Today at an event in New York that we attended, Qualcomm announced its lasts generation for its fast charging technology Quick Charge 4. The successor of Quick Charge 3, the new technology will be available with the next-gen Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon S835 that is expected to ship in devices in the first half of 2017.
Quick Charge first version launched in 2013, and today, according to the company, it is supported by more than 150 companies and over 600 million products across multiple categories: from mobile phones to drones, cameras, to VR headsets, mobile routers and wireless pads. You can learn more details about the technology’s history in our dedicated Quick Charge page.
Quick Charge 4 is 20% faster than the 3.0 generation and 2.5 time faster than the first implementation. Qualcomm also improved the efficiency by 30%, meaning that there is less energy loss and heat dissipation during the charging duration, the temperature is decreased by up to 5 degree Celsius. For instance, heat is always bad for charging speed, when it is too hot, the charging speed needs to be reduced, and it is not recommended for batteries as well, because it dilates the material and it can be dangerous.
During the presentation, Qualcomm claimed that Quick Charge 4 provides 5 hours of battery life with 5 minutes of charging a 2750 mAh battery, and, I was told that it really means five hours of talking time on the phone.
The new version supports USB-PD and USB Type C.
When it comes to batteries, safety is important, and Samsung learned it the hard way.
Qualcomm offers enhanced safety features with its 4.0 generation, notably cable detection and protection. Protection is implemented at different points in the charging process, to measure current, voltage and temperature to protect the battery, cables, system and connectors.
Quick Charge 4.0 helps prevent battery over-charging and regulate current during every charge cycle. It will probably improve batteries life expectancy; we know that ultimately a battery dies after a certain amount of charging cycles.
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