Latitude 5490 USB Type-C

Don’t put too much faith into the list of compatible systems on accessories pages since they frequently don’t get updated. Systems that support charging over USB-C often say something like charging or “DC-in” in the specs for the USB-C port. Power Delivery can technically just mean it supports USB-PD for providing power to peripherals, and even that doesn’t specify the available wattage. I don’t see that mentioned for the 5490 in its Owner’s Manual on support.dell.com, but my 7480 and 7490 both support charging over USB-C, and with Latitude systems being designed for docking situations, I’d be really surprised if it didn’t support charging over USB-C. I’d recommend buying whatever USB-C charging accessory you’re considering and testing it. You can always return it if it doesn’t work. I have a Nekteck USB-C 65W wall charger that works well. You need USB-C cables capable of 100W to use the full 65W, because regular cables only carry up to 60W. That charger comes with one, but it’s only 6 feet long, and since the regular AC adapter is about 9 feet long, I wanted something similar. I ended up buying a Nekteck 10-foot 100W USB-C cable.

Been a while, so I am not sure if you got your answer.  

I too was looking for an answer and found none.  So I decided to plug it to a USB-C PD charger figuring that with PD negotiation, this should be of little risk.  Guest what? It charges. Hope that helps.

kao

Hello.
I checked - Dell Latitude 5490, Dell Latitude 5491 - USB-C connector also work as power connector.

Here is a 100% working hardware configuration:

1. Dell Latitude 5490;
2. Dell PowerBank PW7018LC (65 Wh);
3. Dell USB Type-C Dongle Cable 470-ACFH (DP/N: 0684H).

Dongle (470-ACFH) is needed to charge a powerbank (PW7018LC) from a standard 65W charger for my dell laptop (19.5 V, 7.4 mm barrel).

As a result, using powerbank with USB-C, I can charge a laptop and a smartphone at the same time.

I am using Latitude 5490 too and looking for 3rd party charger and cable for USB type c. Do you have a suggestion? Does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks.

@erkank  I have several USB-C chargers from various brands.  My most recent acquisition is this, which you can also find on Amazon.  The use of GaN technology means it's surprisingly small for its 90W output, and it can split its 90W across its two ports in multiple ways: 90/0, 60/30, or 45/45.  It comes with a cable, but if you want other cables, I've been buying mostly from Anker and StarTech.  Just make sure you get a cable rated for 100W if you want to go above the normal 60W, and be aware that if you get a 10-ft cable rated for 100W, it will be noticeably thicker than a 10-ft cable only rated for 60W.  But up to 6 feet, the thickness difference between 60W and 100W is pretty negligible as long as they're only rated for USB 2.0 data and power.  If you look at cables that support USB 3.x and video output, those will be thicker because they have to include more internal wiring.

Other than that, I also have this for travel.  This single charger allows me to charge any of my laptops at up to 90W, my iPhone at max speed (using the 18W USB-C port), my Apple Watch, and then one other device.  That one other device on any given day is either my AirPods, USB battery pack, or Jabra Bluetooth headset -- but none of those things needs to be charged every night like my 3 "main" devices.  So basically I take this charger plus the necessary cables with me, and I don't need any other charger at all. It's awesome.

@jphughan Thank you so much. If you had to charge your Dell Latitude 5490 laptop while mobile, what would your recommendation be for 3rd party powerbank and car charging?

@erkank  For a car charger, I have this.  The USB-C port provides up to 60W, and the USB-A port can provide another 12W simultaneously.  The Latitude 5490 specs indicate that it can come with either a 65W or 90W power source (probably depending on whether you order it with an NVIDIA GPU), so it wouldn't be able to operate or charge at max performance from a 60W source, but it would still charge just fine.  And I haven't found higher output car chargers.  I seem to remember Dell offering a 90W car charger, but it resembles a traditional AC adapter with a "brick" partway along the cable and then plugs into the barrel style AC adapter connector, which the Latitude 5490 has, but that also means that type of charger can only be used with Dell laptops that have that adapter.  The Satechi charger I linked can be used with all sorts of other USB-C devices.

As for a power bank, again output is going to be an issue.  The key specs to be aware of with power banks is energy capacity (typically expressed in mAh or Whr) and energy delivery rate (typically expressed in W).  Finding a power bank with high energy capacity is relatively easy.  Finding a power bank with high energy delivery rate is more difficult -- and that's what matters when you want to use it to run a laptop.  Most power banks, even the high capacity models, are only designed for 5-18W output since they're meant to be used with smartphones and tablets that don't require much delivery rate relative to a laptop.  The best option here is probably Dell's own Notebook Power Bank Plus, link here.  It has a 65 Whr capacity (roughly equivalent to 20,000 mAh since lithium ion cells operate at 3.3V) and a 65W delivery rate. But as you can see, it's larger and significantly more expensive than other 20,000 mAh battery packs that are only designed for smartphones and tablets, because delivering energy quickly requires more electronics and heat management.  But in terms of that 65 Whr capacity, just as a frame of reference, the Latitude 5490's internal battery has a capacity of either 42, 51, or 68 Whr, depending on which battery you ordered.  So this battery pack is roughly equivalent to carrying 1 to 1.5 extra batteries with you.  And as a couple of added bonuses, the power bank has a standard USB port that you can use to charge some other device from the power bank simultaneously.  And additionally, if you connect a USB-C charger to the power bank input and connect the power bank's output to your laptop, the power bank will charge itself and the laptop simultaneously, rather than you needing to connect each device separately for charging.  For that "in-line charging" purpose, I would definitely recommend having a higher wattage USB-C power source, such as that 90W charger I recommended earlier.

@erkank  Well I wrote all that about a power bank and it turns out that there are a few other options on the market these days, at significantly better values than Dell's offering if you're wiling to give up a bit of convenience.

The first is this RAVPower unit, which offers the same 20,000 mAh / 65Whr capacity as Dell's unit.  It offers 60W output, which should still be fine for your system, as well as a USB-A port that can provide up to 15W output (although if you use it, the USB-C port output drops to 45W).  This power bank charges itself at 30W.

And the second option is this Aukey unit.  It offers 26,800 mAh / 99.16 Wh (so they're apparently using a higher 3.7V cell), which is the largest power bank that's allowed to be taken onto an airplane at least in the US.  It also offers 60W output via USB-C, plus an additional USB-C and USB-A port that can each provide up to 18W.  But the max total output of the power bank is still 60W across all ports.  It can charge itself at 45W.

One difference compared to the Dell unit I linked earlier is that neither of these supports passthrough charging, i..e the ability to connect to have the power bank charge from a wall charger and charge an attached laptop simultaneously.  The reason is that both units use the same USB-C port for input and high wattage output, so you can't do both at the same time.  But both are also significantly less expensive, so maybe that capability isn't too important to you.  I haven't used either of these specific product, but I have no hesitation recommending RAVPower and Aukey based on my own experience with other products of theirs as well as feedback from others I know.

I have Latitude 5490  with one USB-C Port ...IT'S WORKING ...65 W Charger

What's the model of the powerbank you're using if I may ask? TY

Recently bought 20,000 mAh power bank 130W, using a USB-C cable rated at 100W, but laptop isn't charging. Model of the powerbank is GXM 130W.

Update. It’s now working! Should use USB-C To USB-C, was using USB-A to USB-C that’s why it was not working. Make sure the it’s connected to C1 port of the GXM 130W powebank.