How does fast charging affect your smartphone battery? How fast charging works

Over 5 years, productivity in mobile electronics has increased 5-10 times, while battery production technologies have remained unchanged. The average battery capacity is 3000 mAh, which is 3 – 3.5 times higher than that of phones of the last decade. At the same time, there is a tendency to reduce capacity due to a decrease in the thickness of the case, which will negatively affect the time battery life mobile device.

As a temporary solution, fast charging technology has been developed that can speed up the charge replenishment process by up to 75%. As a result, waiting time is reduced and mobility is increased, since the user is not chained to a power outlet for 3-4 hours. Let's take a closer look at the technology, operating principle, advantages and disadvantages.

What is fast charging

Fast charging is a technology that aims to increase the capacity of voltage (V) or current (A), or both. The point is to recharge the built-in power source as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible. The charging speed is affected by current parameters, as well as the generation of fast charging.

Use cases

The essence of fast charging technology is to quickly charge the battery. Therefore, this option will be useful for users whose devices are equipped with small-capacity batteries or, due to being busy, actively consume power. Let's consider the effectiveness of using technology in real life.

Charging a high-capacity battery

Some smartphones and tablets are equipped with power supplies of 5000 – 12,000 mAh. Charging such devices network adapter with current parameters 5V/1A it will take 6-14 hours. And with the use of first generation fast charging (5V/2A), the waiting time will be reduced by almost half.

Recharging for an emergency

Suppose that on the way to work or school, the game drained the smartphone, and for the rest of the day the charge will only be enough for telephone conversations. You need to replenish the charge, and you have 15 minutes of free time. During this time, the 3000 mAh battery will charge:

1. Standard charger 5V/1A – 8.3%.
2. Fast charging 1st generation 5V/2A – 16.7%.
3. Fast charging 2nd generation 9V/2A – 30%.

Operating principle

The charging process consists of two stages. At the first stage, the current power is as high as a smartphone or tablet can receive. The second stage begins when the level of 60-75% is reached. The current strength begins to gradually decrease, and the charging process at this stage extends for 30-60 minutes. This is done to ensure that the battery does not overheat and fail.

Fast charging technology uses the same principle of operation, with the only difference being that in the first stage the current or voltage, or both, is higher. So at the beginning of the process the battery is charged quickly, and at the end at normal speed. And it is advisable to use the technology when the battery is discharged to 15-30%. Therefore, marketers write that the battery will be charged 60 or 75% in 30 minutes, but do not specify the time for full charging - 1.5-2 hours.

It is worth noting that fast charging technology is incorporated during the development of a mobile device. It requires the installation of an appropriate processor, as well as a power controller capable of receiving and distributing energy with high current/voltage values. And most importantly, you need a network adapter that supports the necessary parameters.

Which Android smartphones and tablets support fast charging technology

The manufacturer indicates support for this technology on the box or in the package list. For example, on the box of the Motorola Droid Turbo 2, a proprietary charger with a power of 25 W is indicated. Information about technology support is also indicated in the specifications on the company’s website.

It is important to know that some manufacturers do not provide chargers that support fast charging technology. In this case, the user is forced to buy a network adapter separately.

How to choose a charger that supports fast charging

On the manufacturer's website you need to specify the type of fast charging, as well as the parameters of the received current: 2A/5V, 2A/7V or 2A/9V. Then select the appropriate Charger, which will indicate fast charging support and the required current/voltage ratio.

Types of fast charging

Qualcomm Quick charge.

Qualcomm is the founder of fast charging and the leader of this technology, due to the widest distribution of chips and processors for mobile electronics. In four years, three generations of fast charging have appeared.

Quick charge 1.0

Increasing the current to 2A, adapter parameters 2A/5V, power 10 W. Compared to conventional 1A/5V AC adapters, the charging process is almost 2 times faster (2000 mAh per hour).

Quick charge 2.0

The voltage increased to 12V, adapter parameters 2A/5V, 2A/7V, 2A/9V and 1.2A/12V, power up to 18 W. Compared to the first generation, the charging process will be reduced by 1.8 times (up to 3600 mAh per hour). In this case, the user can be given a choice of charging speed by manually switching the voltage from the device menu, or the voltage is fixed - 7V or 9V. In both cases, the decision is made by the mobile device manufacturer at the development stage.

