So you can charge your laptop with a USB-PD compativle USB-C charger.
Like Google Universal 60W USB-C charger (which is quite enough), or future 3rd charger.
But a regular 5V USB charger won't charge XPS13 9350 at all.
Becuase both voltage and amp are too low.
Reference:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/3rrs8x/usb_typec_charging_xps_13_9350/
Quote:
Q:
I just got my new XPS 13. A Dell sales rep told me I would be able to charge the laptop through the USB-C, so I got this cable http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010VFFSL4
When I plug it into a USB charger, I get a "plugged in, not charging" message.
I have used the cable with this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OQ19QYA , the wall charger that came with the LG G4 and an external battery pack, all with the same message.
Has anyone had any luck charging with USB-C?
A:
Alright, so I made an account finally just so I can answer this question for you and help anyone else out who has been researching about this. I just received my new Dell XPS 13 about 2 weeks ago and before that and up til today I am still doing a lot of research on charging with USB C. It looks like the charger for the Dell XPS 13 is a 45W 19.45V/2.31A charger. That means the charger you use for USB C charging has to be +/- 1V than the standard 19.45V. The amps has to be 2.31A or higher, just as long as it is the proper voltage (and polarity but that's another story and USB does bother with polarity from what I've heard). So in this case, you and me both have to look for a USB TYPE C charger that supports at least 19.45V/2.31A. There is one charger that I know does this...it is the Chromebook Pixel 2 charger. It is 60W at 20V/12V/5V/3A. I ordered one and it will be here on Monday, I wanted to have a universal charger for my laptop and phone (Nexus 6P). Since it supports both outputs for my 6P and XPS 13 I bought it. I got the same issue "plugged in, not charging" when I tried using my Nexus 6P charger on the XPS. I knew it wouldn't work because the charger is 15W at 5V/3A but I just wanted to see what it would say.
I have literally been researching this for weeks, and I think the Pixel 2 charger will work (I do not see why not since it can support 20V/3A charging). I also heard about a MacBook charger being out there but I did not bother to look into it, all I know is that it is less watts but do not know about the volts or amps. I am only worried about issues arising from using USB charging rather than the standard charger, companies usually create their chargers to be the best and most exceptional for the device. Wondering if it'll hurt battery life in the long run.
A little knowledge about Watts, Volts, and Amps: So after much research I found that watts = volts x amps. Volts are the power pushing out of the charger. It is OK to use any wattage as a charger but you have to make sure that the voltage is +/- 1V around the standard for the device requirements. In this case, 19.45V (XPS 13) will be safe with a 20.45V or 18.45V charger. Amps are the amount of power the device actually draws in. In this case we need AT LEAST 2.31A to receive a standard charge for the XPS 13, anything less will cause a slow charge. Same goes with our phones, some chargers output a standard 1A but there are some quick chargers that put out 2.1A, these double the charging speed (I do not know if this is bad for a battery though, nothing ever happened to my Nexus 5). I think the amps are regulated by the XPS so even using a 10A charger would only work at 2.31A being pulled by the XPS.
I won't be sure about this stuff until I receive my Google charger and test it out this week, if it works I may even buy another one. Hope this helps out!
UPDATE: Ok, I just received my Chromebook Pixel 2 charger that I ordered from Google and I can confirm that it does charge my Nexus 6P "rapidly" and it also charges my Dell XPS 13. I plugged in both chargers separately to compare the "time left to charge" and both read the same time so I am assuming the charger is working similar to the Dell charger.
UPDATE 2: I just ran a battery software (batteryinfoview) and I can confirm that the voltage running through the chargers is the same and the estimated full charge time is the same as well. So, the Google Chromebook Pixel 2 charger WILL work to charge the new Dell XPS 13. Hope this helps other people! If you have a new Nexus device or new TYPE C device and also have an XPS 13 get this charger. (20V/12V/5V/3A)
UPDATE 3: Ok so it's been about a week since I have been using my new charger. While it works great on the DELL XPS 13 I am starting to notice some weird stuff when plugging in the pixel charger into my Nexus 6P. The charger registers perfectly on the XPS with a 10 second delay (this is usual). But sometimes when I plug it into my phone it doesn't always display "charging rapidly" sometimes it shows just "charging." I do not want to say I have a faulty charger but I am going to see if Google will send me a replacement just to make sure it is the regulator in the charger and not my phone. I am assuming that since the charger can provide three different outputs of power, the charger gets confused when switching it into my phone sometimes (which is weird because they're both Google products). I even used an app to monitor the amps being pulled from the charger, when it just says "charging" it is pulling about 500mah-1000mah. When it is "charging rapidly" it is pulling 2000mah-2500mah. The rapid charging is ALWAYS supposed to be on because of the 5V/3A output in the Pixel 2 charger (by the way, both the Pixel 2 charger and the Nexus 6P charger provide 5V/3A). I never have this issue while using the charger that came from my phone, considering it only provides 5V/3A compared to the Pixel 2 charger that outputs 20V/12V/5V/3A. I am either going to assume the charger is faulty, or this is just how the chargers are made (not designed well for other devices other than the Chromebook Pixel 2).
