You can now purchase a cable that lets
you directly connect a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop to a USB-C battery or wall
adapter for charging.
The J-Go Surface Connect to USB-C Charging cable costs
$19.99 and is available to order now.
The cable is exactly as its name
describes: one end of the six-foot cord has Microsoft’s proprietary Surface
Connect adapter, while the other end is a standard USB-C plug. I tested the
cable with both a Surface Pro and a Surface Laptop, and I was able to charge
both devices using either a USB-C PD battery pack or a USB-C wall charger.
J-Go
rates the cable at 15V and says it will work with most USB-C power delivery
(PD) devices, including portable batteries. If you’re using a Surface Go, the
battery or wall charger needs to output at least 29W (though if you’re using a
Go, you don’t really need this cable as it already has a USB-C port built-in).
The Surface Pro and Surface Laptop demand at least 36W. The company says that
best performance is found with 45W or 60W adapters.
This cable is technically not as
versatile as Microsoft’s adapter since it doesn’t support data transfer or
video output; it’s solely used for charging. J-Go’s founder Jay Terry tells me
that the company is in the process of developing a product that can support
those functions, but he doesn’t know when that might come to market.
Even with those
limitations, the Surface Connect to USB-C Charging cable makes it easy for
Surface device owners to charge their laptops with the same power brick they
might use for their phones or use a portable battery pack to juice up on the
go. Until Microsoft fully adopts USB-C across its devices, this is the next
best thing.
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