How fast charging works. How fast charging works for smartphones, its advantages and disadvantages
” can be attributed to applications for android devices from the category of “mandatory installation”. If you want to increase the life of your smartphone, increase battery life from a single charge, you just need to install this program. In addition, the application really increases the charge speed by reducing the waiting time by 30-40 percent.
Download once and forget about its existence, the utility will automatically start when you connect the charging cable.
The principle of operation is based on the fact that when you put the phone on charge, the application will limit all background processes, minimize power consumption and thereby speed up the process of filling the battery. The tests carried out showed the efficiency of this method by more than 20 percent, in contrast to the conventional loading method. Using the application "" is extremely simple.
Launch it and turn on the fast charge feature. Then she will automatically speed up the process. Facilitates the whole process with a user-friendly and intuitive user interface. You can visually follow the scale of filling the battery with current directly in the program. After the battery is fully charged, the utility will automatically enable all stopped services and your device will continue to operate normally. When connected, not only heavy system processes stop, but the operation of 3G and Wi-Fi communication modules also stops, as they significantly reduce battery power.
The utility works on almost any smartphones and tablets running Android OS older than 2.3, you need to have at least 512 MB of RAM and 15 MB for installation. You can download "" for free on your android device from our website using the link provided.
How to disable fast charging on Samsung Galaxy (S7, S8, S9 and any other model)? Why do I need to disable and enable fast charging?
Everyone loves it when their devices charge fast, don't they? That's why so-called fast charging technology is so popular - at the moment, almost every phone manufacturer has their own version of it. However, in some cases, fast charging may not be the best solution.
Luckily, Samsung understands the need to disable this option at work, and there is a way to do this on Galaxy devices running Marshmallow (and other versions of Android) such as the S9, S8, S7/Edge, S6 Edge+, S6, and Note 5.
Now that you know why you should enable or disable fast charging on Samsung, let's take a look at how you can do it. The good news is, it's incredibly simple and you're just a few taps away from success.
I'm using a Galaxy S7 Edge for this tutorial, but the process is pretty much the same for all Galaxy devices - just be aware that if the device doesn't have wireless charging, the menu might look a little different.
1. The first thing to do is go to the Settings menu by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the cog icon in the upper right corner.
2. Scroll down the menu until you see the item “Optimization”. Click on it.
4. Now go to the bottom of this menu. Depending on the device, there are one or two options here: “Quick Charge” and “Fast Wireless Charging”. Toggling the slider to the right of any option enables/disables it.
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It's especially good that Samsung has separated these options so that you can choose whether to continue fast charging via cable but disable this feature for wireless charging, or vice versa. As you wish.
And this is not the first time that something interferes with fast charging. Google Pixel disables fast charging when the internal temperature of the phone passes a certain threshold.
In my time with the Galaxy S8 Plus, I've noticed a significant difference in how fast it charges if I'm using the battery at the same time. But it didn't dawn on me that fast charging doesn't really work when the screen is on or the phone is in use.
In this case, if you need to quickly charge your Galaxy S8 before you hit the road or go for a walk, it's better to turn it on and not touch it at all for a while.
There are two categories of users. For some, the fast charging function is a given, that is, something that is present in their smartphone by default and does not pose any threat. The latter relate to fast battery charging with some apprehension. They have heard or read about the technology accelerating battery wear, and sometimes even leading to irreparable consequences, such as exploding the battery.
In the proposed article, we will talk about how the fast charging function works, whether it can pose a threat to the smartphone, and if so, how to avoid trouble. By the way, we recommend that representatives of both categories read the material, since this technology is not as simple as it might seem at first glance.
A bit of physics
(If you're good at physics, you can skip this short section.) Let's start not with the power or voltage of the fast charger, but with the fact that in the process of recharging the phone, you fill the battery with energy. The maximum energy reserve of a battery is determined by its nominal capacity. The rate of energy replenishment depends on the parameters of the current through which energy is transferred from the adapter to the phone.
