Even if you are often near a power outlet, a smartphone that has gone out of time can create many uncomfortable moments. What should I do if it’s time to leave, but the battery does not have time to charge? Or when they forgot to put the gadgets on charge in the evening, and in the morning they meet us with alarming discharge signs? Of course, you can always use an external battery, but it also needs to be charged in time. And it usually takes so long to charge ...
Manufacturers of batteries and gadgets are well aware of this problem - and successfully solve it using "fast" charging technologies. Let's briefly get acquainted with modern fast charging technologies, especially since in 2017 they continue to develop rapidly. At the MWC 2017, Meizu introduced the fourth generation of its fast charging technology - Super mCharge.
Super mCharge
Super mCharge technology allows you to fully charge your smartphone with a 3000 mAh battery in just 20 minutes. How fast is it? Equipped with this technology, the Meizu prototype was 11 times faster than the iPhone 7 Plus and was 3.6 times faster than the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Why, after 5 minutes you can charge the gadget by 30%!
To achieve this result, the high voltage direct charge method (HVDC) is used. The Super mCharge power adapter delivers 11V at 5A. This means that the maximum transmitted power reaches an impressive 55 watts. An ordinary charging cable cannot transmit such power - so to use Super mCharge you will need not only a smartphone and an adapter with support for this technology, but also a separate high-power cable.
A separate plus is the heating temperature of the battery case with such a “turbo charging”, as promised by Meizu, will not exceed 39 °, which will allow you to comfortably work with your smartphone, even while charging from the mains.
Quick charge
Qualcomm has been manufacturing chips for several years that are compatible with its own Quick Charge technology. Its support is provided either by using a separate chip in the system, or by a compatible Snapdragon chip. For this reason, Quick Charge technology is supported not only by Android smartphones with the Snapdragon chip, but also by separate external batteries - in particular, models from Xiaomi.
In 2018, the fourth generation of Quick Charge 4.0 appeared, compatible with the USB Power Delivery Protocol (USB-PD) via the USB Type-C port. But previous versions of Quick Charge do not lose their relevance - they can reduce battery charge time by up to 75%. Due to the popularity of Snapdragon chips, support for this technology can be found in many flagships of various brands. The Quick Charge 3.0 technology is backward compatible with the previous ones - so if your gadget supports Quick Charge 2.0, the charger with the third version is suitable for it.
Quick Charge adapters provide faster charging of the device, allowing the device to accept more voltage and current. If you connect Quick Charge charging to an old device, nothing bad will happen, but the gadget will charge at the same pace. As with Super mCharge, fast charging requires not only technology support on your gadget, but also an appropriate charger. You can use an ordinary cable - and you can charge quickly not only a smartphone, but also an external battery!
Super Charge, Turbo Charge, Pump Express, RapidCharge, FastCharge, VOOC Flash Charging
Each manufacturer seeks to implement their own fast charging option for their devices. Alas, in anticipation of the “nano” or “graphene” battery technologies promised to us by scientists (which, in theory, can be charged instantly), all current solutions are implemented according to a single technical solution - increasing the transmission power and current strength.
An example of an alternative solution is OPPO with proprietary VOOC Flash Charging technology. Thanks to the eight-contact battery, each of the internal cells is charged in parallel with a current of 4.5 amperes and a voltage of 5 volts.
Pump Express works by analogy with Quick Charge, but only with MTK processors, while Huawei's Super Charge boasts high-speed charging records (but only in its flagship devices).
Instead of conclusions
When choosing fast charging technologies, ask which of them supports your gadget. And if you have an iPhone or your smartphone does not support any of them - it does not matter, just select the appropriate external battery with support for fast charge, add it with the necessary network adapter and you will definitely not be left without communication at the most inopportune moment. And if you already have an external battery, pick up a charger that supports 2.1A charge current, so your iPhone will charge faster.
Aukey Wall Charger is a charger that allows you to recharge the batteries of all devices in one place. 4 USB outputs provide simultaneous charging of four devices. This memory is suitable for both home use and travel, because it has a compact size and folding design.
