Everything To Know About Fast Charging Mobile Technology

Over the years, cellular technology has converted desktops and laptops into miniaturized, palm-sized powerhouses that can function just as efficiently, if not better. But with great power comes great energy consumption and these devices do require copious amounts of electric juice to stay functional.

When smartphones got smarter and started demanding more power, manufacturers decided to increase the capacity (mAh) of mobile batteries. However, this wasn’t enough as advanced features drained the batteries at a faster pace and increasing their size become impossible after a point as smartphones needed to be “pocket-friendly”. But challenges lead to ingenuity which leads to innovation and, thus, fast charging technology was invented.

Today, fast charging mobiles or quick charging mobiles have become increasingly popular as they power up to sufficient levels within minutes. Some flagship fast charging mobiles even boast of technology that allows them to be fully charged within 30-50 minutes.

But it is prudent to remember that not all phones are equipped with the same type of fast charging technology and all use different hardware.

What is fast charging?

To juice up a device’s battery faster, most manufacturers boost the amount of energy going into it. The devices that allow this are termed fast charging smartphones. However, as each manufacturer uses a different method, i.e. boosting the amps or increase the voltage of the charger, fast charging standards vary.

Here is a table on how USB charging works:

Typical USB charging standards

USB Type	Voltage	Current	Max Power
USB 1.0	5V	0.5A	2.5V
USB 2.0	5V	0.5A	2.5W
USB 3.0	5V	0.5A/0.9A	4.5W
USB 3.1 (USB-C + USB-PD)	5-20V	0.5A/0.9A/1.5A/3A/5A	100W

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology led the first wave of developments in fast charging mobiles followed by USB power delivery.

Features of fast charging mobiles

The most important benefit of a fast charging smartphone is its ability to store power up to 50% of the battery capacity in under 30 minutes. This also saves time and helps charge your phone faster in dire situations.

Various types of fast charging versions

1. Qualcomm Quick Charge

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge is the most common fast charging technology today as you can find that most mobile devices use its system-on-chip (SoC). Recent Quick Charge devices use USB-C ports. It has been recorded to charge phones up to 50% in 15 minutes and operates at 5V/4.7A to 5.6A or 9V at 3A.

2. OPPO Super VOOC Flash Charge

OPPO Intellectual Property (IP) VOOC (Voice Open Loop Multistep Constant-Current Charging) Flash Charging system has a thermal management chip to regulate overheating. It has been recorded to charge phones up to 75% in 30 minutes and operates at 5V/4A. The OPPO F and R series support this technology at present. This places these OPPO smartphones among the fastest charging phones in the market.

3. OnePlus Dash Charging

Dash charging works akin to OPPO’s VOOC. It has been recorded to charge phones up to 60% in 30 minutes and operates at 5V/4A. All OnePlus devices support this feature at present.

4. MediaTek Pump Express

Like Qualcomm, MediaTek is another company that manufactures mobile phone SoCs and has come out with its own fast charging technology named Pump Express. It has been recorded to charge phones up to 75% in 30 minutes and operates at 3-6V/5A+. It is currently supported on devices that come with the following processors: MT6592, MT6732, MT6735, and MT6795 and places these SoC-enabled devices among the fastest charging phones in the market.

5. Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging

Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Chargers have a better build quality and, thus, they last long. Most USB cables capable of fast charging will do the needful if paired with this charger. It has been recorded to charge phones up to 50% in 40 minutes and operates at 5V/2A for older micro USB phones while for USB-C it operates at 5V/3A, 9V/2A.

6. Huawei Supercharge

Akin to Qualcomm’s Quick Charge is Chinese smartphone maker Huawei’s proprietary charging technology SuperCharge. It uses higher-than-normal voltages to achieve faster charging and has been recorded to charge phones up to 58% in 30 minutes while operating at 5V/1A or 5V/2A or 9V/2A or 4.5V/5A. All Huawei Honor phones support this at present.

7. Wireless Fast Charging

First introduced by Apple, wireless charging uses technology and hardware that cannot be paired with others, i.e. the charging pad and the wall adapter are interdependent and phone-specific. The time taken to charge devices varies with different manufacturers and devices such as Apple’s iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and Google’s Pixel series support this.

8. Motorola Turbocharging

Latest Motorola smartphones support Turbocharging wherein the manufacturer has announced that it designs custom batteries coupled with a power management software that monitors battery state and health to regulate incoming current as needed. It charges phones just as quickly as the Qualcomm Quick Charge or Samsung Adaptive charging technology.

To help you find the best device, here is a list of the top fastest charging smartphones available at present.

Fastest charging phones	Price
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max	Rs1,07,000+
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus	Rs79,000+
Samsung Galaxy Note 10	Rs69,000+
Apple iPhone 11	Rs63,000+
Samsung Galaxy S10e	Rs50,000+
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom	Rs49,000+
Apple iPhone XR	Rs48,000+
Realme X2 Pro	Rs29,000+
Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro	Rs24,000+

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Which is the fastest charging phone?

Honor Magic 2 and Realme X2 Pro are two of the fastest charging mobiles at the moment.

While Honor Magic 2 takes 49 minutes to fully charge a dead battery, Realme X2 Pro claims to juice up to max from near-zero-levels in just 35 minutes.

OPPO’s R17 Pro, released in 2018, claimed to be the fastest charging mobile phone in the world at the time. With a battery capacity of 3,700 mAh, the company claimed that “it only took 35 minutes to completely recharge an empty battery”.

• Can fast charging damage your phone?

Even with normal charging, your battery degrades over time due to the heat that is generated during the passage of electricity. The science is the same with quick charging mobiles and unless you are not using model-specific, original hardware, you do not have anything to worry about.

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