Heat shrink (again) USB cable

"What is an E-Marker

An E-Marker (electronic marker) is a chip that is used in the latest USB connector iteration, USB Type-C, to communicate between power source and power sink devices.

The chip is used to communicate with connected devices to ensure safe data and power delivery to and from the source and sink.

The E-Marker provides the cable characteristics including the cable length, the maximum supported current and voltage, the type of USB signal, the vendor and product ID, any alternate mode support, and much more.

An E-Marker is required on all USB Type-C cables that support 5 amps and/or exceed 60 watts of power carrying capability.

USB Type-C cables that are expected to have data transfer rates above 480 Mbps, or High-speed USB 2.0, are also required to have an E-Marker chip embedded in the connectors of the cables. Applications that exceed 480 Mbps fall in the USB 3.1 realm, meaning any USB 3.1 cable is going to, with very minimal exceptions, be required, by the USB-IF community, to include an E-Marker in the Type-C cable.

At least for USBPD then, there is some expectation of an E-Marker when the cable is going to be used for 100 watt service (100W 20V @ 5A, to 240W, 48V @ 5A).

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Let's look at the phone spec.

realme 6 Pro Specifications - realme (India)

› realme-6-pro › specs 90Hz Ultra Smooth Display, 16.6cm (6.6") FHD+ Fullscreen, 64MP AI Quad Camera, Ultra Wide, 20X Zoom and Macro, 30W Flash Charge, Fully Charge in 1 Hour.

Charger output power Information about the electric current (amperes) and voltage (volts) the charger outputs. The higher power output allows faster charging.

5 V (volts) / 6 A (amps) <=== in theory, 6A would need an e-marker chip and the cable might be labeled as "for 100W charging" which would be 20V @ 5A. That's if this standard was actually supported by USBPD, which it likely isn't. We need to ascertain what spec is really involved.

Oppo’s SuperVOOC charging technology, also available for OnePlus and Realme devices, stands as one of the fastest charging technologies currently available to mainstream smartphones.

SuperVOOC or Super VOltage Open loop multi-step Constant-current charging – yes, that is quite the mouthful – allows you to charge a compatible phone at up to 240W. With this power output, your phone can go from no charge to full charge in under 10 minutes. This isn’t just fast-charging, it’s basically magic!

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"you’re expected to use only a SuperVOOC-compatible cable"

Well, OK then. In an exaggeration-filled world, these cables are claimed to charge at 10 amps.

The Oppo one, lists 6.5A as the max current, because after all, the USB Type A and USB Type C electrical contacts, must have some kind of limitation for contact resistance :-)

OPPO Type-C VOOC Cable 1M-DL129

SKU 110110520017 Color White Input Port USB-A Output Port USB-C Rated Current 6.5A（MAX） Cable Length 1.0M Support Up to 80W OPPO Reno10 Pro 5G | OPPO Reno11 Pro 5G | OPPO Reno12 5G | OPPO Reno12 Pro 5G | OPPO K13 5G | OPPO F29 Pro 5G | OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G | OPPO Reno13 5G | OPPO Find X8 | OPPO Find X8 Pro Support Up to 67W OPPO Reno10 5G | OPPO F23 5G | OPPO Reno11 5G | OPPO F25 Pro 5G | OPPO F27 Pro+ 5G Support Up to 45W OPPO A3 5G | OPPO A3x 4G | OPPO A3x 5G | OPPO A3 Pro 5G | OPPO A5x 5G | OPPO A5 Pro 5G | OPPO K12x 5G | OPPO F27 5G | OPPO F29 5G Support Up to 44W OPPO Find N2 Flip | OPPO Find N3 Flip Support Up to 33W OPPO A38 | OPPO A59 5G | OPPO A78 5G | OPPO A79 5G | OPPO F21 Pro 5G | OPPO F21s Pro | OPPO F21s Pro 5G

One picture on that page, depicts a wire configuration with a "fat VCC and fat GND" wires. This implies it's not necessarily an E-marked cable (if VOOC even used such a thing). The phone may conclude the cable type, by noting any voltage droop coming from the charger, then reduce the charge rate. (The voltage might be

4.5V at the phone over a thin cable, 4.8V over the VOOC-ready cable, so the phone knows when a thin cable is there.)

Recommendation:

After you have purchased a "fat" cable from the limited number of VOOC suppliers, *lay the cable straight* between the charger and the device. Try not to bend the cable, since the "fat" wires put stress on the back of the USB Type A and the USB Type C, which were not intended for using host-clamp-sized wiring :-) Lay the cable straight, take good care of it.

The croma.com page, tells you that fast charging at 6 amps, is beating the piss out of the battery. Which may or may not be important to you. When the phone goes out of software support, I suppose it no longer matters at that point.

Summary: Apparently this is not a USBPD at all. It's something else. What the world needs, is yet another standard.

Paul