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Can you charge a wireless mouse or headphones with a USB-C phone charger? Both devices came with a USB-C cable and are meant to be charged from a laptop.

I want to avoid warming, shortened battery life or any damage. I don't care however how fast it charges.

Dr. Gut
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    _"What if they do not cover every scenario?"_ - what if answers to your question don't cover every scenario? What reasons so you have to not trust these articles that don't apply to posts by anonymous strangers online? – gronostaj Feb 18 '23 at 20:05
  • This question cannot be answered. It is explicitly asking for every possibly faulty combination of related devices. There is no way such a list exists, and if it did, it would be publicly available. – music2myear Feb 19 '23 at 04:37
  • @Dr.Gut there are a variety of reasons why this question is not appropriate here. Simply resolving one does not make the question answerable and appropriate here. This is not to say this is a BAD question; there are very few of those. Yours has some detail and effort: good. But it is still asking for an exhaustive, dictionary list of incompatible components, but that isn't what any single person can give you, and this site expects specific questions that can have a single correct answer. Your question may be a better fit on a forum that does not require a single correct answer. – music2myear Feb 20 '23 at 04:58
  • I will not vote to reopen your question: it is still not correct here. – music2myear Feb 20 '23 at 04:58
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    A USB C charger is no different than a basic USB A charger. You can use the same charger for multiple devices at different wattages and the device will only take as much power as it needs. If the fears of “…warming, shortened battery life or any damage.” had any basis there would be tons of blog posts and YouTube videos about this. Your current question is better than [your earlier version](https://superuser.com/posts/1769397/revisions) but the overall question is still about an issue that doesn’t exist and is fabricated only in your mind. Most USB-C phone chargers are 18 to 20 watts anyway. – Giacomo1968 Feb 24 '23 at 16:08

2 Answers2

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You absolutely can charge any USB device with a proper USB-C charger.

USB devices like mice, headphones, keyboards, and even phones can charge at the minimum voltage USB puts out (5V).

Power hungry devices like laptops that charge via USB-C may require more voltage to charge. Proper USB-C chargers can output more voltage if necessary (up to 40V or probably more now). USB-C chargers have electronics inside that will attempt to communicate with the device when it is plugged in. The device will let the charger know what its maximum voltage is, so that the charger will deliver it. If the device is old or higher voltage is not needed, it will not communicate with the charger and the charger will default to the minimum of 5V.

See these articles for more information: https://www.usb.org/usb-charger-pd https://www.howtogeek.com/769888/what-is-usb-power-delivery-usb-pd/

Keltari
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Yes.

There is no risk unless you get faulty* device. But we're talking here not just about cheap equipment, but straightforward scams.

If any device doesn't have special chip for power delivery negotiation, connection will work on default USB-C ratings (5 volts, up to 3 amperes). In practice it means that connection will be limited to 5 volt rating only and that receiver decides how many current to draw. And latter is defined by receivers circuit design and should be always safe for it.

*In unlike case of faulty charger design there is a risk of damaging receiver. Ie. if you get faulty charger which sends 9V by default. In case of faulty receiver, it will probably just not charge. Worse result would need it to be straightforward broken - ie. with electrical shorting.

Aramil
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