Over the past few years, we've seen a race to determine which company will introduce the fastest smartphone charging. We can say that we have reached the point at which batteries in general began to suit users. They last long enough, and when they sit down, they can be charged relatively quickly. But all this does not mean that you can calm down and you no longer need to develop further. That is why manufacturers continue to offer their solutions. Not so long ago, OPPO showed what it can do, and now it's time for Qualcomm to reclaim the palm. To do this, she showed what she is capable of and announced her new solution.
Qualcomm has introduced a new very high speed charger.
Qualcomm fast charging
The American manufacturer was indeed a leader in the field of fast charging at one time, setting trends with its Quick Charge, but this time he missed the palm. This could not go on for a long time and the company not only released its solution, but also made it even better. Let me remind you that OPPO showed a couple of weeks ago that the phone can be charged in 20 minutes, and Qualcomm has already started talking about 15 minutes.
The technology got its traditional name for the company and became a continuation of the existing line. It's called Quick Charge 5. It's a huge leap when you upgrade from Quick Charge 4. For example, it supports 100W charging or more while keeping the battery 10ºC cooler.
The new charging is really cool.
How quickly the phone charges with Quick Charge
Charging efficiency increased by 70% at once. Thanks to this, according to the company, the 4,500 mAh battery can be fully charged in just 15 minutes, while charging up to 50% will take only five minutes. As a reminder, OPPO spoke of 20 minutes for a 4,000mAh battery. Round!
The technology is also based on dividing the battery into two parts. 2250 mAh each. They are connected in series to increase their voltage. It is also possible to use three elements. This is how charging can be accelerated by individually energizing multiple cells at high speed.
Quick Charge 5 is our fastest charging solution. It will allow consumers to use their devices for a longer period of time without worrying about complicated charging. We created it to expand our technology portfolio and make available more than 100 watts of charging for commercial use. Said Yves Roche, vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, inc.
Quick Charge 5 requires a dedicated power supply to maintain the output voltage between 3.3 and 20 volts at a minimum. It should have 3.3 or 5 A of current, or even more. The new charging technology is based on USB Power Delivery PPS. However, it also includes backward compatibility with earlier chargers. Moreover, it also offers full support for standard USB devices and even technology Apple – models iPhone 7 and older.
Charging compatibility.
Is fast charging safe to use?
The American chip maker claims that its new system is so secure that you don't have to worry about it. Quick Charge 5 uses as many as 8 levels of voltage protection, 3 levels of thermal protection, 3 levels of timer protection and 3 levels of overcurrent protection.
In addition, the QC 5 has 25V overvoltage protection. Smartphones with this new technology won't blindly trust the charger, the company says. The charging itself will work in a complex way and, choosing the parameters, will take into account everything – from the state of the battery to the temperature at which charging takes place. It measures the actual characteristics throughout the process to determine the maximum current that the charger can supply.
Qualcomm is keen to see the first QC 5 smartphones arrive in the third quarter of 2020. The company also introduced two charge controller chips that manufacturers can use – SMB1396 and MSB1398. They support both wired and wireless input, and can be used with 1 and 2 cell batteries. It's worth noting that 1 cell designs only support charging up to 45W. Even this value is very decent and many manufacturers of even flagship devices have not yet crossed this mark.
And yet it's impressive. Let's see how this will be implemented in practice.
Which phones support Quick Charge 5
The current Snapdragon 865 and 865+ offer full support for the Quick Charge 5 standard. However, you shouldn't expect smartphones already released to benefit from the new technology. Here you should rather wait for new smartphones, which will receive a special controller. A massive transition to the new technology can be expected in the fourth quarter of this year or even in 2021, but what the hell is not kidding, and maybe the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will receive such charging?
While we are preparing for the fact that the new charging will become the standard for next year's flagships. If we are talking about the fact that the technology is already ready and Qualcomm can ensure its use now, then this parameter will become a real trend in 2021 for flagship-level phones.