When focusing on the maximum current, you can focus on 2 values, one is the maximum current supported by the charging cable for public protocols as well as other protocols, and the other is the maximum current supported by the charging cable for its own private protocols.
①USB-A to USB-C charging cable
There is no general specification for USB-A to USB-C cable, generally speaking, the maximum current supported by common cable is 2A (large cable set) or 3A (small cable set), and this maximum current is also the maximum current supported by public protocol (QC protocol), if you just want to shake hands with the public fast charging protocol (QC protocol) or private protocols with low current requirement (FCP, AFC, etc.), the maximum current supported by the cable is 2A (large cable set) or 3A (small cable set), and this maximum current is also the maximum current supported by public protocol (QC protocol). 33W(11V 3A) SuperVOOC, 33W(11V 3A) VFCP), cables from different manufacturers can be mixed with a maximum current of 3A.
In addition to this, each family will do all kinds of magic modifications to the charger in order to carry out their own private protocols. For each family’s magic cable, the maximum current advertised by the manufacturer is the maximum current that supports its own protocol, if you take it to charge other families’ cell phones, sorry, the maximum current will return to the maximum current of the public protocol of 3A, and you can’t shake hands with the private protocol that each family needs to modify the cable to realize.
Xiaomi’s USB-A to USB-C cable in order to be able to support its own MiPPS private protocol, in the USB-A port to add a contact for PD protocol communication, so that Xiaomi’s USB-A to USB-C cable can also support the PD protocol (need to be used with the original charging head with magic modification).
OPPO/OnePlus/TrueMe 3A and above USB-A to USB-C cables are able to recognize their own SuperVOOC private protocol by adding a contact on the USB-A port for protocol communication, which makes it possible to smoothly handshake the SuperVOOC private protocol.
Huawei/Honor 5A/6A’s USB-A to USB-C cable has a double-sided pull-up resistor on CC pin in order to recognize its own SCP private protocol, which makes it possible to handshake the SCP private protocol smoothly, but it will make Huawei/Honor’s USB-A to USB-C cable unable to charge Apple devices normally.
The vivo/iQOO4A and above USB-A to USB-C cables have pull-up resistors on the CC pins in order to recognize their own VFCP private protocol, making it possible to smoothly handshake the VFCP private protocol. Some 1.5 m 6A USB-A to USB-C cables also add a contact on the USB-A port for PD protocol communication, so that the USB-A to USB-C cable can also support the PD protocol, which also needs to be used with the original charging head that also needs to be magically altered, and can’t be mixed with Xiaomi’s charging head.
② USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Compared with AC cable, USB-C to USB-C cable has added the support of PD protocol, support PD protocol, due to the requirements of PD protocol specification, usually the maximum current supported by USB-C to USB-C charging cable is 3A or 5A, at the same time, because of the USB-C to USB-C cable has more contacts, coupled with the certification of the E-marker chip information, manufacturers do not need to The current is the maximum current in the handshake public and private protocols. It is possible to mix wires from different manufacturers, but the maximum current is 3A or 5A.
In addition, in order to carry out their own private protocols, each family will enhance the power supply ability of the USB-C to USB-C cable for their own protocols, for each family’s enhancement cable, the manufacturer advertises a maximum current of more than 5A, so it must mean the maximum current to support their own protocols. If you take it to charge other family’s cell phone, because the manufacturer does not have magic, you can also activate fast charging (except OPPO quadruple-voltage fast charging), but the maximum current is 5 A. The following is the inventory of charging cables with enhanced charging capabilities.
Xiaomi’s USB-C to USB-C cable comes in 6A and 10.5A versions.
The USB-C to USB-C cables from OPPO/OnePlus/TrueMe come in 6.5A, 8A, 10A, 12A, and 15A versions.
Huawei/Honor USB-C to USB-C cable has 6A version.
The vivo/iQOO USB-C to USB-C cable has 6A and 10A versions.
If you take these cables to charge other phones or laptops, the maximum current will be back to 5A.
There are also a lot of third-party charging cables on the market, which do not have the enhanced ability to enhance a particular private fast-charging protocol, so when paired with each charger to activate fast-charging, the maximum current supported by the 5A cable is 5A, and the maximum current supported by the 3A cable is 3A.
Here are a few exceptions:
1. the Apple Original Thunderbolt 3/4 Pro 1.8m cable is a cable with a special current limit and is the first passive Thunderbolt cable with a length of more than 1 meter. It supports USB2/3/4 /5G/10G/40G speeds and can pass 20V and 5A current. However, the 5A current mode must be activated by connecting to Apple’s original 60W+ charger, and only 3A when connecting to other chargers.
2. OPPO’s quadruple-voltage fast charger (20V 7.5A and 20V 12A) must be activated with the original cable, and cannot be activated when using a third-party cable + 160W or 240W charger, and can only activate SuperVOOC with a maximum of 10V 5A 50W.
