Recently, smartphones are increasingly receiving support for one or the other fast charging technology. But this fact does not please some buyers, but only frightens. They believe that fast charging speeds up the process of battery failure. Today we will try to find out if this is the case.
For a long time, mobile phones did not require accelerated charging. Why, if the device was connected to the charger only once every three to four days? But with the advent of smartphones, everything has changed. These devices have increased energy consumption. As a result, we have become accustomed to the fact that in most cases they have to be charged every night. But what if you forgot to connect the gadget to the charger in the evening and in the morning you have to go to work? In such situations, quick charging is saved. When brushing your teeth, making a bed and working, the battery will charge 50% or even more. Let’s talk about this technology in more detail.
Table of Contents
Traditional charging
Each battery operates on the principle of an electromechanical process. Works in both directions – the battery can draw energy, accumulate it or give it away. For many years, engineers have tried various sources of chemical current. Nickel and lead were used before , but now all cell phone batteries are based on lithium.. They can be lithium-ion or lithium-polymer – it doesn’t matter because the fast charging technology works with both types of batteries. The main advantage of lithium is that there is no “memory effect”. As a result, you can’t wait for the moment when the smartphone is completely discharged. It is not necessary to charge it to 100%. If it wasn’t for this fact, fast charging would be useless. As for the disadvantages of lithium batteries, they consist in a gradual loss of capacity and a fire hazard.
In modern smartphones, the battery capacity is from 2000 to 7000 mAh. The rated battery voltage is most often 3.5-3.7 V. At full charge, the voltage can be increased to 4.2 V, which increases the performance of the processor and some other components. When it came to charging the battery itself, it used to be very simple – the current had a strictly defined power until the level of charge reached about 90%. Then the power gradually decreased, so as not to “charge” the battery, a special controller did it. And so on until you reach 100% of the fee. As a result, the charging time was 2-2.5 hours, depending on the battery capacity.
How does fast charge work?
Qualcomm was the first to try to change something . In 2012, it introduced the first version of Quick Charge technology . According to the plan of the mobile chipset manufacturer, in the first stage the charger should provide electricity with the maximum possible power. And when the battery controller realized that the charge level had reached a certain level – the power dropped.
What is the quick charge function different from usual? Let’s look at this with an example. Take the most commonly used phone charger (pictured above). In his case, we will see the inscription: “Output 5V / 1A”. This means that as far as possible the device sends a current of 5 volts and a strength of 1 ampere. The output power of such a charge is about 5 watts. Technology Quick Charge 1.0 has changed a little. Smartphones operating it learned to take 2 A of current. All other parameters of the charger remained the same. With the same battery capacity, full charging is 30% faster.
The second version of Qualcomm’s technology was much more interesting. It involves even closer interaction between the battery controller and the charger. From now the current can already reach 3 A. Also the voltage changed during charging – first it is 12 V, then it drops to 9 V, and finally it drops to the standard 5 V. Compared to using a traditional charger, the process accelerated by 60%! The disadvantage of this technology is the high cost of the charger, because it contains a special integrated circuit. However, most consumers do not care, because most often the charger is attached to the smartphone, and the need to buy a new one is very rare.
In September 2016, Qualcomm introduced Quick Charge 3.0 technology . Its chargers and battery controllers are even smarter. Now the optimal voltage is selected individually for a specific device and battery level. The voltage now changes from 3.6 to 20 V. The degree change is only 200 mV. As a result, the third version of the technology turned out to be 38% more efficient than the second. Support for Quick Charge was received by Snapdragon 430, 617, 618, 620 and 820 processors.
Versatility
Not all smartphones are equipped with a Qualcomm processor. Fortunately, there are other fast charging technologies on various Android devices. Almost all of them operate on the principles described above. In this case, the phone can be connected to a high-performance charger from another manufacturer – nothing will happen to him. In some cases, the power controller lets you charge your smartphone at an accelerated rate. In other cases, charging is carried out in the traditional mode – with a current of 1 or 2 A. Under no circumstances will the charger damage the device.
However, it is better to still use the load that appeared in the set. There have been cases in the world when for some reason the battery exploded. This contributed to the Chinese charger and low quality USB cable.
