The Plugable USBC-VAMETER Gen 2 is an inline VA (Volt/Amp) meter that measures the actual charge speed or power use of a connected USB device (external storage, smartphones, and laptops to 100W).
Now Mr Ohm has a lot to say about his law – Volts x Amps = Watts. The Plugable USBC-VAMETER Gen 2 helps solve charging issues and identify why things may not charge as fast as they should.
First, a little voltage primer
Have you ever noticed that USB-A and USB-C chargers are rated by Watts? That is because Watts don’t change. Volts and Amps do, but they must multiply to a constant Wattage. So, a 5V/3A/15W is the same output power as a 9V/1.67A/15W etc. USB-C PD also offers a range of wattages.
If you are good at maths, you can convert a battery’s mAh to Wh (how many Watts it can deliver for one hour) and work out how long it takes to fill.
For example, a typical smartphone battery has is 4.3V (it is never 5V; there is an efficiency loss in charging from USB) and 4,000mA (milliamps and 1000 = 1A). So, the battery needs 4.3V x 4A = 17.2W to charge. A 15W charger should fill it in about 1.5 hours.
A USB-C PD fast charger can negotiate different wattages and may start at 20V/1.25A/25W for the first 20%, then 10V/2A/20W for the next 60% and 5V/2A/10W for the last 20%. The higher the wattage, the more it generates heat and stress; hence it drops back.
We use the Simple Battery Graph (here) to measure charge and discharge times and get a graph of the different charge speeds and Battery Monitor Ampere (here) to measure battery life in our smartphone reviews. We also use an expensive Power-Z hardware monitor (here), and you will often note that we find issues and more accurate battery life that other reviewers miss entirely.
Plugable USBC-VAMETER Voltage and Amperage meter (Gen 2 for 2021)
This portable USB-C passthrough meter allows users to quickly and easily see how fast a USB-C device is charging or drops under load so that they can find and fix any power issues. It has an updated design and new features, such as:
- A new button to rotate the screen orientation and make switching between orientations easier than ever
- A brighter and easter-to-read screen
- An overall more robust design with strengthened USB-C connectors
- USB Power Delivery voltage to 100W – from 5 to 20V/5A and PD 4-20V, 50mA-10A operating range
- Uses VBYS lines – data lines are untouched
- Works with USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) and USB-A 30.0 and earlier via adaptors
- Transient Voltage Suppression (prevent inrush current spikes)
- 2-year warranty
- Not compatible with Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports unless in USB-C mode
- Website here (imaged and may be updated after launch)
The USBC-VAMETER will be available via Plugable stores on Amazon or eBay. US$29.95
We will update links and images soon (we have used Gen 1 for this announcement).
You can read other GadgetGuy Plugable news and review here.
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