The charging speed of a smartphone battery depends on many factors. Chief among them is the increased capacity of the energy supply.

How does fast charging work?

A smartphone battery is charged when current passes through it. And the more power is supplied to it, the faster the energy reserves in the battery cells are replenished. Charging power is measured in Watts - this is a value equal to the product of the current strength (Amperes) and the voltage in the circuit (Volts).

Taking a “charger” to a smartphone, as they say, will not work from a bulldozer, because. each battery can "pull" certain power parameters. To secure the charging process of the battery, special charge controllers are used. They determine the current (A) and voltage (V) at which the battery is charged and adjust the general parameters. Several parameters are often used for control: assessment of the charge level, overload protection of the adapter, port and battery.

Up to 70-80% of smartphones charge quickly enough. Then the power is gradually reduced to extend the life of the battery.

Smartphones with support for fast “refueling” charge two to three times faster than with conventional charging.

A big problem for the smartphone industry is the lack of a single standard for fast charging. There is no compatibility between different technologies, with rare exceptions. Each manufacturer "boils in its own pot" and promotes its own standard of fast "refueling", which at least makes it difficult to select a suitable power supply.

USB Battery Charging

In the days before smartphones had USB connectors, the field of chargers was a complete mess. Nokia "tubes" were charged through a cord with a round plug (thinner and thicker), Sony Ericsson devices - through a complex proprietary connector, etc. As a result, the idea came up to unite all manufacturers and create a universal charger. The USB interface was the best fit for this role. Reduced plugs were created specifically for portable gadgets: first miniUSB, then microUSB and USB-C. The latter became the main one for accelerated battery charging procedures.

All smartphones and tablets without fast charging support use USB Battery Charging revision BC 1.2, adopted in 2010. Well, or your own add-ons based on this standard. The power of such chargers is often 10 W (5 V / 2 A). During the charging process, the controller chip continuously monitors a number of important parameters, in particular, current, source and battery voltage, battery temperature in order to avoid overheating.

USB power delivery

The notorious Google Good Corporation is promoting the USB Power Delivery standard. The goal of the search giant was to introduce a one-stop solution for various devices so that users do not have problems with the compatibility of charging accessories. The overriding idea of USB Power Delivery is to create a single charging standard that can be used in all USB devices, from smartphones to laptops.

The specification can use up to four operating voltages (5V, 9V, 12V, and 20V) at up to 5A. Accordingly, it supports peak power up to 100W, but most smartphone chargers are rated for several times less power.

The current USB Power Delivery 3.0 standard is divided into four energy categories:

  • 7.5W;
  • 15+W;
  • 27+W;
  • 45+ W.
Power Delivery is a technology developed by the USB consortium and promoted as a single standard for smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Power supplies over 15W operate at 5V and 9V, for 27+W chargers this figure is 5V, 9V and 15V, and for 45W and above - 5V, 9V, 15V and 20V.

USB Power Delivery fast charging is supported by Apple mobile phones (starting with the 8th iPhone), top Samsung, Googlephones, single copies of LG and Xiaomi.

Interesting fact. In 2020, the MagSafe wireless charger was released for iPhones, which supports up to 15 watts of accelerated over-the-air charging.

Qualcomm Quick Charge

Qualcomm's Quick Charge standard is the most popular. It has been developed since 2013. The secret of the technology's success is the widest distribution of "dragon" mobile chipsets, which live on board both state employees and uncompromising flagships.

A visual increase in charging speed depending on the editions of Quick Charge.

There are several revisions of Qualcomm's fast charging standard:

1. Quick Charge 1.0 :
maximum power - 10 W;
voltage - 5V;
current strength - 2 A.

2. Quick Charge 2.0 :
maximum power - 18 W;
voltage - 5 / 9 / 12 V;
current strength - 1.67 / 2 A.

New in the second revision is Dual Charge technology to split the charging flow into two power management integrated circuits (PMICs) to reduce the temperature of the device being charged.

Quick Charge 3.0 :
maximum power - 18 W;
voltage - 3.6-20 V in steps of 0.2 V;
current strength - 2.6 / 4.6 A.

In the third generation, setting the smartphone to one of dozens of charging levels is done dynamically. This is managed by the "smart" INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimal Voltage) intelligent polling algorithm. The developers have achieved an increase in efficiency, which has led to a twofold increase in charging speed and reduced the load on the battery.

Quick Charge 4.0 / 4.0+ :
maximum power - 100 W (27 W for USB-PD);
voltage - 3.6-20 V in 0.2 V steps (5 / 9 V for USB-PD);
current strength - 2.6 / 4.6 A (3 A for USB-PD).

The key innovation in the "four" was to ensure full compatibility with the USB Power Delivery standard. The power supply asks the smartphone for USB-PD support, after which it determines the voltage supply parameters. If the answer is yes, the power is supplied according to the USB-PD standard, if not, the Quick Charge protocol is activated.