The universal measure of the energy of an electric current is power, which is measured in watts. The higher the power of the current, the more energy it carries. In turn, the power of an electric current depends on its strength and voltage. Current is measured in amperes, voltage is measured in volts. Perhaps such a beginning will seem primitive to someone, but do not forget that not everyone remembers the physics that they taught in high school. And there is nothing shameful in this.
Quick charge function: working principle
The first smartphone chargers delivered 5 watts of power at 5 volts and 1 amp (5 watts = 5 volts x 1 amp). Such a charger can replenish approximately 1000 mAh of battery in 1 hour. It turns out that the 4000 mAh battery will charge for about four hours. Anyway, too long. Fortunately, today such adapters are rare, a device with a power of 10 watts (5 volts, 2 amps) is considered standard.
The fast charge function speeds up battery replenishment by increasing the power of the electric current. To increase power, it is enough to raise either the voltage (make it more than 5 volts, in practice - up to 9-12 volts), or the current strength (more than 2 amperes, in practice - up to 4-5 amperes), or both parameters at once. As a result, at the output of the adapter, we get a current with a power of 15 watts to 50 watts, with which the rate of energy replenishment increases by 5-10 times.
Fast battery charging: what is a controller?
So far, everything is simple - you raise the current or voltage, and instead of three hours, you charge for 40 minutes. Is that how it works? Not really. Fast charging your phone battery poses a lot of problems. Although these problems are successfully solved by manufacturers at the gadget development stage, you need to know about them, otherwise you can inadvertently ruin an expensive toy.
The first problem is that the battery cannot be supplied with a current of more than 5 volts. How so, you ask, does it say on my charger that the voltage is 9 volts? Yes, the output voltage from the adapter is 9 volts, but a lower voltage is applied to the battery. Redistribution takes place already in the phone with the participation of the controller, without which fast charging of the battery would be impossible.
The controller is a microcircuit in which the circuits and power circuits for recharging the battery are defined. As a rule, the controller is integrated into the chip. Each processor family has its own controller type, which determines the type of fast charging supported by the device. For example, smartphones based on Snapdragon processors support Quick Charge, phones based on MediaTek chips support Pump Express, and Samsung smartphones based on Exynos chips support Adaptive Fast Charging. 
Quick Charge 3.0 is backward compatible with Quick Charge 1.0 or QC4.0, but there is no cross compatibility between different controllers. You cannot charge a Snapdragon phone with the fast charger that came with the MediaTek phone. In the best case, it simply will not charge quickly (or will not charge at all), in the worst case, the gadget may fail.
Fast charging cable: why is it important?
The connecting link between the controller and the adapter is a cable for fast charging. Usually, manufacturers put the necessary USB cable in the box with the phone. With any other cable, the smartphone charges slowly, that is, the fast charging function does not work. Why is that?
Here we come to the second problem - energy losses and current strength. If the current is more than 2 amps (which is typical for fast charging), a good cable with a large cross section is needed to transfer energy efficiently with minimal losses. Otherwise, the losses will be too large, due to which fast charging will turn into normal. In practice, manufacturers often use protection - when an unsuitable cable is connected, the adapter produces standard current characteristics (5 volts and 1 or 2 amperes).
The fast charging cable performs another important function - it is the link between the controller (a microchip in a smartphone) and the charger that you plug into the network. Through the cable, the controller transmits information about the charge density on the battery, which is necessary to prevent overheating. When the density increases (the battery is 75-80% charged or more), the charger reduces the current, and the phone starts to charge more slowly.
Fast charger and its role
As you can see, a fast charger is not an ordinary plug, but a complex adapter that dynamically changes the current parameters (current and voltage) depending on the percentage of battery charge. If the battery is completely discharged, the fast charger will deliver maximum voltage and current. If the battery is almost full, the power is reduced to avoid overheating, and this happens already at the outlet of the adapter.
So, the fast charging function is implemented using a three-component system. The system consists of a controller on a chip, the correct USB cable and an adapter that dynamically changes the current and voltage depending on the percentage of battery charge.
All components of the system must be compatible with each other. The charger must support the fast charging standard provided by the smartphone processor: Quick Charge in phones with Snapdragon processors, Pump Express in a smartphone with a MediaTek processor, or Super Charge in Huawei and Honor smartphones with Kirin chips. 