- Quick charge
- Built-in fuse
- Four ports
- Universal memory
- USB-C Connector
- Quick Charge 3.0 Technology
- 5 ports
- Powered by network
- Compactness and high performance;
- LED charge indicator;
- Qualcomm Quick Charge Technology
- Protection against overheating, overvoltage and short circuit
- Three USB output connectors
- Wide input voltage range
- Informative display
- Charge Current: 7.2 A;
- Total power: 36 W;
- Integrated Surge Protector
Other
In this article, we will talk about a fairly new technology - "Quick charge your smartphone." All advantages and disadvantages will be described, we will also try to figure out whether this development is needed for the convenience of consumers.
Today is very difficult to imagine without a smartphone and other modern gadgets. Every day the market is replenished with new models that are much more modern and powerful than their predecessors. Smartphone screens are getting bigger and brighter, processors are more productive and efficient, and RAM volumes are growing. All this consumes a large amount of energy, and the more intensively the smartphone is used, the faster the battery is discharged. Now only lithium batteries with a small capacity, but very reliable and durable, are mainly used. Manufacturers are fighting for their place in the market, so they are striving to reduce the phone’s charging time, to make their devices more autonomous.
What is fast charging?
We will examine in more detail how the process of fast charging takes place. If we take the usual memory and look at the marking numbers on the case, then we will see 5V / 1A. The inscription means that this charger gives a maximum voltage of 5 volts and a current of 1 ampere. Fast charging is capable of delivering 5V / 2A. This means that a smartphone with such a function can be charged about 40% faster.
A smart controller that provides processing of the incoming current is not only embedded in the memory, but also in the smartphone processor itself. Fast charging often requires a cable with better bandwidth.
Is fast charging safe for your phone?
But consumers are not particularly worried about how this technology is arranged there; one question is important to them: “Is fast charging harmful for themselves and for a smartphone”? No one can give a definite answer, but many studies have been conducted, the results of which indicate 100% safety.
Lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries, in principle, there is no difference with what current strength and with what voltage the process will go through. The most dangerous for integrity and service life is temperature. Conventional smartphone batteries are designed for 2000-3000 cycles of full discharge and charging. If you allow the device to overheat, then this adversely affects the battery and significantly reduces its capacity, which means it reduces its operating time. The main thing that experts do not recommend is to purchase low-quality cheap memory.
Perhaps the most basic rules for the safe use of fast charging are:
- Do not leave the infected smartphone unattended for a long time;
- Do not cover your mobile device with pillows, a blanket or other cloth;
- Do not overload the processor and RAM while charging;
- Do not use fast charging if there are cracks or other defects on the smartphone case or battery;
- Use only original memory and high-quality cable.
A variety of technologies for fast charging smartphones
- Qualcomm Quick Charge
- Pump Express by Mediatek;
- VOOC Flash Charge.
The most unfamiliar for us was VOOC Flash Charge. It is less common in the market, but, according to world experts, it carries out the most careful charging of the smartphone. It is also the fastest, but it can only be used with OPPO devices. It can fill a battery with a capacity of 2500-3000 amperes in twenty minutes. OPPO launches its own development called VOOK FLACH CHARGING, which surpasses many others. It has the characteristics of 5V / 4.5v. But ordinary batteries are not able to withstand this current, so OPPO introduced a proprietary battery that has 8 contacts, instead of three.
Qualcomm - Area Leader
In general, the first fast charge was introduced by Qualcomm, called Quick Charge 1.0. It was first introduced in smartphones Samsung, Nexus, Nokia. Qualcomm’s Quick Charge has captured most of the memory market. It has been brought to perfection in a few years. More than half of smartphone manufacturers work with this company and actively use the technology in almost all of their gadgets. Even Samsung, which has long been a leader in the smartphone market, having its own developments, often uses technologies from Qualcomm.
