Glossary
Fast charging
A class of charging technologies that deliver high wattage (45–300 W) to refill a phone battery much faster than the 5–20 W of legacy USB. Requires both compatible charger and device.
Fast charging negotiates a higher voltage/current with the device via USB Power Delivery (PD) or a proprietary handshake (SuperVOOC, HyperCharge, etc.).
Protocols
- USB PD (PD 3.1 / EPR) — open standard, up to 240 W.
- OPPO/OnePlus SuperVOOC — 80–150 W proprietary, requires SuperVOOC charger.
- Xiaomi HyperCharge — 90–120 W proprietary.
Battery longevity tradeoff
Fast charging produces heat. Most modern phones temperature-throttle aggressively: the published 120 W rating typically holds for the first 50% and tapers thereafter. The headline "0–100% in 26 minutes" is real but the last 30% is much slower than the math implies.
Charging to 80% and stopping is the longevity-friendly approach if you care about battery health 3+ years out.
Where this matters
Categories that use fast charging
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