While there are several ways to power the Raspberry Pi 4, the simplest, most cost-effective, and most popular route is via a dedicated power supply. Not just any power supply, though, but one specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi 4. As with most RPi accessories, there’s a vast world of options out there, from an official power supply to low-cost third-party alternatives. But which one is the best Raspberry Pi 4 power supply? So a general advice would be to buy it from respectable manufacturer like samsungs, htc, lg, apple, and other major brands. According to tests they are generally very good. If you have a newer, "name brand" power bank or power supply that specifically claims to be USB-PD compliant it likely will work. It seems patently obvious to me that anyone asking about powering via "GPIO pins" is talking about "pins on the 40-way connector", not suggesting trying to power via pins used for digital I/O, but I can accept it's worth ensuring they are not. The Raspberry Pi 4 Official PSU is a no-frills power supply that excels at the fundamentals, which is to source the Raspberry Pi 4 with a steady flow of power for it to flourish whatever the project.

If secure-boot is enabled then the processor revision (B0/C0) and signed-boot status flags are displayed. Otherwise, this line is blank. While it may be tempting to fish out any old USB charger you have lying around, we’d warn against it. If the specifications don’t align with the requirements of the Pi 4, notably the voltage requirements, or the charger is of poor quality, doing so may cause irreparable damage to the Pi board or, worse, start an electrical fire. Or slightly less daunting and more common, it won’t provide sufficient power for the mini-computer to work correctly, coughing up a bevy of errors and performance issues and causing all manner of hair-pulling frustration. For Raspberry Pi 3 and older, you can use this one from CanaKit, which is specifically made for Raspberry Pi. Lightning Bolt Although the Raspberry Pi 4 is a versatile and powerful mini-computer capable of a vast array of applications, it’s quite particular when it comes to power requirements. Supply the wrong voltage, and the small but mighty Pi 4 may peter out and struggle to reach its full potential. Stepping down the pricing later involves some cut corners, but with the GeeekPi Power Supply with an On/Off Switch, it’s possible to pay a few dollars less and still walk home with a quality power supply.Another top option is the CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply. Among third-party purveyors of Pi parts and accessories, CanaKit rubs shoulders with the most reputable. Simple, reliable, and practical, it’s a clever way to avoid the slight premium stamped on the official Raspberry Pi option and still end up with a quality power supply. Once again, no switch with this one, but CanaKit has you covered with our following recommendation. The power supply comes from the very company responsible for designing and manufacturing the Raspberry Pi and, as such, is designed specifically for the Pi 4. Expect to pay a slight premium for the Raspberry Pi name compared to third-party alternatives. Still, the peace of mind that comes hand in hand with buying what is essentially the official Raspberry Pi 4 power supply is worth the extra cost. I have copied part of the input schematic on the USB power. In this sub section the +5v supplied from the USB connector is filtered to give a nice stable 5v supply to the 5V0 Rail. The boot ROM also now supports GUID partitioning and has been tested with hard drives partitioned using Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Don't power up your Raspberry Pi with any old cable! This is a task that you will need to be mindful of as some models are very stringent in their required input. And, if you’re juggling multiple project Pi projects that employ the previous-gen3 Model B or Model 3B, the Geek Pi Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply with On/Off Switch includes a useful USB Type-C to MicroUSB adapter, which grants full compatibility with those older Pi models. This sub circuit which is connected to the 5V0 rail has 3 voltage regulators with their own filter capacitors.They all have teeny tiny specs printed on them in terms of supply and output voltage and make no mention about if they are PD complaint or not. I needed to look up manufactured spec sheets to sort this out. Even my brand new Lenovo power supplies, which are USB-PD, do not list it on the actual unit. They all work fabulously with the electronic widgets they came with. USB enumeration is a means of enabling power to the downstream devices on a hub, then waiting for the device to pull the D+ and D- lines to indicate if it is either USB 1 or USB 2. This can take time: on some devices it can take up to three seconds for a hard disk drive to spin up and start the enumeration process. Because this is the only way of detecting that the hardware is attached, we have to wait for a minimum amount of time (two seconds). If the device fails to respond after this maximum timeout, it is possible to increase the timeout to five seconds using program_usb_boot_timeout=1 in config.txt. UPDATE: The dodgy non-compliant USB-C power port issue described in this link which has been now been fixed.

Power supply, exemple 5v 10A: No matter what you connect to it, it is ready willing and able to provide 5v at the output and will provide up to 10 amps of current, no matter what or how many things are connected to it. However, I have a collection of USB-PD and other odd power supplies with USB-C connectors for various electronic widgets. Of the claimed PD supplies 3 behave as expected, and supply 5V since the Pi cannot negotiate for a higher voltage. One supply refused to supply any voltage (which is not spec compliant). I have other USB-C connected power supplies that do not claim to be PD that supply 12 or 19 volts, without any negotiation. These would fry a Pi. Finally, you can save a bit of money and opt for the Geek Pi Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply with On/Off Switch. This comes with a slight downgrade to build quality and looks, but when it comes to powering the Pi, the Geek Pi Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply with On/Off Switch is just as reliable as the power supplies above. It also includes a built-in switch as an added benefit.

Use a PoE Hat:

While the Raspberry Pi 4 Official PSU is a sure bet as it comes from the founders themselves, it’s possible to save a few dollars and still obtain an equally reliable and well-built power supply – the CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply. CanaKit is among the most popular and respected third-party manufacturers of Raspberry Pi accessories and parts, and their reputation extends to this excellent power supply. I understand that you are trying to differentiate between actual general input/output pins and power pins on the GPIO header (whch you call the expansion header, but that is not the official terminology), since you were somewhat browbeating in your response, I feel like the response, for anyone else looking for an answer to this, would benefit from a clearer elucidation of the difference: Pi Zero W is much less hungry – of course Pico is not even computer so this one is usually never hungry 😉 Third-party USB-C charging devices can be cheaply wired, potentially destroying connected devices as well as starting fires. A safer alternative is to power your Pi using PoE which beyond reducing these risks, offer additional benefits: Benefits:

Although not as common, there are other options out there, one of which may help in a pinch or offer more flexibility and mobility. Vendor-Option Option 43, length 32: 6.1.3.10.4.0.80.88.69.9.20.0.0.17.82.97.115.112.98.101.114.114.121.32.80.105.32.66.111.111.116.255

You need to realise that the USB schematic was carefully designed to be used as the primary +5V input and protects the Pi from getting fried. The GPIO pin does not offer this protection fully and you really need to trust your power supply if you want to do that!