In the absence of such compatibility, the phone will either not charge quickly or will not charge at all. If you use a defective, poor quality, or non-certified cable or adapter, irreparable consequences may occur.
Can it be charged with fast charging?
In fact, this question worries many users, which once again proves the need for a detailed and thorough analysis of the principle of operation of this technology. If you have read the previous sections carefully, the answer should be obvious.
The phone can be charged with fast charging, provided that you use the charger and cable that come with the package.
The bundled cable and adapter are certified and exactly compatible with the fast charging standard supported by your smartphone. But what if the native cable (or adapter) is out of order or simply lost? In this case, you need to purchase a certified cable or a certified charger that supports the standard you need. Alternatively, you can use a conventional 10 watt charger. In this case, you can forget about fast charging, but at least the phone is not in danger. 
1. Never charge your phone with a damaged cable. Modern flagships have a built-in cable health check, but inexpensive phones do not, so this task falls on your shoulders. If there is mechanical damage, or if you see that the phone is charging somehow “wrong”, contact the service center.
2. Never use a faulty charger. In the best case, a faulty adapter cannot dynamically change the current and voltage, in the worst case, it does not control them at all. When buying a new adapter, pay attention to the current and voltage - they must be the same as on your original charger.
3. Take a damaged smartphone (mechanical damage, drowning) to a service center. If the power circuits, contacts on the battery or other components are damaged, even a smartphone that works properly after drowning can suddenly “burn out”.
4. Do not charge your smartphone in the sun. In practice, this means that during charging, you should not put the phone on the dashboard of a car or on a window sill if direct sunlight falls on them.
5. Do not close the phone while charging. A simple example: while charging, the phone is lying on the couch, and you accidentally covered it with a pillow. A seemingly harmless oversight can result in overheating and failure.
And the last piece of advice related directly to fast charging. If your gadget supports this technology, use only complete accessories (cable, charger), and if they are broken or lost, purchase certified products from official sellers. And you don’t need to charge Samsung with an adapter from Huawei or vice versa.
For a long time, mobile phones did not need fast charging. Why, if the device was connected to only once every three to four days? But with the advent of smartphones, everything has changed. These devices have high power consumption. As a result, we have become accustomed to the fact that in most cases they need to be charged every night. But what if you forgot to connect your gadget to the charger in the evening, and you need to go to work in the morning? It is in such situations that fast charging saves. While you brush your teeth, make your bed and get ready for work, the battery will be recharged by 50% or even more. Let's talk about this technology a little more.
Any battery works on the principle of an electromechanical process. It runs in both directions - the battery can receive energy, accumulate it, or give it away. For many years, engineers have tried various chemical current sources. Used to be nickel and lead, now all batteries for mobile phones are based on lithium. They can be Lithium-Ion or Lithium Polymer - it doesn't matter at all, as fast charging technology works with both types of batteries. The main advantage of lithium is that it does not have a "memory effect". As a result, you can not wait for the moment when your smartphone is completely discharged. Yes, and it is not necessary to charge it up to 100%. If not for this fact, then fast charging would be useless. As for the disadvantages of lithium batteries, they consist in a gradual loss of capacity and a fire hazard.
Batteries with a capacity of 2000 to 7000 mAh are placed in modern smartphones. The nominal voltage of the battery is most often 3.5-3.7 V. With its full charge level, the voltage can be increased to 4.2 V, which allows you to increase the performance of the processor and some other components. As for charging the battery itself, it used to be very simple - the current came with a strictly defined power until the charge level reached about 90%. Then the power was gradually reduced so as not to “recharge” the battery, a special controller did this. And so on until reaching 100 percent charge. As a result, the recharging time was 2-2.5 hours, depending on the capacity of the battery.
How does fast charging work?
The company was the first to try to change something Qualcomm. In 2012, she introduced the first version of the technology Quick charge. As conceived by the manufacturer of mobile chipsets, at the first stage, the charger should give out the current of the maximum possible power. And when the battery controller realized that the charge level had reached a certain level, the power decreased.
