Charge Your Smartphone Even Faster With Quick Charge 4+

What's so Different About Quick Charge 4+?

Technology always marches on, and battery charging has been in dire need of some serious change for quite a while already. In the last several years, manufacturers have managed to come up with only minor improvements. For example, it was only in 2017 that Apple finally caught up with the competition by integrating wireless charging using the Qi standard with its iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. With tens of millions of iPhones sold, it will definitely help wireless charging technology to spread faster. It’s a comfortable solution, but with a glaring downside—wireless charging is an excruciatingly slow process. And this is exactly why Quick Charge technology is so exciting.

What is Quick Charge 4+?

Quick Charge 4+ is technology that greatly speeds up the entire process of charging smart devices. Qualcomm has skilfully followed the 2016 launch of the Snapdragon 835 platform, which included Quick Charge 4 for the first time ever. Quick Charge 4 was able to charge the phone from scratch to 50% in just 15 minutes. Quick Charge 4+ promises to be 15% faster and 30% more efficient, which will also reduce the temperature inside the phone during charging. This is a crucial factor if you want your phone to work well for many years to come. Quick Charge 4+ eliminates unnecessary overheating, and if coupled with a faulty design, it can completely destroy a phone’s battery. As for the consequences, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco and its exploding batteries are unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.

 Quick Charge 4+ Key Features

• More powerful dual charging - each device will now include two power management chips that divide the power supply between each other, which significantly reduces heat loss and total charging time.
• Intelligent thermoregulation system - Quick Charge 4+ always chooses the "cooler way" (so to speak) inside the phone, by distributing and dissipating the heat over a larger surface area.
• Advanced security features - the technology includes strict security protocols that control the temperature of both the connector and the battery itself. These elements protect the device from overheating, short circuits, and prevent any damage to the battery or connector.

Charging with Quick Charge 4+

Now we are slowly getting to the biggest modern problem of fast charging technology. Aside from a modern smartphone equipped with the Snapdragon 835 chipset, you also need a special quick charger. Manufacturers are there to make money first and foremost, so unsurprisingly, quick chargers are rarely included in the accessories you get when purchasing a phone. Apple's latest generation of iPhones supports fast charging, which is great, but you still have to buy the charger separately.

Despite all this, purchasing an extra fast charger can be very much worth it. In tests under laboratory conditions, charging a standard 3000mAh battery to 70% of its capacity can easily take 3 hours. With a more advanced Quick Charge 3 fast charger, you get there in just 30 minutes. Quick Charge 4+ thus shortens this time even further.

Do You Know How to Charge Your Smartphone Correctly?

It may sound like an insultingly trivial question, but it’s not. There are several widespread myths about how to charge mobile phones, which largely stem from the general ignorance of how modern batteries work. Here are a few basic tips to ensure that the Li-Ion or Li-Pol batteries in your phone will remain working their best.

• When you buy a new phone, charge the battery to 100%, then disconnect the charger and recharge it to 100% again after about one hour. This will maximise the battery charge.
• After the initial charging, keep the battery charge between 20 and 90%.
• Every full 100% charge shortens the life of your battery (the typical battery has a lifespan of hundreds 100% charges). It is reported that after 500 charging cycles, the total battery capacity will start to drop.
• Overnight charging is not a major problem because when the phone reaches its maximum capacity, the battery is effectively suspended and the phone starts drawing power for its operation without discharging the battery. This means that the battery is not repeatedly charged to 100% over a single night.
• Do not expose your phone to freezing weather conditions for longer periods of time. Both Li-Ion and Li-Pol batteries are relatively sensitive to low temperatures.

When Are the First Phones with Quick Charge 4+ Expected to Arrive?

Unfortunately, here is the real problem with the new generation of this technology. Due to hardware changes, existing devices with Quick Charge 4 cannot be upgraded to support the new charging standard. In order words, Quick Charge 4+ will be exclusive to smartphones based on the Snapdragon 835 chipset (or newer). There isn't a lack of phones to choose from—ZTE Nubia Z17 and Samsung Galaxy S9 are already available and a number of other phones with Quick Charge 4+ support are expected to arrive in Q1 2018. Along with the main devices, compatible quick chargers and power banks will be soon  follow, since Quick Charge 4+ technology has turned quite a few heads at CES 2018.