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I've been waiting for a receptacle equipped with USB to come out that supports adaptive charging. Adaptive charging actually changes the output voltage to like 9 volts when an appropriate devices connected.

These 2 or 3 amp USB outlets take like 10 hours to charge my phone enter image description here

That amount of time renders them essentially useless. My adaptive charger will charge my phone in about an hour and a half.

I've been unable to source in adaptive charging receptacle at the big box stores or Amazon and the like.

Question

Does anybody, perhaps on the commercial side of things know of any adaptive charging receptacle? Actually it doesn't even have to be a receptacle just in wall adaptive charger would be sufficient. side note

My automotive adaptive fast charger is made by Samsung enter image description here

I do have a adaptive fast charger wall adapter from Samsung I have purchased many. My problem is that the kids always take the damn things and they go missing. In light of Harper's answer I think I will stick to the wall adapters and possibly take this question to the Parenting Stack Exchange. LOL.

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    What phone do you have, because some fast charging tech is more proprietary than others. Is it using a form of USB-C power delivery?
    – JPhi1618
    Mar 6, 2019 at 15:37
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    I've got a Samsung s8 it uses type c. I did find a 3rd party adaptive charger for the truck. I don't know if it's a Chinese unlicensed knock off but I love it.
    – Joe Fala
    Mar 6, 2019 at 15:42
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    I think if you add "USB type C" and "PD or Power Delivery" to your searches you will find what you are looking for. For example, here is an outlet that supports Qualcom Quick Charge and USB-C PD.
    – JPhi1618
    Mar 6, 2019 at 15:52
  • Or you could just use a normal power outlet (which might be 60 years old, or more) and plug in the perfectly-matched phone charger you presumably already have, or can easily obtain. I personally see very little appeal to these "build-in an ephemeral interface" devices outside of the airport/coffeeshop/motel ecosystem. Separating the functions at the AC interface is simple, robust, and stands the test of time.
    – Ecnerwal
    Mar 6, 2019 at 16:26
  • I will say that moving to wireless charging, if your phone supports it (or adding a case that lets your phone support it) can be very useful in limiting wear and tear on tiny delicate phone USB ports, but it's not going to be quite as fast. I still power that from something that plugs into a regular outlet...and speed is not so much an issue since you can have one by your bed &/or on your desk, or in your car, and easily pick up the phone as needed. Or not, in the car, please. You get an upvote for your edit. Try "Kids, you keep stealing the chargers, I stop paying for your phone plans."
    – Ecnerwal
    Mar 6, 2019 at 16:40

5 Answers 5

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Stop. Using. USB. Receptacles.

Seriously.

The things are far less reliable than a plain receptacle and a charging block from any reputable vendor.

For instance you may remember the epidemic of 2-socket (car, battery pack, etc.) USB chargers where one socket was 2.1A and the other was 1.0A, not interchangeable, you had to know which one to plug in. Why did this same exact heuristic appear on thousands of brands of the things? All those devices are simply some commodity hardware wrapped around one specialty IC chip made by Texas Instruments.

Further, they are always way, way, way behind the times. Take the iPad, which is not a new product. It charges at a 2A rate. I had not seen a 2A-rate receptacle until quite recently, and even it just trotted out that old TI chip with the 2A/1A deal. Why?

Remember our friend "Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two"?

Not that... but that same sort of balance of limitations of

  • core competency at getting receptacles to clear UL listing
  • skill in low-voltage DC design
  • ability to rapidly innovate and take market risks

USB receptacles have to go through their very own UL listing process. As such, they get built by people who are good at building receptacles. That is not necessarily compatible with the other two. Leviton is a blue-chip company that makes blue-chip items on commodity price margins. They are not out on the bleeding edge innovating like Apple, nor do they have the technology momentum or high profit margin to eat mistakes.

Since the company doesn't have a fortune to risk on this specialty product, they're not going to fast track it through UL listing. So they'll plod through the process in the usual way, assuring they arrive late to the market.

Further, the company is not going to create anything cutting-edge because it's uncertain that new standard will actually adopt. That's why they were so skittish about 2A charge rate for so long - they didn't even start the development cycle until they were sure the iPad etc. would really take the market. Now you're talking about some goofball protocol that I've not heard of, that I'm guessing may be proprietary to some brand of phone?

Oh yeah. Licensing.

Because they are retrofits onto the standard USB scheme, they need to be backward compatible. Which means there may be some fairly proprietary tech, not least in making sure you don't accidentally send 9V to an old Kindle and set it on fire. For that you need very good understanding of the advanced standard.

For that you either need direct support of a manufacturer with core competency in the field, or a rather stupendous engineering department of your own whose costs you could not possibly recover selling USB receptacles at a pricepoint that'll compete.

Noting that Very Few USB receptacle buyers even know the difference and your competitor will eat your lunch 95% of the time if his USB socket is $1 less (but only supports 1.0A). The leading-edge-device USB snob market is just not big enough to support the risk and innovation needed to build what they want as soon as they want it. They are also the most likely to whine, return, and write blistering product reviews online.

Also, the more complex your product, the more returns you must accept because of the moron factor, people misapplying your product and blaming you.

Why don't the technology giants drive this?

Because building a receptacle is also hard.

Apple has never made a receptacle in their life, and would eat development time struggling through blunders like forgetting to make the passthru 20A instead of 15A. Besides, Apple is a company that achieved greatness by saying "no". They don't even make a display.

How about our clever friends to the east?

You certainly don't want Sum Ting Wong Import Co. Ltd. selling receptacles on AliBaba. Oh look, speak of the devil. Notice how that junkheap is "Sold by abbotech and fulfilled by Amazon"? That's the mark of Alibaba-tier junk that is dropshipped straight from Shenzhen to the Amazon Fulfillment warehouse, and has faked safety listings. Amazon considers itself "only an agent" similar to eBay or AliExpress.

