Qualcomm Quick Charge: Things You Need To Know About

Extending battery life and reducing charge times had been a significant point in the smartphone industry for many years. There has been a lot of progress when it comes to the time it takes to charge a smartphone fully. However, Qualcomm Quick Charge technology aims to deliver fast charging in smartphone devices than the traditional charging technology. If you’re new to the world of fast charging, below are things you need to know about Qualcomm Quick Charge.

How Does It Work?

Every smartphone has a battery, and every battery delivers power in more or less the same way. The current supply the power source to charge batteries. Applying extra current at a set battery voltage leads to fast charging but also requires strong charging components that can withstand high power levels. You can achieve fast charging speeds up to 75 percent using quick charge rather than a conventional charger. To access these fast charging speeds, you’ll need a high-end Qualcomm processor device, including the Snapdragon 801 (2014), Snapdragon 808 (2015), Snapdragon 810 (2015) and a certified charger.

Quick Charge 1.0Q

It all started with Qualcomm Quick Charge 1.0, and as you can expect, the devices that are compatible with Quick Charge 1.0 would now be considered old. It’s only capable of using a 5-volt supply of power. Quick Charge 1.0 today is what people see as “Normal Charging.”

Quick Charge 2.0

Quick Charge 2.0 can support 15 watts of power through a 5-volt power supply, which leads to faster charging. Being a feature of Qualcomm’s 800 series SoCs supports almost all-major flagship smartphone. It’ll also be available on older smartphones running Qualcomm’s SoCs from the 200 to 800 series. A wall adapter of 3 Amps current output is required to use Quick Charge 2.0.

Quick Charge 3.0

Qualcomm released Quick Charge 3.0 in late 2015 using the same basic science and technology as they did with Quick Charge 2.0. Quick Charge 3.0 can support voltage across an extended range, from 3.2V to 20V, although the peak power for both standards is 18W. Quick Charge 3.0 can hit that magic 80 percent mark in as little as 35 minutes but not significantly faster than Quick Charge 2.0. Quick Charge 3.0 features several Qualcomm processors such as Snapdragon 820, 620, 618, 617 and 430.

Quick Charge 4.0

Qualcomm Quick Charge 4 supersedes the Quick Charge 3. According to Qualcomm, this quick charging 4.0 will bring about 20% faster charge and 30% more efficient compared to Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. Quick Charge 4.0 is only available for phones that use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Snapdragon 845. Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 continually monitors the temperature thereby adjusting the voltage for an optimum charge. The company advertises five hours of usage time on the device for five minutes of charge time.

Quick Charge 4+

The latest Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ offers a 15% decrease in charging time compared to Quick Charge 4.  Quick Charge 4+ also provides more thermal balancing, which means that current move to the battery through the coolest routes to prevent inefficiencies caused by an overheated battery. Quick Charge 4+ now monitors the temperature of both the USB Type-C connector as well as the phone’s case, to help ensure that no part of the device will overheat. Quick Charge 4+ is only available on the high-end devices that feature a massive 8GB of RAM and a 3200mAh battery life that can recharge to 50 percent in 25 minutes.

How Can I Get It?

It can be challenging to get a Qualcomm Quick Charge device. There’s no way to add one if your device lacks a Quick Charge chip. Although, you might already have it but don’t know the feature exists. Some manufacturers use alternative names for this same technology; Samsung refers to it as “Adaptive Fast Charge” while Motorola calls it “Turbo Charge.” So be sure to understand which manufacturers and devices are embedding and embracing the chip technology.