The first fast charge appeared in 2013 and with each release of subsequent versions, it became more intelligent, faster and more reliable. The introduction of this technology into a smartphone occurs along with the chip, or through a separate chip. A year later, the company introduced a more powerful and improved Quick charge 2.0, which is capable of charging a battery with a current of 3 amperes. This implies a 70% reduction in time to full charge.
More recently, Qualcomm is releasing a new memory with Quick charge 3.0. No, it does not charge a smartphone with a current of 3 amperes, it selects the optimal current for faster charging of absolutely any phone. Qualcomm’s 3rd generation technology has become phenomenal, as the developers did not try to speed up charging, but tried to reduce the amount of energy consumed, thereby preventing the generation of excess heat.
Then iKnow technology appeared. She accurately adjusted to any battery and any device. The smartphone through it “communicates” with the memory and finds the most optimal voltage. Now the company is preparing to release the most intelligent and fastest charging version 4.0. There are already several degrees of security. Even a system will be implemented that will check the cable for damage.
The future of device charging
In conclusion, I would like to talk about the future of our gadgets and their nutrition. Of course, time does not stand still and technology steps forward much faster than humans. In the near future they intend to introduce batteries on graphene, which will take a few minutes to fully charge. The appearance of batteries on radioactive elements is also quite likely. They do not need to be recharged at all, just after a couple of years, you will need to replace the old battery with a new one. How safe and effective technologies will be, we will understand only after they enter the market.
So far, there are no compact batteries with high capacity. Similar devices are under development. Of course, there are some prototypes, but they are not used. Smartphone manufacturers went the other way - they came up with a way to charge the phone faster, and much more. To do this, it must support fast charging technology (it can be called differently) and be equipped with a special charger that can provide high amperage.
Note that cheap phones in the price category up to 10 thousand rubles do not have such a function. Fast charging is available in flagships and more or less expensive smartphones, which can not be attributed to either flagships or state employees. However, the hardware is improving and getting cheaper, therefore, if during the year 2018 budget workers start producing with fast charging technologies, then this will be logical.
How does fast charging work?
To fill the battery faster, you need a high power charger. In standard models, the voltage does not exceed 5 V, and the current strength is not higher than 2-2.5 A (most often it is 1 Ampere). In special adapters, the current can reach 5 A, and the voltage is 20 V. However, this is not the main difference. The classic “slow” charges simply provide a stable serial current, while smart and fast devices can “communicate” with a smartphone through a special protocol.
For example, the popular Quick Charge 3.0 technology from Qualcomm, a well-known processor manufacturer, is based on “communication” between a smartphone and a charger. The phone sends charging information about the state of the battery, and based on this information, the power supply can adjust the output power by changing the current or voltage. Such a voltage detection system is called Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage or INOV.
The highest power is provided by the adapter with an empty battery. That is why manufacturers most often indicate the efficiency of their charges for battery filling time up to 50%. For example, with a completely empty Quick Charge 3.0 battery (the name of one of the technologies), an initial voltage of 20 V is created, and then, as the battery capacity increases, the voltage can drop down to 3.2 V.
The fast charge function is available only with the support of the processor of this technology and with a special charger, which is usually supplied by the manufacturer. If it breaks, then you can buy a new one, but it must be certified. And although there are few fakes on the market, you can’t use an unverified accessory in any case, because charging the battery in the wrong mode can not only destroy the smartphone, but also cause a fire.
Technology
Each self-respecting manufacturer of chipsets (processors) has created its own unique technology for fast charging. We indicate the most common of them.
Quick charge
Qualcomm is a leading smartphone chipset manufacturer. Xiaomi, some Samsung, Asus, Google Pixel and other manufacturers purchase chips of this brand and successfully use them in manufactured phones. Qualcomm was the first to create fast charging technology. The latest processors currently use Quick Charge 3.0. It is supported by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (last) chips 821, 820, 625, 620, 618, 617, 430. Processors starting from 625 can be used even in budget smartphones.
