USB-C charging seems to be a very confusing topic for Microsoft Surface products. Some USB chargers can charge some Microsoft Surface products but don’t work with others. To be clear, we have tested all chargers we can gather to charge Surface Laptop 3 to determine which chargers will work and which will not work with the laptop.
We will start with a Q&A style to address your questions, jumping from an overview to a specific charger.
Can you charge your Surface Laptop 3/4/5 with a standard mobile phone USB charger?
No, you can’t! Surface Laptop requires chargers that support the Power Delivery (USB-C PD) protocol to deliver significant power for a smooth charging experience. A standard mobile charger including USB chargers with a voltage of 5V and an amps rate from 500 mA to 2A.
What happens when you plug in a Surface Laptop 3/4/5 with an unsupported charger?
You will get a “PC isn’t charging” notification when you plug in an unsupported charger to the Surface Laptop USB-C port. It will ask you to use the recommended charger and cable and ensure it’s directly plugged in.
Can you charge a Surface Laptop with a Samsung USB charger rated at 5V/1.55A?
No, you can’t! The Samsung USB charger rated at 7.75W (5V/1.55A) doesn’t meet the minimum power requirement for charging Surface Laptop 3/4/5.
Here are our testing results:
- Charge while the laptop is on. When we plugged the charger in, the “PC isn’t charging” notification popped up on the screen, and there was no sign of charging.
- Charge while the laptop is off. There is no capacity percentage gain from our 10-minute charging test.
Can you charge a Surface Laptop 3/4/5 with a Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 USB charger?
No, you can’t! Surface Laptop 3/4/5 can’t work with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 protocol, as it can’t negotiate with the charger to get maximum power output for charging the laptop.
Here are our tested chargers:
- JOYROOM QC3.0 USB Charger: rated at 18W (5V/2A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A).
- REMAX 10,000mAh RPP-105 Power Bank (USB-A port): rated at 18W (5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A).
- MI 20,000mAh PLM07ZM Power Bank (USB-A port): rated at 18W (5V/2.4A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A).
Here are our testing results:
- Charge while the laptop is on. When we plugged the charger in, the “PC isn’t charging” notification popped up on the screen, and there was no sign of charging.
- Charge while the laptop is off. There is no capacity percentage gain from our 10-minute charging test.
Can you charge Surface Laptop 3/4/5 with a USB-C PD Charger?
Yes, you can! Surface Laptop 3 works well with USB-C PD chargers, and as a result, it works with all USB-C PD chargers and power banks we’ve tested. However, the charging speed varies from charger to charger depending on the power rate they can supply.
18W USB-C PD chargers can only charge your laptop while sleeping, idle, or at a low screen brightness. For average usage, 30W USB-C PD chargers will be good enough for office tasks and 50% screen brightness. For fast charging and more intense workloads, 45W and 65W USB-C PD chargers will be a great option if you don’t mind carrying a bigger charger.
Here are our tested chargers:
- Google Pixel 1, 2 Charger: rated at 18W (5V/3A, 9V/2A).
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Charger:Â rated at 18W (5V/3A, 9V/2A).
- Anker PowerPort Speed PD 30:Â rated at 30W (5V/3A, 9V/2A, 15V/2A, 20V/1.5A)
- Anker PowerPort Atom PD1:Â rated at 30W (5V/3A, 9V/2A, 15V/2A, 20V/1.5A)
- ZMI Turbo USB-C PD:Â rated at 45W (5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/2.25A)
- REMAX 10,000mAh RPP-105 Power Bank (USB-C PD port): rated at 18W (5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A).
- MI 20,000mAh PLM07ZM Power Bank (USB-C PD port): rated at 45W (5V/2.4A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/2A).
COMMENTS
Let us know what you think!
We appreciate hearing your thoughts, questions, and ideas about “Surface Laptop USB-C Charging: We tested all chargers we have”.
Very useful, thanks!