Quick Charge 5.0 :
maximum power - 100+ W;
voltage - 3.3-20 V;
current strength - 3.3 / 5 / 5+ A.

Compared to the previous generation, the fifth standard is about 70% more efficient and 10°C cooler. It's no joke, when using the technology, a 50 percent charge of a 4500 mAh battery is promised in just 5 minutes. Its full "refueling" takes 15 minutes.

The current list of smartphones with Quick Charge support is in the PDF file on the official Qualcomm page (https://www.qualcomm.com/documents/quick-charge-device-list) (broken down by revisions).

Smartphones with fast charging

MediaTek Pump Express

Pump Express fast charging is supported by smartphones based on the MediaTek processor. It is close in spirit to the Quick Charge protocol and is partially compatible with it. Starting with the "plus" version, the principle of the standard repeats Qualcomm's: several fixed voltage levels in the first revisions and stepped voltage adjustment in subsequent editions. At the same time, the technology has its own peculiarity - the battery is charged directly, bypassing the built-in controller. The power supply is in charge of monitoring the temperature and the "refueling" mode.

Pump Express accelerated charging can be found on board smartphones with processors from MediaTek.

Current generations of accelerated charging from MediaTek:

1.Pump Express :
maximum power - 5 / 7.5 / 10 W;
voltage - 3.6-5 V;
current strength - 1.2 / 1.5 / 2 A.

2.Pump Express Plus :
maximum power - 15+ W;
voltage - 5 / 7 / 9 / 12 V;
current strength - 3 / 4.5 A.

3. Pump Express 2.0 Plus :
maximum power - 15+ W;
voltage - 5-20 V in steps of 0.5 V;
current strength - 3 / 4.5+ A.

4.Pump Express 3.0 :
maximum power - 25 / 30 W;
voltage - 3-6 V in steps of 0.01 V;
current strength - 5+ A.

5.Pump Express 4.0 :
maximum power - 25 / 30 W;
voltage - 3-6 V in steps of 0.01 V;
current strength - up to 5 A.

The fourth edition of the technology is compatible with the international standard USB Power Delivery 3.0 programmable power supplies, which allows you to charge Pump Express 4.0-enabled smartphones with USB PD 3.0 “chargers”.

Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging

Accelerated charging Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging, which appeared in the sixth "Galaxy", relies on Quick Charge 2.0 and is fully compatible with it. It uses a voltage of 5 / 9 V and a current of 2 A, which at the output allows you to reach a power rating of 18 watts. Samsung's subsequent fast charging standards also use Qualcomm's work.

Samsung smartphones charge faster with native chargers.
Interesting to know! Despite the full “paper” compliance with Qualcomm standards, Samsung smartphones charge faster with branded power supplies. The latest edition of the accelerated “Samsung” charging is called Superfast Charge and works at power rates up to 45 watts.

Huawei FastCharge and SuperCharge

Charging technologies for Huawei and Honor smartphones are not so easy to figure out. Conventionally, they can be divided into two camps: simpler (FastCharge) and better (SuperCharge). "Chargers" of the first type give out power up to 18 W and are essentially analogues of Quick Charge 3.0.

The “ceiling” of power for chargers using Huawei SuperCharge technology is 40 watts.
.

The second option is low voltage:

SCP 1 gen :
maximum power - 22.5 W;
voltage - 4.5 / 5 V;
current strength - 4.5 / 5 A.

SCP 2 gen :
maximum power - 40 W;
voltage - 5 / 9 / 10 V;
current strength - 2 / 4 A.

SuperCharge requires only branded adapters to work correctly.

Super VOOC and Dash Charge / Warp Charge

Oppo's VOOC accelerated charging debuted in 2014. It implemented an innovative concept of low voltage and high current battery power supply. Behind the term VOOC is the name Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging, which translates as multi-stage DC charging with an open voltage loop.

Super VOOC technology is one of the fastest on the market. With her participation, a 4000 mAh battery is fully charged in just half an hour at a peak power of up to 65 watts.

Super VOOC technology is one of the fastest smartphone battery chargers in the arena.

OnePlus smartphones use Dash Charge (20W) and Warp Charge (30W) technologies, which, oddly enough, are not backward compatible with each other.

The standards are demanding on accessories and are guaranteed to be compatible only with native components.

What about others?

Motorola (TurboPower 15/25/30), Meizu (Super mCharge), Asus (BoostMaster), Vivo (Super Flash Charge) have their own fast charging technologies. Special chic is the last standard on the list. Its main feature is the use of increased charging current and power - (6 A and up to 120 W). A conditional 4000 mAh battery will be charged by the corresponding power supply up to 50% in just 5 minutes, and such a battery will receive 100% charge in 13 minutes.


As a result, the choice of fast charging depends on the brand and specific model of the smartphone. If the purchase of a power supply with support for accelerated “refueling” is a priority, it is better to clarify in advance its compatibility with existing manufacturer standards.