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We look at how well the Apple 87W USB-C Power Adapter can support non-Apple based phones like the Meizu Pro 7 Plus using USB Power Delivery over the phone's USB Type-C connector.
In addition to USB Power Delivery, the Meizu Pro 7 Plus phone can also use Meizu's proprietary mCharge 4.0 technology to achieve over 23W of fast charging through USB Power Delivery based communications. This will require Meizu's supplied USB Type-A based AC charger and USB Type-A to Type-C cable, both shipped with the phone, to be used.
To see how well the Apple 87W USB-C Power Adapter works with the Meizu Pro 7 Plus when directly connected with a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, we look at the USB Power Delivery negotiations via the Granite River Labs GRL-USB-PD-A1 test software. Initially, the Apple charger is constantly advertising its power capabilities of 12 watts (5 volts @ 2.4 amps) when the Meizu phone is on a fully depleted battery.
After a long duration with several hard resets and no response from the Meizu Pro 7 Plus, we finally observe the phone requesting an initial 7.5 watts (5 volts @ 1.5 amps) and gets accepted by the Apple 87W USB-C Power Adapter.
Following up to a series of Vendor Defined Messages to adjust voltage and current, the Apple charger goes on to offer not only the initial 12 watts (5 volts @ 2.4 amps) but also 27 watts (9 volts @ 3 amps) and 86 watts (20 volts @ 4.3 amps) power profiles.
The Meizu Pro 7 Plus can be seen to take advantage of the additional power options to request a higher 13.5 watts (9 volts @ 1.5 amps) charging which the Apple charger also complies. The charger then continues to communicate with the phone by exchanging several Vendor Defined Messages.
While being charged from 0% battery, the Meizu Pro 7 Plus initially pulls current below 1 amps @ 5.1 volts during power off or sleep state.
As the phone starts booting up, it trickle charges by rapidly pulling current under 1.5 amps which goes on for about 3 minutes. The current doesn’t seem to stabilize as Vendor Defined Messages are exchanged and 13.5 watts is requested, while the voltage goes up quickly to reach around 9 volts.
Without a steady state of charging, the Meizu Pro 7 Plus can’t really work properly with the Apple 87W USB-C Power Adapter using standard USB Power Delivery, thus the Apple charger is not recommended to be used with the phone.
