 12,800 mAh, but supports higher output as well: USB Type-C | 5V 3A / 9V 3A / 12V 3A / 15V 3A / 20V 2.25A.

Other than those I don't see any others, oh there was a Dell power bank mentioned as well, but then those three would be about it at the moment.
Click to expand...

Can the 5V/1A iPhone charger actually charge an iPhone 7 Plus quicker than it depletes it while playing an intensive 3D game, though? The typical power draw on a phone is far lower than the maximum power draw, whereas for Switch if you're in a game you're likely pretty close to the maximum power draw.

In any case, I would imagine that it's just a matter of the Switch's power circuitry being designed to charge at a constant current regardless of voltage, so voltages lower than the intended 15V will simply reduce the charging rate accordingly, regardless of the current the charger is capable of supplying. So, if the Switch charges at 15V/1A (i.e. 15W) off the included charger, it may only pull a maximum of 5W off a 5V charger, even if the charger is capable of 2A or 3A output.

The other possibility (which more closely matches the change in charging rate), is that it's another case of USB-PD vs Qualcomm QC incompatibility. The Jackery Titan S is advertised as a Qualcomm QC 2 charger, and it may not be implementing USB-PD properly, in which case the power supplied would default to 0.5A (USB's default charging standard) if Switch is unable to negotiate a higher current with it via the USB-PD protocol. This would result in Switch getting only 2.5W, which is about what we'd expect given the charging rate given.
 
W

WhiteRabbitEXE

Member
See, this is the kind of thing Nintendo should have released exact details of (minimum and recommended specs, recommended packs and brands, etc.) months ago. Not this whole "let previewers try to figure it out for everyone 1 week before launch".
 
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tim_pkmn89

Member
WhiteRabbitEXE said:
See, this is the kind of thing Nintendo should have released exact details of (minimum and recommended specs, recommended packs and brands, etc.) months ago. Not this whole "let previewers try to figure it out for everyone 1 week before launch".
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be any different than their SD card page that lists like 5 completely random models.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Thraktor said:
Can the 5V/1A iPhone charger actually charge an iPhone 7 Plus quicker than it depletes it while playing an intensive 3D game, though? The typical power draw on a phone is far lower than the maximum power draw, whereas for Switch if you're in a game you're likely pretty close to the maximum power draw.

In any case, I would imagine that it's just a matter of the Switch's power circuitry being designed to charge at a constant current regardless of voltage, so voltages lower than the intended 15V will simply reduce the charging rate accordingly, regardless of the current the charger is capable of supplying. So, if the Switch charges at 15V/1A (i.e. 15W) off the included charger, it may only pull a maximum of 5W off a 5V charger, even if the charger is capable of 2A or 3A output.

The other possibility (which more closely matches the change in charging rate), is that it's another case of USB-PD vs Qualcomm QC incompatibility. The Jackery Titan S is advertised as a Qualcomm QC 2 charger, and it may not be implementing USB-PD properly, in which case the power supplied would default to 0.5A (USB's default charging standard) if Switch is unable to negotiate a higher current with it via the USB-PD protocol. This would result in Switch getting only 2.5W, which is about what we'd expect given the charging rate given.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can actually play an intensive 3D game, while also having internet sharing on and in use, and using bluetooth for audio, and have the phone increase in charge.

Something definitely seems funny that such a drastic difference is occurring on a much weaker charging output between my iPhone and the Switch, where my iPhone charge increases on 5V / 1A, and the Switch does diddly squat with much high charging output. It's not like the Switch's battery is that much bigger like I said, in fact, it's smaller than the iPad which I can also charge while in heavy use with a 5V / 2A power bank just fine, which is still less than the Switch gets, and the iPad battery is a good 50% bigger (in mAh) than the Switch.
 
V

Vitacat

Member
I have the official Vita power brick. Would I be able to use that with Switch?

This one:

91eLvhCu00L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
Click to expand...
 
W

WonkyPanda

Member
CazTGG said:
I'm confused: I bought this power bank due to its large capacity. Will it work for charging the Switch without damaging the battery or should I return it?
Click to expand...

That should work fine with an A to C cable, but it's highly recommend you go with something that will actually charge through USB C. That seems to only have C inputs (unless I am looking at it wrong).
 
C

CazTGG

Member
WonkyPanda said:
That should work fine with an A to C cable, but it's highly recommend you go with something that will actually charge through USB C. That seems to only have C inputs (unless I am looking at it wrong).
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's got two USB-C inputs and its output ports lack a USB-C.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
Vitacat said:
I have the official Vita power brick. Would I be able to use that with Switch?

This one:
Click to expand...

It should work but to what level and speed no idea, the switch might drink power so fast you will only see it charge up when not playing a game, but connecting one might slow down the drain rate and buy you more play time.
 
O

OryoN

Member
Ars Technica:
...(that mode is very power conscious, incidentally—after eight hours in "sleep," a fully charged battery had only drained to 98 percent)...
Click to expand...

Oh that's great to hear. The Wii U gamepad would have died almost two times over... no joke! The 3DS also has a very efficient sleep mode, but Switch sounds even more impressive in that regard.
 
L

Lexxism

Member
MissCauthon said:
Is this good or not???
https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-30000mA.../dp/B01F8IRIN0

And do i need a usb c to usb c cable?
Click to expand...
Aukey is good brand. So that should be okay. The USB-C to A should be enough since the OUTPUT 2 spec is 5V/2.4A. Switch only requires 5V/1.5A. Specs wise the USB-C is the better option but I don't know if it will affect the charging time. I think it will but I can't back it up.
ShikabaneHime13 said:
Ordered this powerbank and a set of 5 USB-C to USB A cords (1ft, 3ft and 6ft) yesterday from Amazon but having lurked in this thread, I'm wondering if I should get this one one instead
Click to expand...
I don't have any idea on how reliable those two but make sure that the output port supports 5V/1.5A. It seems both devices does but the second like has a USB-C port. Just pick a power bank with USB-C port. You will need for future devices that you might purchase.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
Its NVidia mobile hardware, that's par for the course.

The old Shield Tablet was a power hog. Shit would actually die while plugged with anything less than its bundled charger. Not even my iPad charger could satiate its monstrous hunger.
 
T

tsumineko

Member
I'm pretty sure that power bank he was using in the video was a USB-A one, and he was using a USB-A to USB-C cable.

edit: checking again, it absolutely is a USB-A power bank. He is definitely using a USB-A to USB-C cable.
 
R

RockmanBN

Member
Got the Anker Powercore+ 20100. Hopefully this can charge the switch while I play. I'd like to have 12+ hours of Zelda on the go instead of almost three. Else if this will be used when I'm low when traveling.

It feels comfortable enough for me when I have it it my pocket. Is it too noticeable? This is coming from a 5 ft 7 guy wearing slim fit jeans.

ztTApEU.jpg

zcz9uvQ.jpg

98QYl2P.jpg
Click to expand...
 
H

Hylian7

Member
oti xero said:
Why wouldn't they?
Click to expand...
Yeah there was no real question of that (pretty sure Nintendo explicitly said they would too). However the question is if they could charge fast enough to be a net positive if you are going from USB to USB-C. For those that don't know, USB-C (on both ends of the cable) charges very fast, much faster than USB. If you are charging USB to USB-C, it will be very slow, and if you were to play the Switch while charging this way, it could potentially be a net negative (albeit much slower than with no charge at all).

My phone is a Nexus 5X and uses USB-C, and I was really happy that the Switch will use it, no matter what the battery life on it is, as my power bank will charge it very quickly. You want to make sure to get a power bank that has a USB-C port on it though. It will make all the difference.
 
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