Quick charge 3.0

Improving the charging process by dynamically changing the voltage (3.2 - 20V in steps of 200 mV). The network adapter parameters and power are the same, but Qualcomm notes an increase of 3-8% or more.

MediaTek Pump Express

Competing fast charging solution for MediaTek processors. Due to the low penetration of the technology, details are scarce, but the principle of operation is the same - increasing the current, voltage, or both. Also Chinese manufacturer does not hesitate to talk about superiority over competitors without citing specific numbers.

Pump Express

The first generation of fast charging with voltage 3.6 - 5V, current 1.2 - 2A, power 5 W (1.2A), 7.5 W (1.5 A) and 10 W (2A).

Pump Express Plus

Second generation with increased voltage (5, 7, 9, 12) and current up to 2A: 15 W (9V/1.67A) and 24 W (12V/2A).

Pump Express 3.0

Nothing is known about the third generation of fast charging. According to MediaTek, 70% of the charge will be replenished in 20 minutes.

In addition, fast charging technology is being developed by mobile electronics manufacturers: Motorola - TurboCharge, Samsung - FastCharge, ASUS - BoostMaster, etc. The essence is the same, charging the smartphone with a 15 or 18 W power adapter (2A/9V, 1.67A/9V or 3A/5V).

The distinctive implementation of OPPO (VOOC Flash Charging) and its subsidiary OnePlus (Dash Charge) is 4A/5V (20 W). In this case, the battery is divided into several cells, through which the current is evenly distributed.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantage of the technology is the fast and safe charging of a mobile device. This reduces waiting time and increases mobility. In addition, claims that the use of fast charging accelerates wear and tear of the battery have been refuted by scientists from Stanford University and the Stanford Institute for Materials Science and Energy. At the same time, scientists were able to understand the structure and internal processes in order to increase the charging speed in the future without consequences.

At the same time, the main disadvantage of the technology is the slowdown in the search for new power sources, as well as the optimization of energy consumption. For companies, it is better to recharge the battery 2-3 times a day than to achieve slow energy consumption.

Conclusion

Fast charging technology – effective method replenish battery energy and increase mobility. There are interesting developments in this direction, including UMB with the Quick charge function. But due to the common myth about accelerated battery degradation, users prefer to continue to use adapters with low current supply. Therefore, companies should invest in optimizing energy consumption and increasing capacity while maintaining battery size. Sometimes scientists announce new power sources for portable electronics. But until companies and corporations see profit in this, the situation will remain unchanged.

In this article we will talk about a fairly new technology - “Fast charging of a smartphone”. All the advantages and disadvantages will be described, and we will also try to figure out whether this development is necessary for the convenience of consumers.

It is very difficult to imagine today without a smartphone and other modern gadgets. Every day the market is replenished with new models that are much more modern and more powerful than their predecessors. Smartphone screens are becoming larger and brighter, processors are becoming more productive and efficient, and RAM capacity is growing. It all consumes a large number of energy, and the more intensively you use your smartphone, the faster the battery discharges. Nowadays they are mainly used only lithium batteries with a small capacity, but very reliable and durable. Manufacturers are fighting for their place in the market, so they are striving to reduce the charging time of the phone and make their devices more autonomous.

What is fast charging?

Let's take a closer look at how the fast charging process itself occurs. If we take a regular charger and look at the marking numbers on the case, we will see 5V/1A. The inscription means that this charger produces maximum voltage equal to 5 volts and a current of 1 ampere. Fast charging is capable of delivering 5V/2A. This means that a smartphone with this function can be charged about 40% faster.

The smart controller, which processes the incoming current, is not only built into the memory, but also into the smartphone processor itself. Fast charging often requires a cable that has better throughput.

Is fast charging safe for your phone?

But consumers are not particularly concerned about how this technology works; one question is important to them - “Is fast charging harmful for themselves and for the 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 and voltage the process will take place. The most dangerous factor for integrity and service life is temperature. Regular batteries smartphones are designed for 2000-3000 cycles complete discharge and charging. If you allow the device to overheat, this has a detrimental effect on the battery and significantly reduces its capacity, which means it shortens its operating time. The main thing that experts do not recommend doing is purchasing low-quality, cheap memory devices.

Perhaps the most basic rules safe use fast charging are:

• Do not leave an infected smartphone unattended for a long time;
• Do not cover your mobile device with pillows, blankets, or other fabrics;
• 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 charger and high-quality cable.