How is the fast charging function different from the usual one? Let's look at this with an example. Take the most common phone charger (pictured above). On its case we will see the inscription: "Output 5V / 1A". This means that the device outputs a maximum current with a voltage of 5 volts and a power of 1 ampere. The output power of such a charge is approximately 5 watts. Technology Quick Charge 1.0 changed a little. Smartphones that support it have learned to accept electricity with a current of 2 A. All other parameters of the charger remain the same. With the same battery capacity, full charging is 30% faster.
Much more interesting was the second version of technology from Qualcomm. It consists in even closer interaction between the battery controller and the charger. From now on, the current could already reach 3 A. Also, now the voltage changed during recharging - at first it is 12 V, then it decreases to 9 V, and at the end it drops to the standard 5 V. Compared to using a traditional charger, the process was already accelerated by 60 %! The disadvantage of this technology is the high cost of the charger, because it has a special chip built into it. However, most consumers do not care, because most often the charger is included with the smartphone, and the need to buy a new one is extremely rare.
In September 2016, Qualcomm introduced the technology Quick Charge 3.0. The chargers and battery controllers that have it are even smarter. Now the optimal voltage is selected individually for a specific device and battery charge level. The voltage now varies from 3.6 to 20 V. The change step is only 200 mV. As a result, the third version of the technology turned out to be 38% more efficient than the second. Support for Quick Charge received processors, 617, 618, 620 and 820.
Versatility
Not all smartphones are endowed with a processor from Qualcomm. Luckily, there are other fast-charging technologies found in various Android devices. Almost all of them work according to the principles described above. In this case, the phone can be connected to a high-performance charger from another manufacturer - nothing will happen to it. In some cases, its power controller will allow you to charge your smartphone at an accelerated pace. In other cases, recharging will go in the traditional mode - with a current of 1 or 2 A. In any case, the charger will not damage the device.
However, it is better to use the charger that came with the kit. There have been cases in the world when the battery flared up for some reason. This was facilitated by a Chinese charger and a low-quality USB cable.
Separately, it should be noted products under the brand . It uses unique technology VOOC Flash Charging. The batteries of smartphones endowed with it have eight contacts. Electricity is supplied to the battery with a current of 4.5 A and a voltage of 5 V. The battery consists of several cells and the current is evenly distributed between them. As a result, recharging is very fast. The manufacturer also claims that its technology is more gentle on the battery without reducing its life.
Is fast charging bad for your phone?
Most of all, some people are frightened by the fact that fast charging of a smartphone is carried out using amplified current. It seems to them that the battery does not tolerate such an attitude towards itself. Allegedly in just a year it will have to be changed. And indeed, the first fast-charging technologies had an unpleasant feature. The operating capacity of the battery quickly decreased if the smartphone was used too actively, charging it once or even twice a day. However, since 2012 a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, now everything has changed.
Modern technologies allow the power controller to receive electricity in such an amount that the battery needs in a particular second. The current and voltage never exceed the threshold values. All this is confirmed by numerous experiments from independent experts. They showed that the capacity of the battery drops at the same rate as when using a conventional charger. Therefore, you can not be afraid to use fast charging - it will only make your life easier.
How to disable fast charging?
If you are still afraid of fast charging, then your further actions depend on how fresh your smartphone is. The fact is that on modern devices, support for this technology is implemented at the controller and firmware levels. Disabling fast charging in such gadgets is most often impossible. The only way out is to purchase another charger that does not support fast charging technology.
Well, on smartphones from 2012-2014, you can still disable this feature. This is done in Settings", In chapter " Battery". On devices, you may be required to visit a pre-installed application smart manager.
Power adapters with fast charging for Samsung and Apple
The South Korean company Samsung equips many of its smartphones with support for proprietary fast charging technology. An appropriate adapter is supplied with the device. However, some users lose this little accessory, while others need additional "charging", for example, for use at work. In short, it would be surprising if the South Korean giant did not sell power adapters separately.
