But all of that has created a complex system of chargers, cables, and system lock-ins.
Its a wild ride, so strap in.
If that sounds boring, feel free to skip ahead.
Thats the charging process.
So you technically dont need more than 5 volts to charge your devices battery.
Our cables and connectors were limited on the amount of current they can put across the table.
He noted that chemists solved this problem by designing phone batteries to take more current.
Many manufacturers have switched to a two-cell design to accommodate more voltage and quicker charging speeds.
Whats the secret behind modern fast charging?
A phones charging system needs to maintain the same wattage at the charger and phone level.
Paparrizo noted that to accommodate the heat companies have to reconsider the design of related components.
The history of fast charging
In the last decade, plenty of charging standards have emerged.
The most common would be the USB-PD standard devised by the USB Promoter Group.
The first iteration of the tech was released in 2012. targeting the USB Mirco-B connector for phones.
Yes, itshard to know which is which.
The upcomingUSB4 standardcan support up to 240W, but there arent many devices and accessories compatible with that yet.
Another standard thats not specific to a manufacturer is Qualcomms Quick Charge (QC).
It made its debut in 2013.
The first iteration aimed at getting more than 1A out of a charger using a2.0 cable.
Later versions concentrated on supplying power to a smartphone at a higher rate.
The tech has taken giant strides in terms of wattages with the last few iterations.
Theres Oppos VOOC fast charging, Vivos FlashCharge, and Xioamis HyperCharge tech.
These firms have demoed charging at blistering speeds.
Theoretically, it could charge a phone from 0 to 100% in under 20 minutes.
I got a chance to talk with the engineering team to ask them how they think about battery design.
The team said that Xiaomi started a charging research department in 2018.
It first introduced 120W charging last year with its Mi 10T Ultra, but the battery design was different.
The researchers mentioned that for the past few years, Xiaomi has also adopted graphene batteries.
If it gets close to its safety limits, the charger will automatically drop the wattage to avoid overheating.
However, Xiaomis not alone in pumping more wattages to charge your phone in minutes.
That brings us to the next chapter in this saga.
Xiaomi now has a commercial phone with 120W charging and has demoed 200W charging capabilities.
So youre locked into that system.
As an example, Ive seenplentyofOnePluscustomers in India complain that they have a hard time getting the companys cables.
It was not travel-friendly and took up too much space on a power strip.
Id rather use a smaller charger that might take a few more minutes to juice up my phone.
But that hasnt always gone well.
Only a few vendors like Apple, Google, and Samsung support USB-PD consistently.
Phone makers like Apple and Samsung have removed the charging brick from their packages.
If youre switching from one brand to another, you might not have the supporting combo.
So, for most phones, an off-the-shelf cable might not do the trick.
And thats a bummer.
There are also concerns about battery safety and longevity.
What does this do?
It allows the battery to charge quicker, but also has a thermal impact on the battery.
Of course, batteries can only handle so much thermal energy before you could potentially damage the cells.
However, other experts I talked to said battery technology has advanced enough to handle high wattages for charging.
A lot of industry folks I talked to asked me, Who needs this?
Beyond a certain wattage point, returns of fast charging diminish.
It feels like a marketing gimmick that will get old real fast.
Over the last few years,phone components have gotten costlier.
So, making custom hardware for fast charging could make a unit that much more expensive.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.”
