The Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter Offers Both Legacy and Modern Interfaces for Notebook PC's

The Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter is one of the USB Type-C based power passthrough hubs that can provide power and expand connectivity options for your computer. While the Panamon hub can be used with a Thunderbolt 3 or non Thunderbolt 3 enabled MacBook Pro and Windows PC, it only supports previous Apple's MacOS 10.6 version or below. This means the hub only allows earlier Mac's like Apple's 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016)  and MacBook Pro 13.3-Inch to be used. The Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter should be compatible with most non Apple notebook PC's that support USB, DisplayPort Alternate Mode, and USB Power Delivery technologies over a single USB Type-C connector but it's best to check with the manufacturer's specs or GTrusted's product pages for that information.

The Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter enables fast charging using active USB Power Delivery 2.0 negotiation which can provide up to 50W to the Mac or PC over USB Type-C. You need to plug in a separate 60W ac power supply to the Panamon hub since it is not able to provide power to the computer. Note you can also view more details on the hub's power capabilities further down in this review.  

Other than USB-C connectivity, there are also a bunch of interface connectors on the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter similar to other existing products such as the Plugable Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station with Power Delivery and the StarTech Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station with Power Delivery.

Here's a closer look at the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter after purchase.  

The Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter has a tethered USB Type-C cable connector and comes with its own casing and instruction sheet for accessories. The instruction sheet shares a lot of technical detail about the features of the adapter as well as safety precautions. The adapter's Type-C cable connector which is also Thunderbolt 3 compliant is used to connect the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter to the computer. Plugging in to the Thunderbolt Type-C port will allow 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s) links as well as two 4K or one 5K display via DisplayPort 1.2.

The adapter can be connected to a external 60W USB Power Delivery ac charger through the USB Type-C downstream port next to the Type-C cable connector for the adapter's own power supply. The 60W charging in also happens to be supported by other similar docks like the Anker Premium 7-in-1 USB-C Hub (see review here) and the Insignia USB Type-C Multiport Adapter in this review. By supplying max 50W to the connected PC rather than full 60W, the Panamon adapter still has power budget to support the other connectivity functions of the adapter.

One side of the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter consists of a 3.5mm audio in/out jack and two card readers supporting SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC 4.0 MicroSD, MicroSDHC or MicroSHXC memory cards at USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gb/s) speeds. Note only one card reader can be used at a time on the adapter.  

The back of the adapter provides a Gigabit Ethernet port and a HDMI port that allows 4K@30hz video coming from DisplayPort Alternate Mode. There are also two USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbs/) Type-A ports on the other side of the adapter for attaching USB peripherals.

We used the USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs with the Granite River Labs USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester to generate the following test results for the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter.

The USB Power Test App can be used to determine the pass through power for each separate Type-C output and input ports of the Panamon adapter. For every PDO advertised into the adapter, the USB Power Test App increases the load gradually for each port to detect any power loss through the voltage and current that were passed through at their corresponding load limits. We can observe that the adapter limits the power thus connecting a Apple 87W charger to the adapter would be the same as connecting a 60W charger to the Apple MacBook Pro 2018 but with additional penalty since the adapter is using up to 10W of power itself which causes the Mac to only get 50W of power. Note that with this adapter, the MacBook Pro 2018 won't turn on quickly when in dead battery mode. You would need to plug in the Apple 87W charger in order to turn on the Mac quickly.

USB Type-C Input Port

USB Type-C Output Port

The USB Power Test App reports out the voltage, current and load limits for all the PDO's advertised into the Panamon adapter for each port.

Port1 PDO	Port2 PDO	Port1 (V)	Port2 (V)	%	Port1 (A)	Port2 (A)	%
PDO#1 Fixed: 5V 3A	PDO#1 Fixed: 5V .5A	5.06	4.89	96.6%	1.01	0.49	48.4%
PDO#2 Fixed: 9V 3A	PDO#2 Fixed: 9V 2.18A	9.02	8.6	95.3%	2.47	2.19	88.7%
PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 3A	PDO#3 Fixed: 12V 2.38A	12.03	11.57	96.2%	2.63	2.38	90.8%
PDO#4 Fixed: 15V 3A	PDO#4 Fixed: 15V 2.51A	15.03	14.55	96.8%	2.72	2.51	92.3%
PDO#5 Fixed: 20V 3A	PDO#5 Fixed: 20V 2.63A	20.02	19.53	97.5%	2.82	2.64	93.5%
PDO#6 Fixed: 20V 5A	PDO#6 Fixed: 20V 2.63A	20.02	19.52	97.5%	2.84	2.64	92.9%

We also used the USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs to generate the following USB Power Delivery compliance test results for the tethered port of the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter as consumer. The Panamon adapter was connected directly to the computer without plugging in any ac power to the adapter. This causes the adapter's tethered port to act as a PD consumer and uses 10W for own power consumption. Note a compliance failure was observed.