A variety of fast charging technologies for smartphones

1. Quick Charge from Qualcomm;
2. Pump Express from Mediatek;
3. VOOC Flash Charge.

The most unfamiliar to us was VOOC Flash Charge. It is less common on the market, but, according to world experts, it provides the most gentle charging of a 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 releases own development called VOOK FLACH CHARGING, which is superior to many others. It has 5V/4.5v characteristics. But ordinary batteries are not able to withstand such current, so OPPO introduced a proprietary battery that has 8 contacts instead of three.

Qualcomm is the leader in the field

In general, the first fast charging was introduced by Qualcomm, called Quick Charge 1.0. It was first introduced in Samsung smartphones, Nexus, Nokia. Qualcomm's Quick Charge has captured most of the charger market. In just a few years it has been practically perfected. More than half of smartphone manufacturers cooperate with this company and actively use the technology in almost all of their gadgets. Even Samsung, which has long been the leader in the smartphone market, with its own developments, often uses technologies from Qualcomm.

The first fast charging appeared in 2013 and with each release of subsequent versions, it became smarter, faster and more reliable. This technology is introduced into a smartphone together 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 battery with a current of 3 amperes. This implies a reduction in time to full charge by 70%.

And just recently, Qualcomm released a new charger 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. The 3rd generation of technology from Qualcomm was 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. It flawlessly adjusted to any battery and any device. The smartphone “communicates” with the charger through it and finds the most optimal voltage. Now the company is preparing to release the smartest and fastest charging version 4.0. There are already several degrees of security here. There will even be a system 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 power supply. Of course, time does not stand still and technology moves forward a lot faster than a human. In the near future, they are going to introduce graphene batteries, which will take a few minutes to fully charge. It is also quite possible that batteries containing radioactive elements will appear. 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. We will figure out how safe and effective the technologies will be only after they enter the market.

I love it new technology the conservative-minded public reacts with hostility, holding pessimistic views. Literally immediately after the appearance of devices with QuickCharge, there were many who said that fast charging is harmful for a smartphone. These prejudices are caused by incomplete information. Typically, a person who claims that fast charging accelerates battery wear knows that high currents are harmful to the battery, but does not know how high currents are harmful to it, and that this mainly concerns the final stage of the process. In reality, everything is a little different.

So does fast charging kill the battery?

In the previous article, we mentioned that at maximum power the battery is not fully charged, but only to about 50-70% of capacity. Subsequently, the currents decrease to the same as with normal charging. That is why a smartphone with QuickCharge technology can charge up to 50% in just half an hour, but to 100% it will have to be charged in about 2 and more hours. On regular charging, if 50% is filled in an hour, then the battery will be charged to 100% in about 2.5-3 hours. So the goal modern technologies fast charging - do not “drive” the battery to 100% charge within minimum time, and make the decrease in currents more sharp. Its task is to quickly “pump” the maximum possible amount of energy without harming the battery.. When the threshold has already been reached, the smartphone is charged using the most common “slow” technology.

If fast charging itself does not harm the smartphone’s battery, then the question may arise: where do all those people come from who claim that because of fast charging, their smartphone began to work half as long on one charge? But there is a rational explanation for this phenomenon: fast charging does not harm a smartphone, but it misuse may accelerate battery wear. If we draw an analogy with a medicine, then a correctly prescribed antibiotic effectively kills pathogenic microbes, but if full course If the treatment has not been completed, the untreated bacilli will develop immunity and will no longer be afraid of the drug.

The reason for the accelerated wear of the battery of a smartphone that supports QuickCharge is user impatience. Regular, slow charging teaches us to charge the device every night or once every two or three nights (if it’s some kind of Redmi Note 4X or Moto Z Play). But with QuickCharge, the user gets used to the fact that charging the device three times to 50% is faster than charging it to 100% once (a total of 1.5-2 hours, instead of about 2.5-3). As a result, knowing that when the device is discharged, it can be recharged in half an hour and loaded for another half a day, the user gets used to using the device more actively and charging it more often.

Frequent discharging and charging is what harms the battery and reduces its service life. The average battery life of smartphones before the loss of capacity above 10% is usually about 500 cycles, and then the capacity begins to decrease exponentially. That is, if over 500 charge-discharge cycles the cell loses about 10%, then over 1000 cycles the drop will be not 20%, but more. If you charge the device once a day, these 500 cycles will take 1-1.5 years. But since the user begins to discharge and charge the device more often, they take noticeably less time. As a result, after six months or a year the battery has not 90-95% of the initial capacity, but much less.

