Qualcomm has announced Quick Charge 3.0, the latest version of its fast charging standard, which the company claims can charge up devices four times faster than normal charging speeds.
The new technology, which comes embedded into the upcoming Snapdragon 820 chipset, is dubbed by Qualcomm as its "fastest, most efficient charging technology to date." When Quick Charge 1.0 was unveiled, the technology was able to offer up to 40 percent faster charging than normal charging speeds. A year later, Quick Charge 2.0 upped the ante by boosting charging speeds by 75 percent.
Quick Charge 3.0 creates an entirely new ball game together by allowing users to charge their devices from 0 to 80 percent in just 35 minutes, says Qualcomm. It is double the speed of Quick Charge 1.0 and 38 percent faster than Quick Charge 2.0.
"We are significantly enhancing the capabilities and benefits offered by Quick Charge 3.0 to bring fast charging technology to all," Alex Katouzian, Qualcomm senior vice president and general manager, says in a statement. "Quick Charge 3.0 addresses a primary consumer challenge with today's mobile devices in helping users restore battery life quickly and efficiently, and does so through leading technology and a robust ecosystem including leading device and accessory OEMs."
The newest standard is made possible through what Qualcomm calls Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV). This is an algorithm that tells the smartphone how much voltage to request during charging to allow the phone to safely and efficiently go up a higher voltage. The standard now supports a dozen of voltages between 3.6V and 20V spaced out in 200V increments. In comparison, Quick Charge 2.0 only offers 5V, 9V, 10V and 20V.
While the earlier versions of the standard support wall chargers only, Quick Charge 3.0 is also available for battery packs, car chargers and power controllers. Additionally, it is compatible with several types of connectors, including the latest USB Type-C standard and earlier standards such as USB Type-A and Micro-USB.
Quick Charge will become available in smartphones running the upcoming Snapdragon 820 and that possibly includes the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Xiaomi Mi 5. Mid-range processors, such as the newly unveiled Snapdragon 620, 618 and 430, will also support the new standard.
