Is it possible to charge a Nintendo Switch using a phone charger or to rather put it, can you charge a Nintendo switch with a phone charger? If this is the problem/dilemma you are facing right now. Then, continue reading this article to get the answer to this imperious question.
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is a very popular gaming console. In fact, it’s so popular that it beats out the Xbox One in terms of sales, which got a release three years prior to the Switch. Thus, the Nintendo Switch holds a very high place in the world of gaming consoles.
Released in 2017 amid much fanfare, Nintendo came out with something rather unconventional rather than the fast and hard home console which Xbox and Sony usually do. Maybe, they realized the lost potential of the Wii U Controller and instead decided to make a gaming console that’s friendlier and more importantly, respects the gamers’ time.
You can simply dock the console and play on your TV using a controller or may also remove the console and use it in handheld mode. This is arguably the foremost popular choice amongst players everywhere around. The Nintendo Switch is additionally future-friendly within the sense that it came bundled with USB-C support. Thus, become more popular in the course of time.
People who generally own a Nintendo Switch, are sometimes confused regarding the charger to use. It is because the console doesn’t accompany a spare charger out of the box. But, instead, you get a USB-C adapter that you simply need to use when docking and you get a dock into which you’ll plug the console. When the console is plugged into the dock, it’ll automatically charge itself.
The JoyCons accompanying the Switch should be connected to the console while it’s within the dock as they’re going to charge too. However, we may be faced with a question regarding what that USB-C port at the bottom is there for? Does it signify that we may charge our consoles using a mobile charger too?
Is it possible to charge Nintendo using a Phone Charger
Let us see if it is possible to use a phone charger to charge a Nintendo Switch.
The Switch Charging Capabilities
The Nintendo Switch primarily charges on the USB-C PD standard at 15 V/ 2.6 A, which is around 39 W. But you ought to know that the Switch is an incredibly flexible device and supports standard USB charging of 5V up to 3 ampere. But, while you’ll charge together with your standard phone charger, there’s alittle trade-off. Simply put, the utmost charging rate that you simply are getting to get goes to be around 13 W. This is about 1/3 of the highest possible rate of charge. This though is understandably considerably slower than the USB-C PD standard since simply playing the Switch consumes around 5 to 10 W on the average.
More importantly, the USB-C PD standard isn’t that highly compatible with the QuickCharge 2.0 or 3.0; that are available in most mobile phones now. So, it is generally not possible to charge your Switch in less than an hour. But, the newest QuickCharge 4.0 models are compatible with the PD standard. The standard that’s built into the Switch. But, these haven’t gor a global release yet so it becomes difficult to find one. But, anyways it is possible to charge a Nintendo Switch with a Phone Charger.
What about Charging a Nintendo Switch with a Macbook Charger ?
The Nintendo Switch as discussed earlier, uses a USB-C port to charge. The USB-C port is also part of the MacBook external points/ports. Therefore, if you charge a MacBook employing a power adapter, then you employ a USB-C to USB-C cable to attach the two devices, you may as well employ the same to charge the Switch too.
One important point to bring to your notice here is, that however interesting it may sound bu,t it is true that even the Nintendo Switch can in return charge the Macbook Pro as a reciprocal of the Macbook charging the Switch. This is quite special, because the Switch has a 4310mAh & nearly 3.7V lithium-ion battery, which takes around 39 watts of power. In comparison, the MacBook Pro carries a 54.5Wh lithium-polymer battery which consumes around 61 watts of power.
Therefore, it becomes assumable that a Macbook will charge the Switch but what comes as a fun fact is the Nintendo Switch can also be in turn, used to charge back the Macbook.
The best professed way-out
It is highly recommendable that we use the original Nintendo Switch charges which comes with the box. This is because, the Nintendo Switch is design to charge on a higher volts and current which are way higher than those given by the phone chargers. Also, we should not use any other powerbank but only the Nintendo licensed ones again because of the same reason. This prolongs the battery-life of the Switch and we won’t be needing a replacement for sometime. In case we need a replacement charger then again order for the original licensed Nintedo chargers only.
CONCLUSION
While there’s no single charger which will supply the Nintendo Switch with more power than what it requires. It’s still possible to settle on a charger which will perform slightly better than the first AC adapter. To do so, just ensure to use a 18W USB-C PD charger that gives 12V or 15V. This will facilitate in Switch-charge directly off the wall. But, to use on your dock, then chargers over 30W are the most efficient and recommended option.