Fast charging has improved at breakneck speed: here's the battle to charge your phone in the shortest time possible

In a couple of years, fast charging of cell phones has multiplied its speed. What until recently were promises from different manufacturers, we now have cell phones that can be charged in just over 10 minutes. And once you try it, it is difficult to go back. Leaving your phone charging all night may soon be a thing of the past. In the latest models from manufacturers such as Xiaomi or Realme it is already possible to have this fast charging, but the brands still have a lot to offer us.

Here we review the state of fast charging, which are the best mobiles in this aspect and what times they promise us. A review of the fast charging technologies that are soon to arrive and which ones are already available in real mobiles that any interested user can buy.

The mobiles with the fastest charging on the market

When it comes to charging, cell phones from Chinese manufacturers are the fastest. As already happened with the megapixel war, the biggest brands such as Apple, Samsung or Google have chosen not to scale their fast charging. On the contrary, manufacturers such as OPPO or Xiaomi have chosen to embrace fast charging and highlight the power figure as one of the striking features of their new phones.

In a middle ground is Huawei, which in its flagship, the P50 Pro, offers up to 66W. Far above options such as the Galaxy S22 Ultra with 45W or the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 27W. It is the case that Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei, already explained in mid-2020 that the company had at its disposal fast charges of 100W and 200W, but chose not to offer them to take care of the mobile battery.

Something seems to have changed recently, because Huawei itself now does advocate 100W fast charges. It is the speed offered in one of its latest models, the Nova 9 Pro. A mobile that for the moment can not be purchased in Spain.

Nor is it in our country (nor is it expected), the mobile with the fastest charge on the market and the only one with 200W: the Vivo iQOO 10 Pro. This is a gaming phone with a 4,700 mAh battery and an impressive fast charge. According to the company, the device can charge 100% of its battery in less than 10 minutes.

The battery of this Vivo mobile incorporates new battery electrolyte and a new charging chip with tridirectional charging jet to ensure that the battery life is long enough. Vivo ensures that the battery remains above 80% capacity even after more than 1,600 charge cycles.

The phone that is available in Spain, that we at ToastyBits have been able to test and that can be purchased for 699 euros is the Realme GT Neo 3 150W. In hand it is a marvel. Being able to top off the Realme GT Neo 3’s 4,500 mAh in less than 15 minutes is a sight to behold. It is one of those experiences that change the way you use your phone. The usual thing is to put it to charge and forget about it, but we have reached a point where we can take a coffee and when we come back we already have the mobile at 100% charge.

Here is a table with the mobiles that today have the fastest charging. Some brands such as Xiaomi have several flagships with an equally fast charge, in this case we have selected the most representative model.

In a prominent position is the Honor Magic 4 Pro with its 100W fast charging. However, the most remarkable thing in that model is that it is not only via cable, but the 100W is also offered with wireless charging.

OPPO is a special case. The SuperVOOC brand has been one of the most representative of this technology for years. The Chinese manufacturer is one of the real benchmarks in this field and even its mid-range phones offer very high charging speeds.

Its flagship, the OPPO Find X5 Pro offers the third generation of SuperVOOC with 80W. However, in February 2022 they announced a much more advanced technology. A fast charging technology that is still to come.

Charging your mobile in less than 10 minutes is already possible (and will be commonplace).

Fast charging technology has been with us for several years. Little by little it has been advancing and fortunately it is available for most brands. This is the case of Qualcomm, which already in July 2020 announced Quick Charge 5.0, with up to 100W and the ability to complete 50% of the battery of our mobiles in 5 minutes. A fast charging technology that could receive an update later this year.

OPPO is the company with the fastest announced charging technology, although it is not available at the moment. OPPO with its 240 W SuperVOOC promises to complete 4,500 mAh in 9 minutes. This figure is not yet found in any mobile, but it is expected that between the end of this year and next year we will see it in some high-end OPPO. Before that, we could receive the 150W SuperVOOC charge, which promises to complete the same figure in 15 minutes. To give you an idea, the Vivo iQOO 10 Pro and its 200W completes the battery in 10 minutes.

It was in May 2021 when Xiaomi announced its 200W fast charging system. Currently the Chinese manufacturer allows to complete the 4,600 mAh of the Xiaomi 12 Pro in 18 minutes, with its 120W system. Something similar allows the POCO F4 GT. But the Xiaomi Hypercharge 200W charge promises to complete 4,000 mAh in 8 minutes.

The question many users may ask is when we will see this Xiaomi system in a real mobile. And the answer is that it may be very soon. According to the latest rumors, the Xiaomi Mix 5 will debut Xiaomi’s 200W charging this fall.

The BBK Electronics group, which includes manufacturers such as OPPO, Realme, Vivo or OnePlus, shares its fast charging technology. That is why we see Vivo with 200W or Realme with its Ultradart technology of 100W, 150W and soon 200W.

One of the companies that will soon show their cards is OnePlus. The new OnePlus 10T Pro is expected to add 150W Warp Charge technology, to match what we have already seen with the Realme GT Neo 3. Currently the OnePlus 10 Pro stays at 80W.

Another company that can show its cards is Huawei. This September is expected the arrival of the Huawei Mate 50 and fast charging could be one of the highlights. For the moment no figures have been leaked, but it may be that Richard Yu’s promise that they had reached 200W is true.

On a prominent level Motorola also wants to stand out. One of its executives unveiled a futuristic 125W fast charging, for an upcoming flagship with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor codenamed ‘Frontier’. Currently the Motorola Edge 30 Pro comes with 68W.

As we have done with cell phones, here we leave you with a comparison table with the latest fast charging technologies from different manufacturers, along with the expected date and the charging times they promise.

Fast charging has become increasingly important in recent years. The challenge is not only to increase power, which is relatively straightforward, but to do so without unduly impacting battery life. Managing temperature is tricky. There is also the problem of compatibility with different chargers.

Faced with this, some Chinese manufacturers are betting on a universal fast charging system. A standard that already exists with Power Delivery, whose 3.1 specification allows delivering power up to 240 W. As we can see, there is plenty of room for improvement so that the cell phones of the coming years will offer even faster fast charging.

On ToastyBits | Fast Charger Buying Guide: types of fast charging, how to know if my phone is compatible and featured models