Since the beginning of this year, major mobile phone manufacturers have been choosing the USB Type-C interface. In addition, Apple's 2016 Macbook Pro has aggressively promoted Thunderbolt 3, which has also brought this interface standard into the sight of more users. As fast charging function becomes a standard feature on mobile phones, there is a contradiction between the "market fragmentation" of various fast charging technology patents and the unified trend of USB Type-C interface. Some people are taking action, some are preparing, and some are still watching. A great show of collaboration and competition is about to begin around mobile fast charging technology.

Do you know about fast charging for mobile phones

With the development of smartphones, the popularity of fast charging is particularly important in the face of increasingly powerful performance and shortened battery life. Nowadays, from flagship phones to hundred yuan phones, fast charging has become a must-have. Do you know about fast charging.

So far, there is no unified standard or regulation for fast charging that we have seen, and the definition of fast charging remains conceptual, that is, a power greater than 10W (5V2A) is fast charging. The essence of fast charging is to improve charging efficiency, and the most direct factors affecting charging efficiency are current and voltage. So to improve charging efficiency, we can only start from two aspects: increasing current and voltage. However, it should also be noted that for smartphones, the power of the charger determines the maximum possible charging voltage and current that the phone can receive, while the CPU and other components of the phone itself determine the maximum current and voltage that the phone can release.

Many manufacturers state in their promotional PPTs that they support 7.5W/10W fast charging, which is indeed much faster than the traditional 5V1A charging speed. However, fast charging does not mean absolute fast. Fast charging is determined by the charging IC, and phones that can achieve fast charging are all integrated with fast charging ICs. Snapdragon 652 and later processors are directly integrated into the SoC (manufacturers can also choose to remove them). Even with a fast charger, phones that do not support fast charging cannot achieve fast results.

In addition, fast charging does not mean that every time a phone is plugged in to the charger, it can be charged for 5 minutes and talk for 2 hours. We often see many users say that their phones that support fast charging can be charged by plugging in the original fast charging adapter, sometimes fast, and sometimes not fast. Because whether to enable fast charging is not determined by plugging in the adapter, but by the charging IC. No mobile phone can be fully charged and used at the fastest speed. If it works at full load for a long time, it will cause the charger to overheat and even burn out. This means that fast charging has a very significant effect when the battery is low, and gradually reduces the power, so the charging speed will be very slow in the later stage.

At present, regardless of the fast charging protocol, the charger and the chip in the device working together may achieve segmented control very well. After entering the later stage of charging, it enters trickle charging to limit the voltage, current, temperature, and radiation that the phone battery can withstand, thereby ensuring minimal damage to the battery. On the premise of product technology being up to par, the impact of fast charging on batteries is not as significant as we imagine. At least during the lifecycle of a smartphone from purchase to elimination, the battery will not decay severely.

All kinds of patents are coming in droves

The lack of standardization in the industry is currently the biggest flaw in the fast charging market. Due to the inconsistent quality control of batteries, data cable interfaces, and data cables used by different brands, the standards and specifications of fast charging vary, which increases inconvenience for consumers and invisibly raises the cost of the entire fast charging market.