Quick Charge 3.0 technology allows you to fully charge a 3300 mAh battery from scratch in 96 minutes. This is a great result. Qualcomm also announced that the fourth version of the standard will be implemented in 2017, but 2017 is drawing to a close, and the latest Snapdragon 835 processor has received only the third version. It is it that is used in phones based on this chipset.
Pump express
Qualcomm's closest competitor is MediaTek, which also manufactures processors for phones. However, its products are most often used in budget Chinese phones such as Meizu. Its proprietary Pump Express 3.0 fast charging technology (latest version at the moment) allows you to fully charge your Meizu Pro 6 smartphone with 2560 mAh batteries in just 1 hour.
Support for the technology is possible only if there is a USB Type-C port and one of the supported SoC (the company does not disclose the entire list).
Adaptive fast charging
Samsung is also not far behind. Adaptive Fast Charging technology is implemented in Exynos processors. It is supported by all S series phones starting with the Samsung Galaxy S6. The Note line also got a new development - all smartphones, starting with the Galaxy Note 4, support it. Samsung's charging power is 15 W at 9 V, which is enough filling the battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh to 50% for 30 minutes.
What about Apple?
For the first time in iPhones, a quick charge appeared just the other day. Apple has implemented the technology in the new flagship iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. During the presentation, it was announced that the phone could charge up to 50% within 30 minutes. However, buyers are disappointed - Apple does not ship special adapters. A standard 5W plug that does not support technology comes standard in the kit. Therefore, in order to be able to quickly charge the phone, you will have to buy a charger with a power of 29, 61 or 87 watts. And although they say that for the iPhone 8, charging with a power of 61 watts is necessary, all this is complete nonsense. The maximum current that any of the new flagships can pick up can provide a 29W charger.
Other technology
There are other manufacturers who have created their technology. We will indicate them briefly so as not to bore you much:
- OPPO implements Flash Charging or Dash Charge technology in its phones.
- Huawei does not stand by with its HiSilicon processors with Super Charge technology. Huawei Mate 9, P10 and P10 Plus so far have this technology, but the list will expand.
- Meizu is working on the revolutionary Super mCharge technology, which in theory will be able to charge a 3000 mAh battery in just 20 minutes.
So far, these are all currently known fast charging technologies that are used in various phones. Their principle is approximately the same, but there may be technical differences.
Conclusion
In the end, I would like to give valuable advice. If the processor manufacturer’s website indicates that the chip supports fast charging technology, this does not mean that this technology will be used in a smartphone with this chip. The chipset developer only provides such an opportunity, and the smartphone manufacturer decides whether to include it in the model’s functionality or not.
Also, when buying a power supply, you need to check which fast charging standards it supports and whether it matches the smartphone. Not all fast chargers are universal, and many of them are not able to charge phones with other SoCs.
Send an answer
PV smartphones in 2019, based on Qualcomm's top-end mobile processors, will see fast charging using Quick Charge.0 technology, even faster and more efficient. The power of the adapter will be 32 watts, which is two times more than the previous version.
The first chip with Qualcomm Quick Charge.0 support should be the one that will become the “brain” of several potential hits of the next year on the mobile phone market: Samsung Galaxy S10 (along with its own processor of the Exynos series), Xiaomi Mi9 and OnePlus 7.
Note that the mere mention of Quick Charge.0 in the specification of the smartphone chipset does not mean at all that the latter will support it. The fact is that Qualcomm's fast charging technology is licensed. And the newer the version, the more expensive it is to use. But there are other situations.
For example, the Galaxy Note 9 introduced in August was “familiar” only with the old Quick Charge 2.0, announced three years ago. This is due to the fact that Samsung releases its flagships on its own Exynos chips. Adaptive Fast Charging, supported by the latter, is noticeably inferior to QC 3.0.
Development timeline
Quick Charge 1.0
The very first version of Qualcomm’s fast charging technology. The power of the adapter was 10 W, the supply voltage was 5 V, and the current was 2 A. On the whole, it did not differ much from other solutions compatible with the USB Battery Charging specification. I didn’t have any special advantages and got little distribution.
