Best Answer: Yes, the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ both support USB-PD charging. However, the Note 10 only supports up to 25 watts of wired charging while the Note 10+ supports up to 45 watts. If you want to hit those speeds, you'll need to buy your own 45W charger.
- The right charger: 45W USB-C Fast Charging Wall Charger ($50 at Samsung)
- Noteable upgrade: Galaxy Note 10+ ($1,100 at Samsung)
- A spare cable: 6.6ft USB-C to C E-mark cable ($8 at Amazon)
What is USB Power Delivery, and why is it important?
Very simply, USB Power Delivery is a standard developed by the USB-IF, or Implementers Forum, that allows USB C-based devices to charge at speeds that are both fast and safe for the particular product. While the standard technically supports current of up to 100 watts, companies will set a limit on the device itself based on the thermal tolerances of the battery inside it. A phone, for instance, requires more protection around the battery if charging at high speeds than a tablet or laptop since there's less room for heat dissipation.
USB Power Delivery, or USB-PD for short, is a USB C-based alternatives to proprietary charging standards like Qualcomm's Quick Charge, OPPO's VOOC charging and OnePlus's Warp Charge. It even competes with Samsung's own Adaptive Fast Charge, all of which use the older and more limited USB-A port from the charging brick.
So both the Note 10 and Note 10+ support USB-PD?
Yes, both phones support USB-PD — in addition to Quick Charge 2.0 and Samsung's own Adaptive Fast Charge — but the smaller Note 10 only charges at 25W maximum and the larger Note 10+ charges at 45W with the right charger.
The Note 10 has a smaller 3500mAh battery, but its 25-watt wired charging ability should go from dead to full in around an hour. In comparison, Samsung says that the Note 10+, when paired with a 45-watt wired charging, should be able to reach a full charge in less than an hour despite having a larger 4300mAh battery. That's pretty fast.
If you find yourself without a USB-PD charger — say an older Adaptive Fast Charger from a previous Galaxy device, or a Quick Charge brick — the Note 10s will charge at a maximum of 18W, which is similar to older Samsung phones. Thankfully, it's not hard to find good USB PD-compatible chargers these days.
Do I need a specific type of charger and cable to reach those speeds?
Glad you asked. Yes, especially when trying to eke 45W from the Note 10+. The safest and most effective charging route is just to buy Samsung's official chargers — the 25W charger comes in the box, and the 45W charger costs $50.
But if you want to buy your own 45W charger, you'll need to know a few things:
- It needs to support the latest USB-PD revision 3
- It needs to support charging speeds of at least 11V/4.05A or 15V 3A (which together add up to 45W)
- It needs to support the PPS, or Programmable Power Supply, standard
If you're curious about PPS, you can read up about it. The gist, though, is that it allows the charger to gradually increase or decrease the voltage and current in small increments so as to minimize heat loss, which in turn keeps the battery at a stable (and safer) temperature. Given Samsung's history with bad batteries in the Note line, this requirement for high-speed charging makes a lot of sense.
Aside from the official Galaxy Note 10 charger, Aukey makes a great 75W PPS-enabled wall charger with a 45W USB-C port. We're digging into other chargers at the moment, but this is one of the few we know will charge the Galaxy Note 10+ at its top speed.
In addition to needing the right PPS-enabled charger, you're also going to need something called an e-marked USB-C to C cable. These are cables that adhere to the USB3.1 Gen 2 standard and are certified to transfer power of up to 100W or speeds as high as 10Gbps.
You can't tell whether a cable is e-marked just by looking at it, so the main way to tell whether it's going to carry those high speeds is by checking its wattage or bandwidth certification. Most USB-C to C cables from reputable companies are e-marked these days. Of course, the charger that comes in the Note 10+ box is e-marked, so you can just use that with whatever 45W charger you choose to pick up.
What about wireless charging?
Both Notes support fast wireless charging, too, but the speeds are much more down to earth — 12W for the Note 10 and 15W for the Note 10+. This is still faster than any previous Galaxy device, but for the convenience, you're going to be charging at between half and a third of the speed of a wired charger.
To achieve those speeds, though, Samsung's not adhering strictly to the Qi standard but uses its own proprietary Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 standard. We have a roundup of the best wireless chargers for the Note 10 and Note 10+ if you're interested.
The only charger you need.
Samsung's own 45W fast charger is going to guarantee you a quick, safe charge. And because it's a standard USB-C Power Delivery charger, it can also charge your laptop, tablet and anything else that uses the USB-C port.
USB C to Type C Cable 6.6ft E-Mark ($8 at Amaon)
If you don't want to use the in-box USB-C cable, or just want a spare, this $8 e-marked USB-C cable is perfect for your new Note 10+ to charge at its full 45W speeds.
Galaxy Note 10/10+ (Galaxy Note 10 ($950 at Samsung))
Samsung's latest Galaxy Note phone
These powerful smartphones feature an impressive amount of internal storage and come with a pair of USB-C headphones. The S Pen gives you more control so you can handwrite notes and have them automatically convert to digital text.