Battery wear chart. The values ​​are conditional and depend on the specific battery

In theory, if you do not charge the battery to 100%, but stop at 70-80%, the number of cycles before capacity loss increases. Some experts even advise never charging the device to 100%, removing it from charging earlier. However, when the device is used while charging, it begins to heat up more, and an increase in temperature neutralizes all the benefits of undercharging.

IN modern smartphones Many different technologies are used, among which is fast charging. For many mobile device users, the concept of fast charging is not clear, and there is an opinion that it is harmful to the device. Below we explain how this function is achieved and what its pros and cons are.

Contents

What is fast charging in phones?

Fast charging, as the name of the technology suggests, allows you to charge your phone faster. If you look at a regular power supply, you can see the values ​​– 5V/1A. In other words, the power supply in such a smartphone operates with a voltage of 5 volts and a current of 1 ampere.

Models that support fast charging usually come with accessories that can provide it - a 5V/2A power supply and a cord with the best throughput. At the output, the increase in charge speed is about 40%. For the modern rhythm of people's lives, reducing the waiting time for the battery to be fully charged is quite important, because waiting 2-3 hours is sometimes simply impossible.

Important! Don't think that buying a powerful charging block and high-bandwidth cable automatically gives an increase in speed.

Smartphones that support the function have a built-in controller that understands the current strength of the charger connected to it and allows you to safely charge the device. For such smartphones, it makes sense to buy a powerful unit and cable separately if the package includes standard accessories.

How fast charging technology works in mobile devices

By and large, the principle of operation of the technology is to increase the current or voltage. Depending on the manufacturer, the principle differs; some companies simultaneously increase the voltage and current. Process control is provided by a special function that must be supported by the device’s processor. It's no secret that the chipset is the heart of any mobile device. He controls not only fast, but also wireless charging, and also participates in the operation of the camera and other components.

Curious! Fast charging is not just the presence of support for the function in the smartphone and the corresponding accessories, it is also special operating protocols.

Modern smartphones use several operating protocols; the most modern one is called Quick Charge 3.0. This is a company development Qualcomm and the point is that the chipset receives information about the state of the smartphone’s battery. Based on the data, he makes a decision - what current and voltage should be supplied to the phone.

Today we can distinguish the following technologies and protocols:

• Quick Charge;
• Turbo Power - developed by Lenovo for Motorola smartphones, relies on Quick Charge 2.0 and is backward compatible with it;
• Pump Express - technology from MediaTek, is considered the main competitor to Quick Charge;
• Adaptive Fast Charging is the brainchild of the Samsung brand, used in S series smartphones from the Galaxy S6 and Note, starting with Note 4;
• VOOC Flash Charging (Dash Charging) – BBK technology, used in OPPO devices;
• Super Charge – developed by Huawei, used in Huawei P10 and P10 Plus, Mate 20;
• Super mCharge - created by Meizu in 2017, the technology was presented to the world community, but until now it has not been used in smartphones.

Which smartphones support fast charging?

Due to the popularity of the technology, more and more buyers are looking at the availability of fast charging technology when choosing a smartphone. Of course, due to the presence of different creators of this function, there is no single list of devices that can quickly charge. There are also no specific agreements between manufacturers, which makes it impossible to quickly charge a phone that supports the function with accessories from another manufacturer. On this moment- this is a serious minus and perhaps in the future some kind of agreement will be concluded between brands that will allow for an equal sign between different standards of charger operation.

Returning to the topic of support, you should understand one point - when buying a phone, you should make sure whether it has or does not have this function. If a year ago it could be said that fast charging is only available in flagships, today this would not be a true statement. In the fight for consumers, companies are introducing various features from expensive devices to more budget phones, so it's best to check it out in person. To do this, you need to look at the description of the smartphone on the official website or its specifications. Fast charging support is specified with battery information.

Important! When purchasing, you need to not only check whether the phone works with fast charging, but also make sure that the box contains the necessary cord and power adapter for this.

How to enable fast charging

Not every smartphone has fast charging technology. Therefore, the question itself - how to enable fast charging is not the most correct. The answer will be this: if it is not provided for, then nothing. Of course, the buyer can connect a more powerful power supply to his device, for example, regular phone and he will even see that the battery charge time has decreased, but very soon another point will be revealed to him - the battery has deteriorated. If the device is not equipped with the function, then connection powerful block will not bring anything good for him. The battery will quickly deteriorate.