Quick charge 2.0
The first really popular version. It provides for the exchange of data between a smartphone and a charger in order to determine whether it supports QC 2.0 or not. The main advantage was the use of USB cables that already existed at that time.
With this power supply voltage, it can be not only 5 V, but also 9, 12 and even 20. It is clear that if you supply this voltage just like that via USB, there is a high risk of burning the charging device. For this reason, the QC 2.0 specification provides the following principle of operation:
- When connected to a charger (hereinafter referred to as the charger), the device (smartphone, tablet, etc.) “sees” that the data lines are D + and D? (see diagram above) are closed, as required by USB Battery Charging. This state is called S1.
- A voltage of 0.6 V is applied to D +. State S2. If this does not happen, charging continues in Quick Charge 1.0 mode.
- If the memory supports Quick Charge 2.0, D + and D? Are disconnected. In this case, D? shorts to 0 V.
- The charging device, in response to this, supplies a voltage of 3.3 V to the freed D +. Status S3 is reached.
- Is there a release of D? from the memory. In response to D + and D? a control voltage combination is supplied, indicating the required supply voltage.
Possible combinations:
Despite such a seemingly elegant solution for managing the power supply voltage, Qualcomm’s fast-charging solutions were opposed by the USB-IF association, which standardizes and develops the USB interface, as well as Google.
The reason is that QC 2.0 does not fully comply with the USB Type-C specification. It provides for the presence of a special chip inside the cable that identifies the parameters of the cable. Its power is supplied from the main bus, and an increase in voltage can disable it.
Smartphones supporting Quick Charge 2.0 and USB Type-C could not get a USB-IF certificate of conformity. For this reason, for example, Samsung flagships up to and including the Galaxy S7 had an outdated MicroUSB 2.0 connector instead of the more modern Type-C.
Quick charge 3.0
In essence, this is the same QC 2.0 technology. However, it received in addition a regulated voltage mode. For him, at the design stage of the second version, a state was reserved in which a voltage of 0.6 V was applied to D + and 3.3 V to D-. The adjustment range was from 3.6 to 20 V with a step of 0.2 V.
Charger with support for Quick Charge 3.0 and standard USB Battery Charging
Like the second version, the third also met resistance from USB-IF. Google also did not recommend using QC 2.0 and 3.0 for Android devices. In turn, this resulted in the appearance of custom developments from manufacturers of mobile electronics. Examples: Huawei Super Charge, OnePlus Dash Charge and others.
Quick charge 4.0
The fourth version should resolve the differences. By default, a device that supports QC 4.0 tries to initialize the USB Power Delivery mode, as specified in the USB-IF requirements. Only then does he try to activate the classic Quick Charge 2.0 / 3.0 in the absence of its support.
According to Qualcomm, QC 4.0 technology allows you to charge a 2750 mAh battery in 15 minutes by as much as 50%. At the same time, only 5 minutes of charging is enough for 5 hours of operation. In general, this indicator depends on the nature and intensity of use.
The maximum power of the charger is 18 watts. At a supply voltage of 9 V, the charging current is 2 A, at 20 V - 0.9 A. At the same time, manufacturers of smartphones have created custom faster solutions. In their case, the adapter power can reach 40 watts, as in the latest version of Huawei's Super Charge.
Despite the fact that Quick Charge 4.0 supports even inexpensive mid-level Qualcomm chipsets like the Snapdragon 630 (SDM630), at the moment it is not very widespread. This is due to the fact that many vendors have already invested in the development of analogues, and with a rather high cost of a license.
Quick Charge. 0
In an effort to catch up with competitors, Qualcomm is developing a fifth more efficient version of its fast charging technology. It is designed to save vendors from developing their own "crutches." As already mentioned at the beginning, the power of the QC 5.0 memory has been increased to 36 watts.
In this case, the current is transmitted immediately through three channels. Something similar can already be seen in the case of some smartphones with
