Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology is one of the most widely used fast charging systems for smartphones. The latest version supports 18W fast charging, allowing you to get longer battery life from less charging time.
But next year Qualcomm plans to launch a new version of Quick Charge that will support 32W charging so your phone can spend even less time plugged into the wall.
Qualcomm’s current fast-charging solution is called Quick Charge 4+ and it uses a feature Qualcomm calls Dual Charge to help keep your phone from overheating while it’s charging by splitting the power down two paths instead of sending it through one. Qualcomm’s technology makes use of both lines to make adjustments to balance power delivery and heat.
The company says it’s next-gen fast charging system will introduce a Triple Charge system, enabling support for 32W fast charging while using a wired charger or 15W charging with a wireless charger.
So does that mean Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5 (or whatever it’s called) will be the fastest game in town? That remains to be seen.
There are already several competing systems that offer a higher wattage, although I suspect there’s more to determining which charger is fastest than simply looking at the maximum wattage.
- Huawei already offers a 40W fast charger for some of its latest high-end smartphones
- OPPO’s Super VOOC charger can fully charge a phone with a 3,4000 mAh battery in just 35 minutes thanks to a 50W fast charger.
- Meizu’s Super mCharge technology could theoretically support up to 55W.
Remember that with QC 4.0+ the USB PD part already allows for 27W ( 3A @ 9V ). What is an extra 5W… a 20% increase. The important thing will be what wall adapter is cheaper… my G5 can use QC 2.0 and 3.0 as well as USB PD 2.0. I buy the cheapest certified adapter that gives 9V with at least 2A, which usually is a QC 2.0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Charge
Are these still forward/backward compatible, such that you can use a 4th gen charger on a 2nd gen device and a 2nd gen charger on a 4th gen device (and still get the 2nd generation charging speed)?
Yes. They did a very good job with 2.0 stuff being checked first, then 3.0 stuff, then 4.0. That means a 4.0 compatible phone can detect a 2.0 adapter. It is up to the phone’s firmware to have profiles for what to do when each adapter type is detected. Most of the time the phone requests 9V with a 2A current limit (18W max).
My G5 charges at the same rate with either a 2.0 or 3.0 adapter.