4 ms·

If you want a real upgrade, I swear by the cables that have integrated watt-meters built in. It's so nice to have fast feedback about how heavily you're using

If you want a real upgrade, I swear by the cables that have integrated watt-meters built in. It's so nice to have fast feedback about how heavily you're using a multi-port charger, to see whether your phone or laptop is charging as fast as you'd expect. It's a pity that devices don't just report their charging figures. In Linux a lot of laptops have really good power reporting; I could tell exactly how fast my laptop is charging. Phones too know. But devices simply don't deign tell consumers what the status is, what's happening. There may be a fast or regular charge... but it's so much less than the real data. For a lot of devices, the last 20% of charge often goes very slow. Knowing that, seeing that, would be good information, for example.

donw 4y ago
This times a large physical constant. I would be pleased with a world where every device I plugged in could broadcast its energy consumption via the low-bandwidth flavor of HomePlug (a powerline networking standard), with a filter at the breaker to stop external data leakage. It'd be great to know what's eating the most power, how much capacity I'd need to plan for home solar or battery-backup, identify leaks, etc.
- exmadscientist 4y ago
  Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? After all, most devices are pretty dumb, and us device designers like it that way. As long as it's optional (meaning I don't have to buy it, because I personally will never use it), go ahead and make the chargers as complicated as you please.
  - donw 4y ago
    Point! You'd want some type of aggregation protocol, so that power-distribution devices can send more granular data up the chain, but yeah, it'd make more sense to build this into said devices: outlets, power strips, chargers, and so on.
    - rektide 4y ago
      I too rather want smart chargers, intend to go build some. I was planning on using wifi (or perhaps bluetooth, via Zephyr IoT, but that seems harder right now). HomePlug would have been kind of exotic to weave in.
  - squarefoot 4y ago
    > Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? I would prefer having a separate meter, so that I can place it first at the power source, then at the cable end, to know if a malfunctioning device could be the result of a flimsy cable producing a significant voltage drop. This is a very common scenario when using dubious quality cables.
- jayd16 4y ago
  Hmm, aren't all physical constants quite small, even the largest?
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  You can get smart plugs with energy monitoring.
yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
> cables that have integrated watt-meters built in. I have never heard of such a thing but I'm interested; any brand you can recommend?
- tylerhou 4y ago
  Just look up USB-C cables with power meters on Amazon; there are tons of companies that end up rebranding the same product.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Try reading the submission article ;) It finishes with: > Or, if I’m really dreaming, how about 40Gbps for USB 4? Let’s go for broke and make the ultimate cable — give it a built-in power meter while you’re at it. Links to https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22907150/usb-c-pd-cable-power-meter-100-watt-power-delivery https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22907150/usb-c-pd-cable-p...
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    Which, in turn, links to some arbitrary-looking items on Amazon, which I actively distrust for power-delivery products. Hence, asking here to try and find out what brands are actually good so I can go buy them directly. (Likewise, I trust HN commenters more than The Verge anyways, so I figured I'd ask before spending money)
    - rektide 4y ago
      None of them are trustworthy, but so far I've made a habit of buying different brands and they've all worked and worked fine. They're all ruggedly built, all nicely jacketed cables, and all seem to do 5A just fine.
- rolobio 4y ago
  I recently found these too. Very handy! Got some for ~$8 delivered on AliExpress. The ones I got only work with USB-C with PD (won’t fallback to micro usb for example) but I’m in love. It’s so handy to know I’m charging at maximum speed.
dubswithus 4y ago
I'm still trying to understand why I should care. My work is sedentary so I have plenty of time to charge.

donw 4y ago

This times a large physical constant. I would be pleased with a world where every device I plugged in could broadcast its energy consumption via the low-bandwidth flavor of HomePlug (a powerline networking standard), with a filter at the breaker to stop external data leakage. It'd be great to know what's eating the most power, how much capacity I'd need to plan for home solar or battery-backup, identify leaks, etc.

exmadscientist 4y ago
Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? After all, most devices are pretty dumb, and us device designers like it that way. As long as it's optional (meaning I don't have to buy it, because I personally will never use it), go ahead and make the chargers as complicated as you please.
- donw 4y ago
  Point! You'd want some type of aggregation protocol, so that power-distribution devices can send more granular data up the chain, but yeah, it'd make more sense to build this into said devices: outlets, power strips, chargers, and so on.
  - rektide 4y ago
    I too rather want smart chargers, intend to go build some. I was planning on using wifi (or perhaps bluetooth, via Zephyr IoT, but that seems harder right now). HomePlug would have been kind of exotic to weave in.
- squarefoot 4y ago
  > Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? I would prefer having a separate meter, so that I can place it first at the power source, then at the cable end, to know if a malfunctioning device could be the result of a flimsy cable producing a significant voltage drop. This is a very common scenario when using dubious quality cables.
jayd16 4y ago
Hmm, aren't all physical constants quite small, even the largest?
kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
You can get smart plugs with energy monitoring.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago

> cables that have integrated watt-meters built in. I have never heard of such a thing but I'm interested; any brand you can recommend?

tylerhou 4y ago
Just look up USB-C cables with power meters on Amazon; there are tons of companies that end up rebranding the same product.
capableweb 4y ago
Try reading the submission article ;) It finishes with: > Or, if I’m really dreaming, how about 40Gbps for USB 4? Let’s go for broke and make the ultimate cable — give it a built-in power meter while you’re at it. Links to https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22907150/usb-c-pd-cable-power-meter-100-watt-power-delivery https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22907150/usb-c-pd-cable-p...
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  Which, in turn, links to some arbitrary-looking items on Amazon, which I actively distrust for power-delivery products. Hence, asking here to try and find out what brands are actually good so I can go buy them directly. (Likewise, I trust HN commenters more than The Verge anyways, so I figured I'd ask before spending money)
  - rektide 4y ago
    None of them are trustworthy, but so far I've made a habit of buying different brands and they've all worked and worked fine. They're all ruggedly built, all nicely jacketed cables, and all seem to do 5A just fine.
rolobio 4y ago
I recently found these too. Very handy! Got some for ~$8 delivered on AliExpress. The ones I got only work with USB-C with PD (won’t fallback to micro usb for example) but I’m in love. It’s so handy to know I’m charging at maximum speed.

dubswithus 4y ago

I'm still trying to understand why I should care. My work is sedentary so I have plenty of time to charge.