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Go USB Power Delivery with the GoPro Supercharger

GoPro has always focused on developing a wide range of GoPro branded peripherals and with the GoPro HERO5 Black and GoPro HERO5 Session supporting USB Type-C and Power Delivery, it's not surprising GoPro has its own USB Power Delivery Charger as well.  

The GoPro Supercharger supports several USB Power Delivery based charging profiles: 15 watts (5.1 volts @ 3 amps), 16.5 watts (5.5 volts @ 3 amps), and 20 watts (12 volts @ 1.67 amps).  The GoPro HERO5 Black and GoPro HERO5 Session don't make full use of the power charging capabilities of the GoPro Supercharger but will charge at 8.25 watts (5.5 volts @ 1.5 amps) for faster charging.

We purchased the GoPro Supercharger at a local Best Buy where it was the only one left.

Here's a look at what's inside the GoPro Supercharger box.

The GoPro Supercharger is great for users traveling to different countries since it comes with power adapters that can be used around the world.  It also has a 3 Amps capable USB Type-C to Type-C cable.

Like the Apple Mac chargers, you can easily switch out different power adapters as needed.

Like other GoPro products, the GoPro Supercharger looks good and is comfortable to grip.  It's color scheme fits the GoPro HERO5 Black and GoPro HERO5 Session better than other USB Power Delivery chargers.

The GoPro Supercharger has one USB Type-C port and one USB Type-A port.  The USB Type-C port supports 15 watts (5.1 volts @ 3 amps), 16.5 watts (5.5 volts @ 3 amps), and 20 watts (12 volts @ 1.67 amps) using USB Power Delivery while the USB Type-A port can charge at 7.65 watts (5.1 volts @ 1.5 amps).  It's fastest to charge the GoPro HERO5 Black and GoPro HERO5 Session directly using the USB Type-C to Type-C cable.  You can also use a USB Type-C to Type-A or USB Type-A to Micro-B cable if you want to charge another GoPro camera.

Of course, since the GoPro Supercharger supports USB Power Delivery, you should be able to use it to charge phones that support USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery.

Using the USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs with the Granite River Labs USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester gives a clearer view of how the GoPro Supercharger supports USB Power Delivery through the tests results generated as below.

The USB Power Test App first negotiates a power contract for every PDO supported by the GoPro charger, and increases the load gradually to find the threshold where over current protection (OCP) kicks in and voltage and current start to drop for safety reasons. Note the charger was found to have problems negotiating to 5.5V during the test. 

The USB Power Test App reports out all the PDO's supported by the GoPro charger and their OCP thresholds. OCP thresholds for the GoPro charger are set at about 21-30% above the maximum current levels for the fixed PDO's.

PDO	OCP (A)
PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 3A	3.65
PDO#2 Fixed: 5.5V 3A	0.01
PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 1.67A	2.17

The USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs also produces an I-V curve which graphically shows the relationship between voltage and current for each PDO. We can observe current fold-back behavior where as the current increases beyond the OCP threshold, the voltage starts to curve down rather than immediately shutting off.

Since the GoPro Supercharger is a multi port charger, the USB Power Test App can be used to determine whether each output port of the charger is able to supply power independently. For every PDO supported by the GoPro charger, the USB Power Test App increases the load gradually for both the USB Type-C and Type-A ports to detect any power loss at the highest load limit for each port.

USB Type-C Port

USB Type-A Port

The USB Power Test App reports out the voltage, current and load limits for all the PDO's supported by the GoPro charger for each port.

Port1 PDO	Port2 PDO	Port1 (V)	Port1 (A)	Port1 Loading(%)	Port2 (V)	Port2 (A)	Port2 Loading(%)
PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 3A		4.72	2.97	100% (14W)
PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 3A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	4.67	2.98	99.25%	4.82	1.49
PDO#2 Fixed: 5.5V 3A		5.14	2.96	100% (15.2W)
PDO#2 Fixed: 5.5V 3A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	5.1	2.97	99.45%	4.82	1.49
PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 1.67A		11.69	1.64	100% (19.2W)
PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 1.67A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	11.63	1.64	99.05%	4.86	1.49
	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A				4.95	1.5	100% (7.4W)
PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 3A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	4.67	2.98		4.82	1.49	96.98%
PDO#2 Fixed: 5.5V 3A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	5.1	2.97		4.82	1.49	96.61%
PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 1.67A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 1.5A	11.63	1.64		4.86	1.49	97.78%

The USB Power Test App can also use the Granite River Labs USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester integrated with the GW Instek APS-7100 programmable AC power supply to compare the charger's power output vs power input so that power efficiency can be measured and compared to regulatory limits from United States of Energy (DOE) Level VI or European Union's CoC Tier 2 requirements. We can repeat the power efficiency tests for different PDO's, current load conditions, and different AC input ranges, allowing us to get a complete picture of power efficiency ranges across all different usage scenarios.