Hi friends,
having Surface Laptop 3 and the HUAWEI Mate 10 PRO with the Huawei SuperCharge /SCP: 5V~4.5A/ I can confirm it does NOT charge the Surface Laptop 3 with the Huawei SCP.
The same test, just with the Samsung charger – Adaptive Fast Charging protocol /AFC: 9V~1.67A/ I did again – the SL3 does NOT charge with the Samsung AFC.
Honestly, it would be basically very eco-friendly having the possibility to load the power on SL3 via QuickCharge3.0 or the Samsung AFC protocol, as I subjectively think these are the most used chargers around the globe… I know so many people having these chargers at home…
very good articles with easy and clear explanation.
I’ve been charging with a Qualcomm QC 3.0 car charger on a boat. It is plugged into a 24v car type socket.
Then USB A lead with A to USB C converter tip. Plugged into the laptop and it doesn’t work.
So I plugged into a USB C hub that supports 100w power delivery
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S2R34HW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And it charges. I have a USB in line power meter, A, V, mah and it shows charging at 5.2V and 1.96A. Just about 10W.
When at 100%, the A drops to 0.06. Shame the SL3 doesn’t have a simple red/orange/green charging LED. It is crazy to switch on laptop just to check charge!!
I prefer USB C charging to the mains charger. It is better to slow charge for better battery life. Just as with an electric car – slow overnight is way better that rapid charger.
With further thought, these batteries last best when kept between 20 – 80%.
So a red/orange/green laptop LED that can be configured to change. Say Red at 20% and Green at 80%, would be brilliant.
Got an older Surface? I can now charge a Surface 6 off a Power Station via a usb c pd to magnetic Surface power cable (Surface 6 had no usb c pd). My power station is an Energizer 240Wh but many others also have a usb c pd 45w output. I can charge the power station or laptop directly off a Togo 60w solar panel which has a usb c pd built in. Happy camper :).
I am charging my Surface Laptop 3 with a Xiaomi MDY-11-EZ charger, which I believe supports a max of 33 Watt. The laptop charges during use, at max brightness.
Can you confirm the voltage of charging?
For my Surface Laptop 3, it charges with 20V input and 15V input and 5V input, but NOT with 12V input.
At 12V, it will report the “Power Mode (plugged in)” which is good, but the battery will keep dropping and by using a USB meter I see that the current is 0 while the voltage is correct.
In the article, one of your charger tested is “(5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A)” and you say it works. I’m doubtful but it could also be my specific device. Can you confirm that it will charge 12V and the current is non-zero?
You can add the Nintendo Switch charger to this list.
I have a Surface Laptop 3 13.5″ Core i7 that I’ve tested it with two different Xiaomi chargers.
It’s very important to mention that both of them ONLY HAS USB-A OUTPUT and they’re not USB-C chargers.
– First charger model: MDY-11-EP
USB-A Output: 5V-3A 15W / 9V-2.23A 20W / 12V-1.67A 20W / 10V-2.25A 22.5W
This charger couldn’t charge my Surface with the error: “PC isn’t charging”
– Second charger model: MDY-11-EZ
USB-A Output: 5V-3A 15W / 9V-3A 27W / 12V-2.25A 27W / 20V-1.35A 27W / 11V-3A 33W
This charger COULD charge my Surface successfully with an original high quality USB-A to USB-C cable.
Worth to mention that the cable that I used for both of chargers, were the same.
As a conclusion, you can charge your Surface device even with a charger that only has USB-A output. So this is not necessary to use a charger with USB-C output, if your charger can deliver the minimum wattage required via a USB-A to USB-C high quality cable.
Honestly I myself thought that an USB-C output is must-have on the charger if you’re going to charge your Surface device by using it.
But after testing the Xiaomi MDY-11-EZ charger, I was really surprised that even with a charger that has only USB-A output, you can charge your Surface device via an original high quality USB-A to USB-C cable.
Digging into the details, as long as Surface devices mostly doesn’t support higher voltages than 15V, I guess that the Xiaomi MDY-11-EZ charges my Surface with its 12V-2.25A 27W output.