Fast Charging technologies explained

Evolution of fast charger

Earlier about some 5-6 years ago the battery capacity of phones were very less and the charging time was also low.So we were not worried about the charging time and also the usage was low for us. But as the smartphones evolved and as the more powerful components were added in the smartphone the battery capacity drastically increased. As the battery capacities increased the charging time also increased.
So a need of a mechanism arose which can charge the phone in less time without damaging the phone.
The first fast charger was made by Qualcomm which was the qualcomm quick charge 1.0 in which an extra IC was embedded to the system which can take extra power and charge the phone a bit faster.It can charge about 30% in 30 minutes on an battery of capacity 3000mAh.
Then came the qualcomm quick charge 2.0 which was unveiled by them in the latest processors which include a charging speed higher than quick charge 1 and can charge the phone to 50-60% in 30 mins under ideal conditions.
An upgrade to this came with the qualcomm quick charge 3.0 which supported a maximum of 18W charger and was incredibly a fast charger which brought a revolution.
Let us discuss the qualcomm quick charge 2.0 and 3.0 in detail

Qualcomm quick charge 2.0

The qualcomm quick charge 2.0 had a variable output which starts basically at 10W output and will go upto 18W. There are variable speeds available depending on the current state of your battery.There are various charging speeds available mainly starting from 5V/2A, 9V/2A and 12V/1.67A. If your battery is less charged the charging speed will be more and as the charge goes up the charging speed comes down. You might have noted this phenomenon in your smartphone also.

Qualcomm quick charge 3.0

The phones with quick charge 3.0 had the same voltage as in quick charge 2.0 but the voltage is set to increment in steps of 200mV in each step. In 2.0 either 5V of charging voltage works or 9V charging voltage works but in 3.0 there is variable voltage available which makes the charging smmoth and faster.

VOOC Charger

VOOC charger was a charger introduced by OPPO electronics which was the fastest charger when launched with a max output of 20W(5V/4A). Th eterm VOOC stands for Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging . Notice the term Constant-Current charging which states that the charging is done under Constant Current which is 4 Amperes in this case. The charger does all its conversion in the main charger body rather than inside the phone which helps the phone not to heat as all the conversion takes place in charger and not the phone. Charging cable also plays a major role in that as not all cables support 4A of currents.
One Plus's Dash charge is also based on this same concept

Super VOOC Charge

This is the fastest charger which is available in the market currently. It was first showcased in OPPO FINDX lamborghini edition and later in OPPO R17 PRO. The output of this chharger is about 50W (10V/5A). It can charge a 3400mAh battery from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes which is incredibly fast. It can also reach 0 to 40% in just 10 minutes.

The above image shows the various safety measures taken to prevent the battery and phone from any damage.

Xiaomi 100W turbo charger

Xiaomi in April 2019 launched a video in which they compared a super vooc charger of oppo R17Pro with their own built 100W charger. They were kept side by side and were charging and it was seen that the Xiaomi charger charged a 4000mAh battery in just 17 minutes which is currently one of the fastest technology but still not yet made commercial.

VIVO SUPER FLASH CHARGE

Soon after the Xiaomi showcased their 100W charger the VIVO showed their charging mechanism which had 120W charger output. A phone with 4000mAh battery was charged fully in 13 minutes .In a demo it was shown that in 16 seconds the battery reach from 10 to 15%.