However, if your device supports the technology, you can enable it in the device settings. By pulling the curtain up, the user needs to find the “gear” icon, which opens access to settings and go to “power”, “battery” or “optimization”. Here, among other things, there will be a separate item where you can enable or disable fast charging.

How to disable fast charging

If the device is equipped with fast charging, but the owner for some reason wants to turn it off, then the logical option is to use the advice above. Go to settings and uncheck the box or move the slider to the inactive position. But what to do if the manufacturer did not consider it necessary to add the option to turn fast charging on or off.

It is quite logical to resort to a simple but effective solution - take a weak charger from another gadget. If you have a tablet in the house, you can take its charger or buy the simplest option in the store. An important aspect of fast charging is a suitable charger and cable. Violation of one of the conditions leads to the fact that the processor perceives the accessories connected to it as simple and automatically charges in the most standard slow mode.

Is fast charging harmful for phones?

Work technologies, support different phones functions, its advantages are of course interesting to the buyer, but the most important point– whether the mode damages the smartphone’s battery. And this is where the opinions of experts differ. It’s no secret that it doesn’t really matter what current and voltage are supplied to the battery. These parameters themselves are safe for the device, but the parameter that can affect the lifespan of the smartphone is temperature. And it directly depends on the above parameters.

The processor's job is not just to control the charging process of the device. First of all, the chipset monitors the temperature of the battery during the procedure and if it exceeds the specified parameters, then the current and voltage decrease, the temperature begins to drop and the chipset increases them again or leaves them at the same level. It all depends on the specific technology. By and large, the security of the technology depends only on how well the processor tracks data.

Conclusion

Fast charging is useful feature, which does not harm the smartphone if the buyer uses high-quality accessories and provided they have the necessary performance standards for a particular manufacturer.

If the process is provided with accessories from the smartphone’s own package, then there is nothing to worry about. If you purchase a suitable cord and unit from third-party manufacturers, you should make sure that the gadget and accessories are compatible to avoid problems. Then no problems will arise.

Smartphones today are endowed with powerful hardware and a lot of various functions. One of them is the fast charging function. For now it is only used on flagship devices, but in the future it will appear on inexpensive smartphones. What it is?

Formally, the name of the function reflects its essence - the smartphone can quickly charge. To be more precise, it can charge faster than smartphones that do not have a fast charging function. For example, Sasmung Galaxy Note 4 with a battery capacity of just over 3000 mAh can be charged as much as 50% in 30 minutes! Agree, the result is impressive. Is it true, fully charged lasts much longer, but the charging speed will still be high.

For now, fast charging is only supported by certain processors. One of the leaders in this area is Qualcomm, which produces Snapdragon processors that are used in many smartphones. The proprietary Quick Charge technology only works if you have the appropriate power adapter. If a different adapter is used, you can forget about the technology.

How does a smartphone fast charge?

Each device is designed for a certain current and voltage, that is, when charging, the device only passes a certain amount of current.

Special adapters, which are used in smartphones that support fast charging, allow the device to accept higher voltage and current. It is thanks to this technology that the smartphone charges much faster.

True, there is one very important feature that must be taken into account. The fact is that accelerated charging The device is divided into several stages. At the very first stage, the maximum current is supplied, due to which the charge of the device literally grows before our eyes. However, upon reaching 50-70%, the current begins to decrease sharply, as a result of which the charging speed to the remaining 100% decreases. Why was this done? It's simple - so that the battery does not overheat and fail. By the way, this is why in advertisements for fast charging technology they say something like: “In just 30 minutes you can charge your smartphone up to 50%!”, because to the remaining 100% the device can charge for another hour, or even longer.

Why is fast charging technology needed?

It is clear that this allows you to reduce the charging time of the device, which, of course, is a big plus. In fact, the main emphasis is on charging during the first 10-20 minutes. Example: your smartphone is running low, literally 5% is left. You run into a cafe, order coffee and charge your device; fortunately, you have the power adapter with you. In the 10-15 minutes that you drink coffee, the device will have time to charge up to 35-50%, which is enough for the rest of the day. And, in our opinion, this is a huge advantage of this technology.

By the way, similar technology is used in many electric vehicles: in the first couple of hours, batteries can be charged up to 50-80%, and the remaining charge can take another 5-6 hours, if not more.