Products under the OPPO brand should be noted separately . Uses the unique VOOC Flash Charging technology . The batteries in equipped smartphones have eight contacts. Electricity gets into the battery with 4.5 A current and 5 V voltage. The battery consists of several cells and the current is evenly distributed between them. As a result, charging takes place very quickly. In addition, the manufacturer claims that its technology is more careful with the battery, without reducing its life.
Is fast charging harmful to my phone?
First of all, some people are afraid of the fact that fast charging of the smartphone is carried out with the help of amplified current. It seems to them that the battery does not tolerate such a relationship. Allegedly, a year later it will have to change. And indeed, the first fast charging technology had an unpleasant function. The working capacity of the battery was quickly reduced if the smartphone was used too actively, charging it once or even twice a day. However, since 2012 a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, now everything has changed.
Modern technologies allow the power controller to receive electricity in the amount that is required by the battery in a specific second. Current and voltage never exceed the thresholds. All this is confirmed by numerous experiments of independent experts. They showed that the battery capacity drops at the same rate as when using a conventional charger. Therefore, you can not be afraid of quick charging – it will only make your life easier.
How do you turn off fast charging?
If you are still afraid of fast charging, then the further actions depend on how fresh your smartphone is. The fact is that on modern devices, this technology is supported at the controller and firmware level. Disable fast loading in such gadgets is usually impossible. The only way out is to buy another charger that does not support fast charging technology.
Well, on smartphones 2012-2014 you can still disable this feature. This is done in the ” Settings ” in the ” Battery ” section . On Samsung devices, you may need to visit the pre-installed Smart Manager application .
Fast charging of AC adapters for Samsung and Apple
The South Korean company Samsung equips many of its smartphones with patented fast charging technology. The appropriate adapter is supplied with the device. However, some users lose this small accessory, while others require additional “charging“, for example for work use. In short, it would be surprising if the South Korean giant did not sell power supplies separately.
In Indian stores, products with support for Samsung fast charging cost from 1200 to 1500 INR- this is quite a fair price. Adapters are available with or without a cable. It also differs in how the connector is equipped with the cable – USB Type-C options have been available for a long time, because flagships have just such a socket. The largest number of “loads” produced is painted white. But if you try, then on sale you will find a black version, which is much less popular.
Everything is much more complicated with the iPhone. Apple provides support for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X for fast charging. However, a specialized mobile charger that could transfer large amounts of energy has not been released. Therefore, in the box with a smartphone you can find the simplest adapter with a current of 1 A. What to do? Only one way out: go to the Apple network card store, originally designed to connect to the “MacBook“.
Each of the three above mentioned iPhones supports adapters with a power of 29 W, 61 W and 87 W. The higher this parameter, the faster the charging will be. The problem is that powerful network adapters are too big – you can’t put this accessory in your pocket. Again, they were designed for use in conjunction with a laptop, so reducing the dimensions made no sense. Another important disadvantage of these adapters is the price. In the 61 W version you have to pay about 5500 rubles! However, “apple” products are always expensive. But in this case it is already the manufacturer’s greed. Yes, and how can you ask for such money for something that is trivially uncomfortable to use?
Fast loading of network cards on AliExpress
The most famous Chinese online store offers many accessories for smartphones. Together with open spaces, you can find power supplies with fast charging support. For example, Fonken network charging, which has miniature dimensions, is delivered directly from a warehouse in Russia. The device is primarily intended for smartphones and tablets that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. The cost of the accessory is about 500 rubles. Not bad, especially considering it comes with a meter long USB cable with high quality braid.
The same fast charging technology is supported by the Tiegem adapter. This device is estimated at 800 rubles, but it is much more versatile. The fact is that you can connect up to two gadgets to this charging – this is the number of built-in USB ports. The current is 2.4 A and the power is 30 watts. This charger is ideal for Huawei, LG and other large companies.
Of course, this is not a complete list of power adapters sold by AliExpress. Here you will find accessories of various shapes and colors. There are even solutions with five connectors! Also for some time the Chinese online store allows you to buy original products of the same Samsung – Korean adapters are now also on AliExpress offer.
