About charging Envy 15 (2020) using USB C

[mintpep]

I found that in both the maintenance guide and the user guide of this laptop, it says that this laptop could operate on 90W (20V 4.5A) through USB C. However I tried to use a 90W PD charger to charge the laptop through USB Type C (Thunderbolt 3) port, but failed. Therefore I am wondering if the descriptions on these documents are wrong or I need try another way to charge this laptop through USB C. Thanks!

Maintenance guide (page 72, Chap 9 Specifications): Maintenance and Service Guide 

User guide (page 57, Chap 12 Specifications - Input power): User Guide 

[EddyK · Accepted solution]

Hi @mintpep,

The information provided within the manuals seems to be wrong.  

There is no way that a computer that comes with a 200W AC adapter can be charged with 45W, 65W, 90W, 120W, 135W and most likely even 150W USB-C or DC barrel chargers. USB PowerDelivery only supports up to 100W so it is basically impossible to charge your device through USB-C, unfortunately.

[mintpep]

Hi EddyK,

Thanks for your reply. This laptop could be charged by my old HP 150W power supply, so I just want to push it a bit further as the manuals show the possibility to charge it through 90W USB C...

Charging through USB C is possible for other brands' similar spec laptop like Asus Zephyrus G14 (65W pd, 180W power supply), Lenovo's Legion slim 7i (90W pd, 230W power supply), or maybe HP's Zbook Create G7 (100W pd, 200W power supply, I read about this only in one review...).  I hope this feature could be added in the next generations of this product. 

[EddyK]

You can try, but I would only expect it to trickle charge when the device is either doing low-intensity tasks or just off.

I read the user reviews on the laptops you linked and the idea that they can be "charged through USB-C" is honestly a bit mistaken. The user reports, such as on Reddit concerning all those laptops, clearly indicate that you can only achieve trickle charging, which is essentially charging the laptop to keep the battery level consistent or close to consistent without actually charging the battery. 

This also isn't mentioning the fact that performance may take a hit when using such a low-rated adapter.

[mintpep]

That's true, if these machines being charged through USB C, CPU/GPU power would be limited.

But for CPU only works 100W should be more than enough (PL1 setting is 90W at performance mode for this machine, and I could only achieve 75W in my own tests....) The 230W power supply is just too heavy compared with pd chargers, 650g vs 200-300g for a 90/100W charger... I think I'd carry my old 150W charger (450g) when I go out.