Quick Charge 3.0: Quick Charging Explained

Quick Charge 3.0: Quick Charging Explained

Quick Charge 3.0

For today’s consumer, cell phones that are fast charging is a necessity. An important benefit of quick charging is it keeps batteries topped up during the day. Phone users can now charge their phones faster than ever as long as they have a supported phone and the right charger. To better understand quick charging, it is important to know how quick charging works so that is easier for you to acquire the right quick charger for your particular phone.

How Chargers Generally Work

Your phone is equipped with an internal regulator to prevent an excess of power delivery into the battery and causing damage.  After you have plugged in your phone, power is carried to the charger from the outlet, and then into your phone. However not all chargers are the same.  Some chargers can charge your battery quicker than others. The charger block that came with a particular phone is likely rated to it. However, if USB is being used for charging, for example, the phone might be slower to charge such as if your phone is built to manage above the amps of the particular USB charger. More specifically, if it is not sending out high enough current it will not fast charge.
Quick Charge 3.0 Wall charger

How Quick Chargers Generally Work

A phone’s built-in regulator only allows so much current at a time. Phones capable of fast charging allow more than the standard chargers, and it does not cause damage to the battery. With quick charge, charging can take minutes rather than hours. Basically, fast charging through  a quick charger will charge to battery capacity in less time than the standard charger that was likely included with your phone. 

Quick charging is one of the most widely implemented charging standards. Quick charging is beneficial because with quick charging you do not have to get your standard charger to charge your phone faster. It enables an increased current delivered to the battery to reach power capacity much faster. A common trait shared among all quick charging technologies is an increase in power.

The charger that came with your phone is most likely not fast charging compatible. Therefore, getting a higher output charger will be advantageous. To benefit from quick charging you need to have a  phone that supports it. If not, the internal regulator will still prevent it from a battery overload. Your device will not be damaged however it will not charge any faster. Quick Charge’s intelligent thermal balancing moves current through the coolest path. Device sensors monitor the case and connector temperatures to prevent overheating and short-circuiting.

Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger

Qualcomm’s Quick Charge

Quick Charge achieves fast charging by increasing the charging voltage, and this increases the wattage. One important standard is Qualcomm’s proprietary Quick Charge technology.  It is one of the most widely implemented charging standards, made fast charging popular before USB Power Delivery, and it was at one time the default standard in the smartphone industry. Quick Charge is an optional feature available with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. So, if a phone has a Qualcomm chip, it does not necessarily mean it is Quick Charge compatible. However, there are a number of phones providing Quick Charge support, such as Samsung Galaxy Note 9, LG V40,  HTC U12 Plus, Xiaomi Mi 9, and more.

Quick Chipmaker Qualcomm’s Quick Charge is an optional feature of Qualcomm system-on-chip technology like the Snapdragon 855, 845, 835, 820, 620, 618, 617, 430, and more, which power phones like the Google Pixel 3, Samsung Galaxy S10, and LG V40 ThinQ.  Also, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors is not the only technology it is attached to - any smartphone manufacturer can license Quick Charge’s power controller technology.

Qualcomm’s quick charge 3.0 was launched in 2015 to maintain high power charging delivery. The latest releases, Quick Charge 4 and 4+ will be universal, so they can work with any fast charging-enabled device. The more extensively implemented Quick Charge 3.0’s voltage range is 3.6V minimum and 20V maximum, which Quick Charge 3.0 increments or decrements using Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage to identify the most efficient voltage at any point during charging. 

Quick Charge 3.0 can deliver 18W of power at its peak voltage, But Quick Charge 3.0 and older only work with Quick Charge-certified accessories. Qualcomm claims it delivers about 50% capacity in half an hour. If your smartphone is Quick Charge 3.0 compatible, you can charge up to 80% in 35 minutes. The latest 4.0+ revision of Quick Charge is compatible with Power Delivery, enabling faster charging speeds. Quick Charge 4+ is expected to work with USB Power Delivery, enabling Quick Charge accessories to fast charge a wider variety of devices.

Quick Charge is already implemented in many of the popular smartphones. When coupled with compatible devices, a Quick Charge enabled charger delivers increased power thereby allowing the connected device to charge faster.  Each new Quick Charge generation is backwards compatible so it will work with the previous generations. Quick Charge continues to make the charging process even faster while ensuring a battery-safe charge.

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