Hardware Charging Switch: Exact Needs of the system?

[Sumea]

Hey hey people. I am rather fresh owner of a Switch system. I can't say I am all glad - I been rather critical of the system as a home system before owning one myself, and owning one does not change it much.

What I am interested still, now owning one and knowing it's VERY quickly draining battery life for myself, I want to be prepared in the future.

I personally got a USB to 3DS charging cable so I can charge it from power banks and more conventional means, because the base charger is plugged to a charging stand in my home. Same thing mostly for Wii U gamepad - I once forgot the unique charger it has to friend's place and pain it was to not have it in my home, I got a 3M USB cable that I take around now instead.

So for switch, I'd like to get a wall charger and maybe a power bank good enough to charge it while playing. It is kinda weird to me that nintendo opted to have a USB-C port on the switch, almost saying that use any ways you find to charge on the go - combined with the battery life it has, yet it seems to have very high requirements.

I feel like if I was one of those new macbook owners or HP laptop owners those would be the best alternatives to nintendo's own charger but sadly I don't own one. I was thinking of buying a QuickCharge 2.0 or a 2.1A wall charger, and a 10000MaH power bank with 2.1A output.


So Rambling aside:
If anyone has found out, what seem to be Requirements of Switch charging (while playing it) - or does it change from the load the system is under (that is, what game you are playing)
And is there currently at least some recommendations among the nerdy of us that have tested it out?

Because I do not live in UK or US I am not exactly able to get the same products as some people, or the power banks recommended by digital foundry - not at least as cheaply as they could, so I would like to know what is needed etc. and get what I can find with right ratings.

 

[YourHero]

You can find the amps and such on the brick I would think.

 

[Sumea]

You can find the amps and such on the brick I would think.

Well, it says 5v/1.5A and 15v/2.6A - so it's the latter or neither or whatever and there is just overall quite random reports online about this thus far.

Some say you need that full output (15v/2.6) to charge the system while playing, digital foundry says 2.1A is enough... And I am just not willing to make a purchase meant to support my switch without at least some people confirmation. Some people say normal bricks are enough. Some reports make it seem QuickCharge is supported as QuickCharge essentially is just rebranding for "holy shit this puts out volts and amps 'n shit yo" without talking about volts and amps to common consumer, and so on so forth...

It would be nice if Nintendo told it to people themselves but instead their guide is "use the brick lol... OUR BRICK LOL"

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Well, it says 5v/1.5A and 15v/2.6A - so it's the latter or neither or whatever and there is just overall quite random reports online about this thus far.

Some say you need that full output (15v/2.6) to charge the system while playing, digital foundry says 2.1A is enough... And I am just not willing to make a purchase meant to support my switch without at least some people confirmation. Some people say normal bricks are enough. Some reports make it seem QuickCharge is supported as QuickCharge essentially is just rebranding for "holy shit this puts out volts and amps 'n shit yo" without talking about volts and amps to common consumer, and so on so forth...

It would be nice if Nintendo told it to people themselves but instead their guide is "use the brick lol... OUR BRICK LOL"

A 5v@2a power supply should be enough to charge the switch very slowly while playing, but if you want something that will actually charge the Switch at a reasonable speed you'll need one that supports 15v@2a and USB-PD and there are only a couple of those.

 

[Sumea]

A 5v@2a power supply should be enough to charge the switch very slowly while playing, but if you want something that will actually charge the Switch at a reasonable speed you'll need one that supports 15v@2a and USB-PD and there are only a couple of those.

A wallcharger like that would be good enough for me, one that I can take with me while leaving the original at home etc.

 

[Alkéryn]

My its power consuption is outstanding for and handheld device xD

 

[The Real Jdbye]

A wallcharger like that would be good enough for me, one that I can take with me while leaving the original at home etc.

Sorry, for some reason I thought you wanted a powerbank. There are plenty of USB-PD wall chargers but the price is around the same as the official one. If you are planning to play docked you will definitely want one with USB-PD, 5v isn't quite enough to charge the Switch when docked.
Look at the numbers here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/11181/a-look-at-nintendo-switch-power-consumption/2
Note that the Switch will only draw 2A at any voltage. So at 5V the Switch is essentially getting 10W maximum of power, even if your power supply can provide 3A or even more.
So a 5V@2A or more power supply should be able to charge it very slowly while in use and undocked, but it's not really for charging, it would be incredibly slow.

 

[Sumea]

Sorry, for some reason I thought you wanted a powerbank. There are plenty of USB-PD wall chargers but the price is around the same as the official one. If you are planning to play docked you will definitely want one with USB-PD, 5v isn't quite enough to charge the Switch when docked.

Well, I asked both. Basically as said, I have small 5v/1a 2200mah bank for my cellphone/3DS I used, very occasionally. In this case I just wanted some products I might get so I do not need to unplug my dock setup every time I want to go to town with my switch and stuff. For now I guess I have to or find some bank arse power banks.

Thanks for the info on powerbank, I know I can find some that fit the criteria.

