Remember the times when our smartphones required an entire night for a complete recharge? We are pretty sure there were also many instances here you left home with little charge on your phone and you might have regretted it. The introduction of fast charging technology has changed it all. Just plug in your phone for a few minutes and your device has enough juice to keep running the entire day.
Fast charging tech is a boon for smartphone users and it helps users to live their lives in the fast lane. Have you ever wondered how fast charging works? Dive in, to get a better understanding towards the fast charging technology.
How does standard charging works?
Before we start with fast charging, let’s quickly understand how traditional charging technologies work. When you plug your phone to a power adaptor, electrical power (Watts) is converted to current (Amperes) and transferred through the cable to the batteries. In case of mobile phones, most of these batteries are made of Lithium-ion. As the current reaches the battery, a chemical reaction causes ions from the negative terminal of the battery to travel towards the positive terminal, where energy is stored. These batteries are also equipped with a small electronic controller (integrated circuit), which prevents overcharging. If you want to know more about batteries you can check our article on the different battery types.
How does fast charging work?
The fast charging follows the same principle as the standard charging but the electrical power (Ampere) converted and transferred via the cable is much higher than that of a standard charger. A standard adaptor’s voltage ranges from as low as 2 volts to 4.2 volts with a relatively low electrical transfer rate. However, a fast charging adaptor is capable of building a much higher voltage (5V-12V) with a faster electrical transfers until the battery reaches its peak voltage capacity.
What does peak voltage capacity mean? It is the optimum capacity of a battery to charge quickly. As the battery reaches 50 to 60 per cent (peak voltage capacity of standard batteries), the electronic controller (IC) drops down the voltage intakes to prevent battery damage.
A fast charger does not follow these rules as much. It pumps as much as current (Amperes) as it can, to quickly charge the battery. Many of us may might wonder why high voltages do not damage the battery? As the fast charging devices have a higher peak voltage capacity batteries and specially designed ICs, so it can pretty high voltages with ease. These devices generally have a peak voltage capacity of 80 per cent which is the reason fast charging is most effective when the battery percentage is below 50 percent.
The entire fast charging process is divided into two phases. The constant phase where the battery voltage steadily increases to reach the highest peak voltage capacity which is then followed by the trickle stage, where the voltage drops down to fully charge the battery. The voltage dropdown keeps battery safe from overheating issues and also extends its lifespan.
Understanding different standards of fast charging
As fast charging turned mainstream, every smartphone manufacturer started introducing their proprietary standards. The most popular of them is the Qualcomm Quick Charge which powers many devices running Snapdragon processors. The latest Quick Charge 3.0 supports 18W of maximum power. Qualcomm has also announced Quick Charge 4.0 which supports a maximum power output of up to 27 watts, but the availability is limited to a few devices. Like Qualcomm, there are many other brands which use their in-house technologies to boost up the charging capabilities. Some of these are mentioned in the table below.
| Charging technology | Ampere | Voltage | Maximum Power |
| Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 | 2.5A/4.6A | 5V | 18W |
| Samsung Adaptive Charging | 2A | 5V / 9V | 18W |
| OnePlus Warp Charge | 2A | 5V | 30W |
| Huawei Supercharge | 2/ 4.5/ 5A | 5V | 25W / 50W |
| Oppo VooC charge | 4 / 5A | 5V | 25 / 40W |
| Motorola TurboPower 30 | 4 / 5A | 9 / 12V | 28.5W |
| Apple Fast Charge | 2A | 14.5V | 29W |
For most of us, the equation may seem pretty simple – More the power better the fast charging, right? However, this is not the case. Some devices have well optimised software and ICs which helps them to achieve a better charging speeds even after having lower power outputs. Fast charging can also largely be affected by types of batteries and charging cables used.
Is fast charging technology cross-compatible?
We all may have this question. Can I use a Warp charger with older OnePlus? Or can I use Samsung Adaptive charger to charge a device of other make? When it comes to fast charging, these technologies may show a certain level of cross compatibility. If you are using a Samsung Adaptive charger with a device of any other make, it may charge the device a bit faster than the standard charger, but cannot achieve the speed of a compatible fast charger. The same work across all the devices, so if you are trying to charge your old OnePlus device with the latest Warp charging technology, you may achieve good charging performance, but not the Warp speed.
What about wireless fast charging?
Wireless charging is really convenient, however charging speeds are not great as compared to the wired ones. Most of the wireless chargers, due to limited on-board cooling systems have slower charging speeds. However, there are a few brands which make fast charging-pads which significantly boosts up wireless charging speeds. But you need to need to make sure your phone supports the same wireless fast charging standards. Also make sure the wall adaptors plugged into the charging pads support fast charging. If you want to have a deeper look at how wireless charging works, you should check out our insight on it.
The future with fast charging
With the fast charging technology constantly improving, the future definitely seems more exciting with it. Today, we already have brands such as OnePlus, Oppo and many more which can even charge our phones fully just under 15 minutes. There are also some reports from brands such as Huawei working on fast charging powerbanks. Brands such as Belkin have also introduced their wireless fast charging pads which significantly boasts the charging speeds. It would be really exciting to see if fast charging can make its way to smartwatches and even wireless Bluetooth earphones. With the advances happening around every corner of the fast charging tech, we hope to expect it soon. But for now, the fast charging tech is definitely much safer, accessible and faster than we have ever seen.