USB Power Delivery Compliance on Panamon's Tethered Port (Consumer)

Parameter	GetCapabilities
PD_POWER_AS_SINK	10000
NUM_SNK_PDOS	1
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
OP Current #1	0xC8(2A)

PD Communication Engine Compliance Result Summary

Sl No	Test ID	Test Name	Test Result
1	TDA.2.1.1.1	TDA.2.1.1.1 BMC PHY TX EYE	PASS
2	TDA.2.1.1.2	TDA.2.1.1.2 BMC PHY TX BIT	PASS
5	TDA.2.1.3.1	TDA.2.1.3.1 BMC PHY TERM	PASS
7	TDA.2.2.1	TDA.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ GETCAPS	FAIL
13	TDA.2.2.10	TDA.2.2.10 BMC PROT IGN PPS	PASS
14	TDA.2.3.3.1	TDA.2.3.3.1 POW SNK TRANS C CP	PASS

The USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs also produced the following USB Power Delivery compliance test results for the tethered port of the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter as provider (with a compliant ac power adapter connected to the adapter while the adapter was connected directly to the computer). This causes the adapter's tethered port to act as a PD provider and supports up to 52.6 watts (20 volts @ 2.63 amps) for charging out when connected to the AUKEY PA-Y12 Amp 60W PD 3.0 USB-C Wall Charger which supports USB Power Delivery 3.0 based PPS (Programmable Power Supply) and Augmented PDO's. Note compliance failures were observed.

USB Power Delivery Compliance on Panamon's Tethered Port (Provider)

Parameter	GetCapabilities
PD_POWER_AS_SOURCE	53000
NUM_SRC_PDOS	6
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Peak Current #1	0x0(A)
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
Max Current #1	0x32(.5A)
Supply Type #2	Fixed
Peak Current #2	0x0(A)
Voltage #2	0xB4(9V)
Max Current #2	0xDA(2.18A)
Supply Type #3	Fixed
Peak Current #3	0x0(A)
Voltage #3	0xF0(12V)
Max Current #3	0xEE(2.38A)
Supply Type #4	Fixed
Peak Current #4	0x0(A)
Voltage #4	0x12C(15V)
Max Current #4	0xFB(2.51A)
Supply Type #5	Fixed
Peak Current #5	0x0(A)
Voltage #5	0x190(20V)
Max Current #5	0x107(2.63A)
Supply Type #6	Augmented_PDO
Min Voltage #6	0x1C(2.8V)
Max Voltage #6	0x2(.2V)

PD Communication Engine Compliance Result Summary

Sl No	Test ID	Test Name	Test Result
1	TDA.2.1.1.1	TDA.2.1.1.1 BMC PHY TX EYE	PASS
2	TDA.2.1.1.2	TDA.2.1.1.2 BMC PHY TX BIT	PASS
5	TDA.2.1.3.1	TDA.2.1.3.1 BMC PHY TERM	PASS
7	TDA.2.2.1	TDA.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ GETCAPS	FAIL
8	TDA.2.2.2.1	TDA.2.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ CHKCAP P PC	FAIL
9	TDA.2.2.2.2	TDA.2.2.2.2 BMC PROT SEQ CHKCAP NOMARK P PC	FAIL
13	TDA.2.2.7	TDA.2.2.7 BMC PROT BIST NOT 5V SRC	FAIL
15	TDA.2.2.9	TDA.2.2.9 BMC PROT GSC REC	FAIL
16	TDA.2.3.1.1	TDA.2.3.1.1 POW SRC LOAD P PC	PASS
17	TDA.2.3.2.1	TDA.2.3.2.1 POW SRC TRANS P PC	PASS

The following test results show USB Power Delivery compliance for the ac power port of the Panamon USB Type-C Multi Adapter as consumer which was also generated using the USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs. The Panamon adapter was connected directly to the computer while the adapter was plugged in to a compliant ac power adapter where the adapter's ac power port acts as a PD consumer. We can also see that the adapter supports 10 watts (5 volts @ 2 amps) for charging in.

USB Power Delivery Compliance on Panamon's AC Power Port (Consumer)

Parameter	GetCapabilities
PD_POWER_AS_SINK	10000
NUM_SNK_PDOS	1
Supply Type #1	Fixed
Voltage #1	0x64(5V)
OP Current #1	0xC8(2A)

PD Communication Engine Compliance Result Summary

Sl No	Test ID	Test Name	Test Result
1	TDA.2.1.1.1	TDA.2.1.1.1 BMC PHY TX EYE	PASS
2	TDA.2.1.1.2	TDA.2.1.1.2 BMC PHY TX BIT	PASS
5	TDA.2.1.3.1	TDA.2.1.3.1 BMC PHY TERM	PASS
7	TDA.2.2.1	TDA.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ GETCAPS	PASS
13	TDA.2.2.10	TDA.2.2.10 BMC PROT IGN PPS	PASS
14	TDA.2.3.3.1	TDA.2.3.3.1 POW SNK TRANS C CP	PASS

Using the GRL-USB-PD C2 Compliance Test Solution App to generate the following load trace, we can also see that the Panamon adapter makes use of different voltage and current levels for charging.