In Russian stores, products with support for fast charging from Samsung cost from 1200 to 1500 rubles - this is quite an adequate price. Adapters are available with or without cable. It also differs in what kind of connector the wire is equipped with - there have been options with for quite a long time, since they have just such a socket. The largest number of "charges" produced are painted white. But if you try, then on sale you can find a black version, which is much less common.
Any of the above three iPhones support 29W, 61W, and 87W power adapters. The higher this setting, the faster the charging will be. The problem is that powerful network adapters are too large - you can’t put such an accessory in your pocket. Again, they were designed for later use in tandem with a laptop, so there was little point in reducing the dimensions. Another important disadvantage of such adapters is the price. For the 61 W option, you will have to pay about 5,500 rubles! However, "apple" products are always expensive. But in this case, this is already the greed of the manufacturer. And how can you ask for such money for a thing that is tritely inconvenient to use?
AliExpress Fast Charging Power Adapters
The most famous Chinese online store offers a variety of smartphone accessories. Including in its open spaces you can find power adapters with support for fast charging. For example, a Fonken mains charger, which has miniature dimensions, is delivered directly from a warehouse in Russia. The device is primarily intended for smartphones and tablets that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. The cost of the accessory is approximately 500 rubles. Not bad, especially when you consider that it comes with a meter-long USB cable with a high-quality braid.
The adapter from Tiegem also supports the same fast charging technology. This device is already estimated at 800 rubles, but it is much more versatile. The fact is that you can connect up to two gadgets to this charger - this is exactly the number of USB ports built into it. The current strength is 2.4 A, and the power is 30 watts. Such a charger is ideal for products and other large companies.
Of course, this is not a complete list of those sold through power adapters. Here you can find accessories of various shapes and colors. There are even solutions with five connectors! Also, for some time now, the Chinese online store allows you to buy original products from the same Samsung - South Korean adapters are now also present in the AliExpress assortment.
#Qualcomm_Quick_Charge #MediaTek_Pump_Express #ASUS_BoostMaster #Samsung_Adaptive_Fast_Charging #Motorola_TurboPower #mCharge #Dash_Charge
Quick Charge is a technology to increase the standard USB specification voltage and current output of the power supply to speed up the charging of the battery of a phone or tablet. Fast charging modes vary by technology. Support for fast charging is implemented in smartphones and tablets Samsung Galaxy, ASUS ZenFone, Google NEXUS and a number of other devices.As you know, a standard USB 2.0 port supports powering devices up to 2.5 W (5 V and 0.5 A). In turn, the USB 3.0 port can provide power to the device with a power of 4.5 W (5 V and 0.9 A). At one time, Apple set a trend for charging from more powerful power supplies - the first generation of the iPad required, that is, 5 V and 2 A. When connected to a regular USB port on a computer, the iPad did not even show that charging had begun. Charging, of course, went on, but so slowly that it was impossible to charge the tablet even for a whole day.
Today, most smartphones can be charged with 5W chargers with USB output, and tablets can use up to 2.1A from a 5V charger. How many Amperes to take from the USB port of the charger is decided by the battery controller of a smartphone or tablet, so it is quite safe to connect a smartphone to a 5V / 2A charger - the controller uses as much current as it needs to charge.
So, in order to quickly charge modern gadgets, such as a smartphone or tablet, well-known mobile platform manufacturers have developed special technologies.
Qualcomm introduced the fourth version of the technology Quick Charge 4, and MediaTek, in turn, presented two specifications Pump Express and Pump Express Plus.
The meaning of these technologies is to charge the battery of a smartphone or tablet as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible. To support each technology, the mobile device, including the battery controller, must be compatible with it. Of course, you need a certified charger that can "speak the same language" with the battery controller of your smartphone or tablet.
In each of these technologies, the same techniques are used - either increasing the current, or increasing the voltage, or both. Qualcomm became a pioneer in fast charging - in February 2013, the technology was introduced Quick Charge 1.0. Devices that support this technology are capable of charging at 5 volts and using 2 amps. As you can imagine, tablets with Quick Charge support began to charge as fast as the iPad, and smartphones almost twice as fast as the rest.
