Hey all,
I understand this question has somewhat been answered already in another thread; TL;DR of that is use VIN and GND. The max voltage on the battery connector is 4.2V, any more and the battery charger IC will be damaged.
My question comes from Claude who I am posting this question on its behalf (strange times we live in eh 
). It has claimed to have done a lot of analysis on the boards electronic make up and poses this question about powering 5V via VIN and GND pads:
On the Inkplate 5 Gen2, with 5 V on the VIN pad, Q7 (SSM3J358R) turns on and puts that voltage on the battery line and on the MCP73831’s output: about 4.5 V through Q9’s body diode with the power switch off, 5.0 V if R34 is bridged. Is that acceptable for the charger with no battery connected? If not, should the feed go through a Schottky diode?
If I understand its concern correctly: **powering 5V via VIN still puts 5V through the battery line which Soldered has claimed will damage the battery charge IC.
**
And I am wondering is its concern real/correct or should I not worry about it and power my Inkplate via VIN and GND pads.
Cheers,
Chris