Basically I’m trying to de-clutter the cables to my charging station, and was hoping to use a 3-way cable for my phone, watch, and headphones.
My main concern is if one device is able to successfully negotiate QuickCharge or PD, would that send 9-20 volts to the other devices?
e.g. if I grabbed the wrong cord and hooked it into my laptop, the laptop requests 20v, would that PD negotiation succeed and also send 20v to my 5v devices on the other two leads?
I’ve only used these kinds of cables with USB-A and chargers that can only output 5V. Most of my chargers now are QC/PD so I’m curious if I should avoid those or take any particular precautions.
Do you use all the cables all the time? If not, you could get a couple retractable ones to keep things tidy. Then just plug in the 2-3 things you regularly use.
Usually, yes. It’s where my daily-carry devices (phone, headphones, and watch) get plugged in each evening.
Someone recommended using cable sleeves to tidy things up, and I think that’s the route I’m going to go.
Your watch… does the charger plug into the USB, or does USB plug into the watch?
I feel your pain for the declutter… I as well have about 3 cables plugged into a super charger and I love the charge times it provides, I hate the cables. I really wish they made a cable that rolled back up like those ID badge lanyards you attach to your belt. Only take the cable you need and once done it rolls back up into a small space.
I actually looked for something like this and while they do exist, they all seem really shoddy and I would not trust them with my devices sadly
My main concern is if one device is able to successfully negotiate QuickCharge or PD, would that send 9-20 volts to the other devices?
Yes.
QC negotiation works by changing the voltage. This communication would be broken if you plug several devices to 1 charging port.
So you better get a charger with several ports where each port is capable of delivering QC / PD. They have independent communication then, and each device gets it’s proper voltage.
That would actually be the safer scenario, as a failure in the PD handshake simply defaults to 5v which every USB device can accept. It would be more dangerous to only have the PD negotiation be on one of the three ports, because then you could potentially burn out devices on the other two by sending them too much voltage.
I guess the best case scenario would be to have the PD signal run on all three, then default to low voltage if any of them fail. But that’s likely not what they’re doing, because then things would only fast charge if all three ports are plugged into fast charge devices. Because an unplugged tail would likely register as a failed PD handshake.
USB-PD changes thr main voltage in response to a handshake protocol on the C1 and C2 data lines, which this cable likely doesn’t connect for precisely this reason. Qualcomm QC still uses D+ and D- to negotiate the higher voltage, which this cable likely wouldn’t connect either.
Have you thought about 3 cables but running them through a cable sleeve? This way you can get a three port charger and three cables But have them feel like one big cable.
Might be worth looking at a charging dock, ie:
Especially as more devices start utilizing Qi2 wireless charging with magnets. Otherwise for non-iPhone devices you need something like a magnet ring or the wonderful Snap 4 Luxe to utilize a magnetized wireless charging stand.
I have this awesome Anker one on my nightstand and it charges my iPhone, Apple Watch, and Jabra earbuds. There are cheaper options, but this one let me charge the watch at it’s highest speed.
I’m kind of doing that with wire ties every few inches. Haven’t thought of a cable sleeve, though. That would probably work and look better. Thanks!
