Ease of life is something that everyone looks for, like being on the constant lookout for an outlet at a nearby café or public space when you’re left with a trickle of charge is something that everyone dreads. This is where fast charging comes in to help people.
As the name suggests, this refers to charging at a rate faster than a regular charger can provide. It is more of a marketing term than anything else.
The charging adapters capable of this are usually rated at a higher voltage or a higher amperage resulting in an overall higher wattage.
This technology was brought to the masses by Motorola’s TurboCharge technology. It was made mainstream by OnePlus’ Dash Charge(Fast Charge), which set high standards for this technology.
This article will tell you about the different fast charging options present in today’s market and how they have changed the industry for good.
You can watch the video below in English and Hindi or continue reading the article.
Also read: Top 5 apps to help you monitor your Android device’s battery health
Qualcomm’s QuickCharge
It has gone through several revisions over the years, and the current generation is known as QuickCharge 4+. The constant developments have brought the rate of charge to the point that you can have 5 hours of battery life in 5 minutes. Qualcomm has not released a numerical rate of charge.
Oppo’s VOOC Charging
VOOC stands for Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging. Oppo’s proprietary technology at present can charge their phones from 0% to 75% in just 30 minutes.
One disadvantage that is brought about by fast charging is the extra heat that is generated. Oppo has managed to develop a software interface between the components of their charger and their phone, which reportedly helps maintain cool temperature levels and increase safety while improving the overall speed of the charge.
Oppo also has Super VOOC technology on a small number of their phones (Oppo R17 Pro and Find X – Lamborghini Edition). This uses a 50W charger which can provide a full charge in less than 40 minutes.
OnePlus’ DashCharge
Since OnePlus. Oppo and Vivo are owned by the same parent company, BBK Electronics, which has internal access to each other’s proprietary charging technology.
Hence using the same technology, they have implemented FastCharge (popularly known as DashCharge) in their devices.
The current generation of this technology can charge their phones up to 50% in 30 minutes.
With technological advancement, OnePlus could bundle a 30W charger with the McLaren Edition of the 6T, which uses their WarpCharge technology. This charges the phone up to 50% in 20 minutes. The company has mentioned that all future phones support this standard.
Also read: What is battery calibration? How to calibrate your laptop and Android’s battery?
Samsung’s Adaptive Charging Technology
This is Samsung’s take upon fast charging; it is based on Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 2.0 standard, which they have used since the Note 4.
Samsung’s devices from a few years back used software for their wired solutions; hence their devices have been found to charge from 0% to 100% in approximately 120 minutes.
The Adaptive Fast Charging tech is currently only available on Galaxy Note9, S9, S9+, Note8, S8 and S8+.
Samsung also offers fast wireless charging on their devices which provides up to 100% in 120 minutes with 10W of power which is twice as fast as standard wireless chargers.
Motorola’s TurboCharge
This charging technology made its way to the masses first with Motorola’s G-Series phones. It comes in several variants; some are TurboCharge 15 and TurboCharge 30, which provide 8 and 15 hours of battery life in 15 minutes, respectively.
Motorola’s TurboCharge technology is also cross-compatible with Qualcomm’s charging standard and can also be used to charge those devices.
Other technologies
The technologies mentioned above are the ones that are the most prevalent, but USB Power Delivery is slowly coming into play and is setting up standards for safe charging.
MediaTek’s Pump Express is also present in phones using their SOC’s which quotes speeds that will provide up to 75% charge in about 30 minutes.
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