 

[blinkzane]

I use an android fast charger and usb c cable with no issues. What most people don't understand is that there is a limiter built into almost all newer electronics that prevents the device from being charged too quickly. And if that limiter were to break,(overpowered past its maximunlm) it should simply not charge rather than blow up. Like a fuse almost. That doesn't mean shove all the power you can into it, just go a little over what it will intake and it will correct itself.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Well, I asked both. Basically as said, I have small 5v/1a 2200mah bank for my cellphone/3DS I used, very occasionally. In this case I just wanted some products I might get so I do not need to unplug my dock setup every time I want to go to town with my switch and stuff. For now I guess I have to or find some bank arse power banks.

Thanks for the info on powerbank, I know I can find some that fit the criteria.

This powerbank will charge the Switch quickly: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-RAVPower-26800mAh-Recharged/dp/B01LRQDAEI
There is another model by the same brand with a slightly lower capacity (20100mAh) that also charges the Switch fast, but there are two models that look the same with about the same description, you want the more expensive of them ($75 or so) as that's the one that has USB-PD, the other one will hardly charge the Switch at all.
There are others coming out soon from other brands as well.
Those are your only options for now.

 

[Sumea]

This powerbank will charge the Switch quickly: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-RAVPower-26800mAh-Recharged/dp/B01LRQDAEI
There is another model by the same brand with a slightly lower capacity (20100mAh) that also charges the Switch fast, but there are two models that look the same with about the same description, you want the more expensive of them ($75 or so) as that's the one that has USB-PD, the other one will hardly charge the Switch at all.
There are others coming out soon from other brands as well.
Those are your only options for now.

Thanks for the info. Gotta look into it hard I guess. And not cheap it seems...

 

[xile6]

15v 2amps.
Anything else and it will not play and charge. Simple as that.

 

[urherenow]

15v 2amps.
Anything else and it will not play and charge. Simple as that.

No it isn't as simple as that. The brick is 15V because the dock requires power too. Not only for itself, but for the Switch, USB ports and a small bit for the HDMI as well. 5v 2.1A might not charge fast, but it does the job, even while playing.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

No it isn't as simple as that. The brick is 15V because the dock requires power too. Not only for itself, but for the USB ports and a small bit for the HDMI. 5v 2.1A Might not charge fast, but it does the job, even while playing.

9V@2A should do the job fine undocked and charge the Switch as fast as 15V or close to it, but all the USB-PD powerbanks currently out support 15V.

 

[xile6]

No it isn't as simple as that. The brick is 15V because the dock requires power too. Not only for itself, but for the Switch, USB ports and a small bit for the HDMI as well. 5v 2.1A might not charge fast, but it does the job, even while playing.

Its been tested.
A 9v fast charger will not charge and play.
It will however slow the drain of the battery whike your playing.

Now the system will charge if it is in sleep mode.
But the whole part of charging while playing is where you need the more voltage.

 

[urherenow]

Its been tested.
A 9v fast charger will not charge and play.
It will however slow the drain of the battery whike your playing.

Now the system will charge if it is in sleep mode.
But the whole part of charging while playing is where you need the more voltage.

A "fast charger" works different. I have a 5 port USB thing that has 2 "fast charging" ports that work with items designed for them. But when you plug in something that WASN'T designed for "fast charging", it's a different story. Case in point, I have a USB Battery charger (like... AA, AAA, 18650) with an LCD screen that shows all of the details. When I load all 4 slots on a regular port, EACH battery is pulling in 1.5 amps. If I plug it into a "fast charging" port, they don't even get 1 amp (and they charge slowly). So I seriously question this "test". 5v at 2.1amp should trickle-charge while playing. Guess I'll have to try it out when I get home.

EDIT: and it's NOT more voltage you need, it's more wattage.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

A "fast charger" works different. I have a 5 port USB thing that has 2 "fast charging" ports that work with items designed for them. But when you plug in something that WASN'T designed for "fast charging", it's a different story. Case in point, I have a USB Battery charger (like... AA, AAA, 18650) with an LCD screen that shows all of the details. When I load all 4 slots on a regular port, EACH battery is pulling in 1.5 amps. If I plug it into a "fast charging" port, they don't even get 1 amp (and they charge slowly). So I seriously question this "test". 5v at 2.1amp should trickle-charge while playing. Guess I'll have to try it out when I get home.

EDIT: and it's NOT more voltage you need, it's more wattage.

The switch won't draw more than 2A at any voltage, so in this case it's more voltage you need. (because W = V * A)

Its been tested.
A 9v fast charger will not charge and play.
It will however slow the drain of the battery whike your playing.

Now the system will charge if it is in sleep mode.
But the whole part of charging while playing is where you need the more voltage.

Source?

 

[Mr. Wizard]

This has all been covered in other threads.

Best solution, use this:

 

[urherenow]

The switch won't draw more than 2A at any voltage, so in this case it's more voltage you need. (because W = V * A)

Source?

Ok, smart ass. Then tell me why the car charger supplies 5v @ 3amps?

Mic drop.

 

[Deleted User]

This has all been covered in other threads.

Best solution, use this:

Still not enough for a Switch.