- USB PD is a universal fast charging standard that allows devices to communicate with chargers and adjust charging currents.
- PPS is a feature of USB PD that dynamically adjusts current for efficient charging and improving speed.
- Ultimately USB PPS offers better-charging performance reducing the build of heat hence offering battery longevity.
You may have noticed that some chargers juice up your phone quicker than others when you plug it in to charge. This is due to the differences in charging technologies such as USB PD and PPS. Understanding these acronyms may give you a headache, but they are essential for charging and maintaining your smartphone’s battery life. For this reason, we will be helping you learn what are USB-C PD and PPS fast charging, their features and differences.
What is USB-C PD Charging?
USB PD charger is one that supports USB Power Delivery standard, which is a common fast charging standard. This standard was announced by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF) on July 5, 2012. It supports multiple voltage levels ranging from 5V to 48V and currents from 0.5A to 5A. So, it offers a maximum charging speed of 240W. You can identify a USB PD charger, through its cable, which has a USB type-C port on both ends.
What’s special about USB PD is that it allows your device to communicate with the charger and ask for the appropriate charging current. Say your smartphone charges at 18 watts, so it can inform the charger that it needs 9V, and the USB PD charger will bump the voltage accordingly. It was previously capped at 20V but received a massive jump to 48V with USB PD 3.1.
Features of USB PD (Power Delivery) Chargers
- Works with a variety of devices like laptops, tablets, phones, and accessories.
- Offers a faster charging solution than other chargers.
- Allows for communication between the device and the charger.
- Supports multiple voltage levels from 5V to 48V.
What is USB PPS Charging?
PPS or Programmable Power Supply, isn’t a different technology altogether, but a feature that is available with USB PD 3.0 and 3.1 chargers. This was also added by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF)in 2017. It improves upon power delivery, by exchanging data every 10 seconds, essentially in real-time, offering precise adjustments to the current from 3V to 21V.
With PPS, you get improved charging efficiency of a device, by minimizing power loss and improving charging speed. Since it dynamically adapts between currents to suit the requirements of the device, it also lowers heating issues, offering better battery longevity.
Features of PPS (Programmable Power Supply) Chargers
- Is a feature of USB PD 3.0 chargers.
- Offers real-time communication for precise voltage adjustment.
- Delivers optimal charging speed for faster charging.
- Minimizes heat build-up for longer battery life of the device.
What is the Difference Between USB PD and PPS?
The main problem with USB PD was its fixed-step voltage levels. It can only change the voltage at fixed currents. This means, your phone needs to switch from 9V to 5V, even though it could do better with 6 or 6.5V. PPS fixes this, as it allows for current adjustment in minor increments. So your phone can charge at the optimum current, without slowing down by a lot.
Think of USB PD as a speedometer on your car where you can only go from slow, medium, fast, and very fast. There is no in-between. So even if you want to slow down the car a little bit, you will have to switch to the slow mode. This puts more work in your car’s engine, causing it to overheat. PPS lets you change the speed accordingly without having to stick to a particular option.
Another difference is only a limited selection of chargers offer support for PPS, whereas most devices support USB PD standards. Like Apple’s devices like iPhones, iPads and Macs don’t support PPS. To further help you understand the difference between the two, we have prepared a table:
| USB PD (Power Delivery) | PPS (Programmable Power Supply) |
|---|---|
| Latest version: USB PD 3.1 | Latest version: Comes as a part of USB PD 3.0 and above |
| Output: 48V/ 5A | Output: 3.3~21V/50mA |
| Max Power: 240 Watts | Max Power: 100 Watts |
| Works seamlessly with a variety of devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and more | PPS is an addition to USB PD 3.x version and comes with supported chargers |
| Quick charge standard for iPhone, iPad, and Mac | Works with limited smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and is not supported by Apple products |
| Allows for communication between device and charger | Offers real-time communication in 10-second intervals |
| Can switch between different voltage steps depending on the requirement | Adjust voltage and current in minor increments for efficient charging |
| Can charge multiple devices simultaneously | Prevents build of heat, increasing battery longevity |
How is a USB PPS Charger Better than a USB PD Charger?
The dynamic current switching in real time of a PPS charger helps the device charge fast while staying within safety limits. This way you minimize the risk of your device heating while preventing your phone or any other device from lowering the charging speed by a lot. So you spend less time tied to a power outlet.
There is less heat generated while charging. So, you can expect your smartphone’s battery health to also last longer, which adds to its list of benefits. Plus, if you have a USB PD 3.0 PPS charger, you can still fast power any of your other devices even if they don’t support PPS charging.
Phones That Support PPS Charging
PPS was introduced back in 2017 and since then many phone makers have added support for it. I can’t go through all of them in this read, but let’s go over some popular recent smartphones with USB PPS support.
- Nothing Phone (3a)
- Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
- Samsung Galaxy S25
- Samsung Galaxy S25+
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
- Google Pixel 9
- Google Pixel 9 Pro
- Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
- Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
I hope now you have a better idea around what is USB PD and how it is different from PPS. While there are obvious advantages to using PPS, the limitation of supported devices is what holds it back.
That said, if you own any of the devices that we have listed above and looking for a reliable charger, then we have mentioned our recommended PPS charger below. We are not leaving out Apple owners, as we have shared a recommendation for a good USB-C PD charger as well.