Why doesn't Amazon buy it direct and do "Sold By and Ships From Amazon" like this Leviton here? Because then, Amazon would be the legal importer and would be legally responsible to assure its compliance with UL and all safety regulations. Same as Home Depot and Target are obliged to assure their goods comply with all safety regs. That is impossible given that the Cheese cheapie has no chance of ever passing muster at any reputable testing lab. That's why the company fakes it or just slaps on a CE and calls it good.

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  • And of course some of the same issues are why the tech. companies prefer to use wall warts or other adapters instead of built-in power supplies. Built-in power supplies tend to be more robust & reliable. But then the whole box needs to be licensed based on 120V inside instead of just licensing an external power pack that can be reused for many different devices.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Mar 6, 2019 at 17:37
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    @manassehkatz Yup, and they can send the power brick out for UL testing long before the device is finished, which reduces the chance of news leaks also.
    – Harper - Reinstate Ukraine
    Mar 6, 2019 at 17:40
  • I had one customer with some fiber<->copper converters for a government contract. First ones I got were cheap (but decent, not "junk") and worked fine. But he didn't like them because of the wall wart - "another point of failure". Which was true (and I think one failed one time, but it is all a blur - several years ago) and for later ones he spec'ed - and paid for - ones with 120V power supplies in the device. More expensive but he was willing to pay. Joe Consumer won't pay for it though.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Mar 6, 2019 at 17:52
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Leviton has some more powerful USB wall outlets.

The big box stores, and to a lesser extent Amazon, are going to be slow to pick up on the absolute latest products. So when you are looking for something like this, start with a reputable manufacturer (I have no connection with Leviton other than using some of their products, but they are one of the big names in the industry) and search their web site. Once you find a product, you may be able to order it directly or if not then contact the manufacturer and find out who stocks it locally. In the case of these types of products, an electrical supply house will likely either stock it (because they do a higher volume of specialty products than the big box stores) or be able to special order it (and get it with their next regular Leviton shipment). Many electrical supply houses (and plumbing etc.) will sell to regular people, perhaps at a slightly higher than "tradesman price", particularly if you come in knowing exactly what you want rather than trying to get a free education from them.

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    Name brands will probably last longer than one from an unknown supplier.+
    – Ed Beal
    Mar 6, 2019 at 16:13
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TL;DR: You don't want a USB outlet, you want a USB power strip

For all the very good reasons Harper mentions, a combination wall outlet/USB charger will typically never be as good as a regular outlet plus a separate USB charger. Plus, when you upgrade your phone and your new one uses a different smart charging standard (type C?), I'm betting you'd rather not rewire your house.

However, for the problem of quick-charge capable USB adapters that won't wander off, there is a solution: USB power strips. There are tons of power strips on the market that support fast charging standards (i.e. QuickCharge 3.0), and nearly all of them have screw holes to allow for wall mounting. There are even styles such as this one which mount directly over the outlet: Wall mount QuickCharge 3.0 Adapter

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  • That's a winner of an answer. Solves the problem I previously declared unsolvable.
    – Harper - Reinstate Ukraine
    Mar 6, 2019 at 20:21
  • But watch out for junk here too. A quick look shows a LOT of these have problems with both form & function and ARE NOT UL LISTED. Look for a well-known brand with UL listing.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:54
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    @manassehkatz, agreed, and I linked to that one only because the picture was a good clear example; it was not intended as a specific product recommendation. However, there are a lot to choose from, including some from reputable brands that are UL listed.
    – Nate S.
    Mar 7, 2019 at 22:01
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Yeah, good luck...

Most of the adaptive of fast charge devices boil down to telling the device a 'magic-number' that permits the device to charge faster. Apple are the usual worst offenders.

You can't really get 'generic' fast chargers. There's reason your samsung phone charges well from a samsung charger.

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    Actually, there are some standards now for these things. The catch (as Harper stated so eloquently) is that the tech. companies aren't in the business of 120V receptacles, the electrical supply companies are slow to market (just the way they work - most of their products being designed for far longer lifetimes than the tech. companies) and the junk companies are hazardous.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Mar 6, 2019 at 17:34
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Something you should keep in mind when replacing a wall outlet:

In newer homes the wall outlets are quite frequently 20 AMP circuits. You can check your circuit breakers to figure out if yours are 15 or 20 AMP.

As far as I've seen, only Levitron makes a 20 AMP outlet with USB charging.

It's a bad idea to use a 15 AMP outlet on a 20 AMP circuit

@drjpizzle - Amazon has a plethora of fast chargers that work well with Samsung phones.

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    Actually. 15 A duplex receptacles are both legal and common on 20A circuits - an exception to the receptacle must equal breaker rules.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Mar 6, 2019 at 18:28
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    Actual 20A outlets (that accept the sideways prong) are very rare in residential use, even on 20A rated circuits. 15A rated duplex outlets are able to safely pass through 20A.
    – JPhi1618
    Mar 6, 2019 at 18:45
  • The only real problem (that I know) with using a 15A outlet on a 20A line is if you use a basic splitter and plug a bunch of stuff into it that pulls more than 15 amps.
    – JimmyJames
    Mar 6, 2019 at 19:28
  • True 20AMP appliance receptacles are rarely used. But 20AMP receptacles are to be found in every big box home store. As for it being safe to draw a continual 2000watts through a legacy 15AMP receptacle? That's not something I'm willing to risk. A 20AMP breaker won't even notice that load while the receptacle becomes a charred piece of your wall. Hopefully, the line into the receptacle will disintegrate before something starts smoking.
    – NothingToSeeHere
    Mar 7, 2019 at 19:20

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