Whether you’ve been in the charging space for a long time, have never heard of Quick Charge and would like to know what it is or may you just stumbled here by accident; It’s important to know about Quick Charge technology. Quick Charge technology is a somewhat of a new technology but it’s being used by plenty of people these days.
Quick Charge tech is used within charging devices which can be:
- Car Chargers
- USB Wall Chargers
- Power Banks
Made from a tech company called Qualcomm, Quick Charge is seen to be the messiah of the charging world because Quick Charge technology is able to charge compatible devices at fast speeds. Notice the “compatible” part? Yeah, Quick Charge tech is compatible with only select devices that feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Processors and this is good news because many devices use the Snapdragon processor.
So why should you care about Quick Charge?
Well, it all started with Qualcomm Quick Charge 1.0 and as you can expect, the devices that are compatible with Quick Charge 1.0 would now be considered old. Here’s the list of devices that are compatible with Quick Charge 1.0: Compatible Devices with Quick 1.0. Quick Charge 1.0 is able to draw 2.0A current of power from nearly any source that it’s connected to and this allows for faster charging with more power being supplied to a device. Version 1.0 was only capable of using 5 volt supply of power, though.
Quick Charge 1.0 today is basically what can be seen as “Normal Charging” today, back then pushing the 2.0A envelope was fast enough but times have changed.
| Quick Charge 1.0 | |
|---|---|
| Voltage | 5v |
| Max Current | 2.0A |
| Compatible Snapdragon Processor | Snapdragon 600 |
Then came Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 and this is where things got interesting. Many devices featured the Snapdragon processor that was compatible with Quick Charge 2.0 and this time the charging truly exceeded the expectations of the users. Voltage wise the Quick Charge 2.0 tech has options of 5v/ 9v/ 12v which meant more power and the max current of 3A which was a one up from the traditional Quick Charge.
| Quick Charge 2.0 | |
|---|---|
| Voltages | 5v/9v/12v |
| Max Current | 3A |
| Snapdragon Compatible Processors | Snapdragon 200, 400, 410, 615, 800, 801, 805 |
Quick Charge 2.0 is where real comparison of charging speed came from. Take a look at this comparison:
Within about an hour Quick Charge 2.0 was nearly able to charge a device to 100% and this comparison greatly intrigued people. Here’s the list of devices that are compatible with Quick Charge 2.0: Quick Charge 2.0 Compatible
The current Quick Charge is now on 3.0. Quick Charge 3.0 is the latest in the Quick Charge tech and it’s quite limited on how many devices that it can work on. In fact, the compatible devices with Quick Charge 3.0 are so few that the list is right here:
- Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe
- HTC 10
- HP Elite x3
- LG G5
- HTC One A9
So what does Quick Charge 3.0 have? Does it have amazing faster charging than 2.0? Well actually, not really. Quick Charge 3.0 was mainly focused on creating a more stable platform for charging. This means that voltage with Quick Charge 3.0 was capable of higher voltage but not current. With higher voltage capabilities of 3.2V-20V, the current of charging can stay the same throughout charging the device.
Charging with Quick Charge 2.0 was good but Quick Charge 3.0 is a way to make charging even greater by stabilizing the charging that QC 2.0 featured. With 3.0A current charging, Quick Charge 3.0 can make the current a constant 3.0A supply of current. This is important and makes Quick Charge 3.0 better because giving a constant speed of 3.0A current to a device will no doubt charge it faster with a more stable voltage amount.
| Quick Charge 3.0 | |
|---|---|
| Voltages | 3.2v - 20v dynamic |
| Max Power | 3A / 18W |
| Snapdragon Compatible Processors | Snapdragon 820, 620, 618, 617, and 430 |
It’s important to know that Quick Charge 2.0 is not necessarily worse or any lower than Quick Charge 3.0. The both types of technology still feature a current of 3.0A. With QC 3.0 however, there is more assurance that the current being sent to the compatible device is 3.0A.
I have a Quick Charge 3.0 compatible device but don’t want to buy a Quick Charge 3.0 product. Will Quick Charge 2.0 chargers work?
Devices that are Quick Charge 2.0 compatible can still work with a Quick Charge 3.0 charger but they will charge like they would with a Quick Charge 2.0 charger. A Quick Charge 3.0 compatible device will charge with Quick Charge 1.0 and 2.0, so if you think that you must have a Quick Charge 3.0 charger for a Quick Charge 3.0 device well there’s no need to! Quick Charge 3.0 compatible devices are backward compatible.
Where can I find Quick Charge products?
So where you can find products that feature the awesome Qualcomm Quick Charge technology? Quick Charge tech is actually on many devices and you’ll be able to see it on plenty of devices nowadays. Usually, a company that does sell Quick Charge devices will specify if their product does have QC technology and even the product itself will be indicated to have QC tech. Take a look at this:
Take a look at Anker’s PowerPort 2 with Quick Charge 3.0. You can notice that the top one is Quick Charge enabled because of the lightning symbol above with the 3 next to it and the green within the USB port. This is usually how you will physically relate a product to Quick Charge technology.
To figure out what are the best products that feature Qualcomm Quick Charge technology take a look at our upcoming reviews and news at Charger Harbor.
Until next time.
Since 2016, Usman has flourished as an independent tech journalist, reveling in the evaluation of diverse tech gadgets, with a particular fondness for charging technology to ascertain product performance. Besides his journalistic endeavors, he helms the Charger Harbor YouTube channel, where he extends his tech insights to a broader audience.