Next generation Quick Charge 2.0 allowed to use increased voltage up to 12 volts for charging. More precisely, for QC 2.0, you can choose from three fixed voltages: 5V, 9V and 12V (optionally, 20V chargers are also available). At the same time, the maximum power of the power supply can reach 18 watts.
Quick Charge 3.0 appeared in devices based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 620, 618, 617, 430 and newer processors. Differs in the increased efficiency and intelligence. A compatible charger is capable of dynamically changing voltage from 3.2V to 20V in 200mV steps. The current strength also changes dynamically. Moreover, changes in the configuration of the power supply continue during the charging process - the current decreases as the battery is charged in order to save its resource. In particular, because of this, the last 20-30% of charging is noticeably slower. The power of Quick Charge 3.0 power supplies remained at the same level - 18 W maximum, however, it charges gadgets a little faster due to better optimization of the process.
As you can see, the advantages of the technology are obvious - according to the manufacturer, in 30 minutes you can charge your smartphone by more than half. More accurate figures sound like this: a 3300 mAh battery was charged up to 60% in 30 minutes. Impressive result, isn't it? In addition, the manufacturer claims that Quick Charge 3.0 is twice as fast as the first generation of Quick Charge, which, in general, is logical. We also note that all three generations of the technology are backward compatible, that is, a power supply of any generation will be able to quickly charge a device of any generation. Of course, a first generation power supply will not be able to charge as fast as a QC 3.0-enabled power supply.
With the announcement of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, information appeared about Quick Charge 4.0. 20% faster and 30% more efficient. Able to give 5 hours of work in 5 minutes of charging.
Note that the technology implemented in chargers is completely undemanding to the type of cable - you can use ordinary USB Type micro B, USB Type C cables or cables with a proprietary connector from the gadget manufacturer. It should also be noted that fast charging is only fast up to about 80% charge. And up to 100% the battery will be recharged for a long time, in order to avoid damage to the battery.
As for fast charging technologies MediaTek Pump Express and Pump Express Plus Little is known about her. More precisely, there are very few smartphones and tablets, as well as chargers themselves that support this technology. The essence of this does not change. Pump Express allows you to charge devices using a voltage of 3.6 - 5 Volts and with a charging current of not more than 2 Amperes. That is, this technology is designed to compete with Quick Charge 1.0. In turn, Pump Express Plus allows you to use various voltages of 5 - 7 Volts, 9 Volts and 12 Volts, and the output current can reach 3 Amps. True, MediaTek does not say anything about 5 Volts and 3 Amperes. But there is a mention of 9 V and 1.67 A (15 W), as well as the most powerful power supply 12 V and 2 A (24 W).
* - The list is for informational purposes only. There is no exact list of compatible devices, details may appear.
There are other USB fast charging technologies, for example. The technology allows you to charge devices under a voltage of 9 volts with a current of 2 amperes. An 18-watt charger, in particular, is included with some ASUS ZenFone 2 smartphones.
In Samsung, a similar technology for the top smartphones Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6 active, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6 edge + and Galaxy Note 5 has named and released a special charger. It can deliver a voltage of 5 or 9 Volts and a current of 2 or 1.67 Amps, respectively.
In general, given that the "normal" voltage for USB devices is 5 volts, it seems quite logical that some smartphones with support for USB fast charging technology are equipped with chargers with characteristics of 5 volts and 3 amps. For example, such chargers can be found bundled with and from LG.
Knowing that there are a huge number of and, some of which are capable of delivering up to 2.4 amps per USB port, it is difficult to convince yourself of the need to purchase expensive certified chargers. After all, it is obvious that smartphones and tablets that support fast charging technologies will independently take all the necessary and available charging current from the USB port, respectively, they can charge faster than from a regular charger with more modest characteristics. The conclusion, of course, is theoretical, therefore it does not claim to be the absolute truth.
In addition, the specification of the new connector and cable suggests the ability to use a maximum current of 5 amps per connector and 3 amps per standard cable. In theory, at 20 volts you can reach 100 watts - overkill for the vast majority of smartphones and tablets. In practice, we will observe the implementation of all kinds of fast charging functions (including those described above) using a standard USB Type C cable, as well as an expansion of the range of USB chargers with increased output current.