These days, each smartphone manufacturer has its own rapid charging technology that it touts as being the fastest, or something like. The only drawback to such is that the quickest technology is limited to one. Others may go more quickly. So we made the decision to finally make amends. To determine which charging method was actually the fastest, we put technologies from Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Motorola, Huawei, Google, and Apple to the test.
The Fast Charging Technologies
We have devices such as the Galaxy S8 with Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charging, the Mi 6 with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge, the OnePlus 5T with the renowned Dash Charge, the Moto G5S Plus with Motorola’s Turbo Charge, the Huawei Honor View 10 with Supercharge, the Pixel 2 XL with USB Power Delivery, and the iPhone X with..well, they just call it fast charging, right? Why? since the batteries are all of a similar size.
I formatted all of the devices and set three requirements for charging them in order to even out the rest of the situation. A charge from 0 to 100 with the phones turned off, a charge from 15 to 100 with the screens on, and a charge from 15 to 100 with the screens off. Because I disagree with Apple’s business model of selling fast chargers separately, we used the chargers that were included in the package and, for the iPhone, the ordinary charger that the company includes with the device. Ignore that.
Fast Charging Test 1: Charging from 0% to 100%
I connected the phones to their chargers after fully discharging them. The next step involved waiting. To my astonishment, the View 10’s Super Charge technology managed to charge it to 100% in 1 hour and 21 minutes. Considering its larger 3,750 mAh battery, this is quite astounding. If you’re worried about the OnePlus 5T, which I know you are, don’t be. Dash Charge was only 2 minutes behind, and the OnePlus 5T finished charging in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
The Mi6 came in third, requiring 1 hour and 27 minutes to fully charge, but the competition between the View 10, 5T, and Mi 6 was quite tight and, to be honest, very entertaining. Then came the Galaxy S8, followed shortly by the Pixel 2XL and Moto G5S Plus. That was unexpected, but hey, it was also cool to see.
The iPhone X was a major letdown. I mean, I knew it would take longer, but I didn’t realise how much longer. The iPhone required three hours and ten minutes to charge completely. Wow.
Winners:
- Honor View 10 (SuperCharge): 1 hour 21 minutes
- OnePlus 5T (Dash Charge): 1 hour 23 minutes
- Xiaomi Mi 6 (Quick Charge 3.0): 1 hour 27 minutes
Fast Charging Test 2: Charging from 15% to 100% with Screen On
I continued testing the phones from 15 to 100 with the screen on, unfazed by the disappointing findings of the iPhone X. You all probably saw the OnePlus advertisement where they put Dash Charge to the test alongside other technologies on a screen. I put the OnePlus’ apparent superiority in screen-on tests to the test, and it turned out to be accurate.
The OnePlus 5T reached 50% charge in just 18 minutes. Allow me to pause here so you can appreciate how absurd that charging pace is. The 5T has increased to 72% in under 30 minutes! The Mi 6 was the closest phone thus far, coming in at 55%. The OnePlus 5T was finished in one hour and fourteen minutes.
The View 10 took a little longer to fully charge, taking 1 hour and 18 minutes overall—once again, a pretty fast charging speed—so dash charge won, but not by much.
The Mi 6, S8, and G5S Plus were the devices that came after both of our winners. Surprisingly, the Pixel 2 XL required 3 hours and 18 minutes and the iPhone X 3 hours and 56 minutes to fully charge. Let me stop here once more so you can realise that it took 4 hours to go from 15 to 100. I was beginning to wonder why we were even comparing this phone to the others at this point. A full charge takes four hours. Oh no, Apple.
Winners:
- OnePlus 5T (Dash Charge): 1 hour 14 minutes
- Honor View 10 (SuperCharge): 1 hour 18 minutes
- Xiaomi Mi 6: 1 hour 35 muinutes
Fast Charging Test 3: Charging from 15% to 100% with Screen Off
I almost quit testing the iPhone X, but I had the hope that it may do better in the 15 to 100 test with the screens off. Oh my, was I ever wrong.
As usual, Dash Charge got right to work, and the 5T reached 50% in just 17 minutes. It reached 73% in under 30 minutes! I was liking this, my oh my. The competitors that were closest to it were far away. At the 30-minute point, the Mi6 was at 64%, while the others were, well, even further behind! The 5T was finished in just 1 hour and 14 minutes, and I came to the realisation that Dash Charge is the technology that rules them all, screen on or off.
The Galaxy S8 took the place of the View 10 after the 5T. The View 10 and G5S Plus required exactly the same amount of time, 1 hour and 44 minutes, to reach 100% after the Mi 6, which did it in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The very clear, stunning loss, the iPhone X, arrived after the Pixel 2 XL. Even so, this time it only took a little under three hours, so I believe we can call it a success.
Winners:
- OnePlus 5T (Dash Charge): 1 hour 14 minutes
- Galaxy S8 (Adaptive Fast Charge): 1 hour 16 minutes
- Xiaomi Mi 6 (Quick Charge 3.0): 1 hour 20 minutes
Which is the Best Fast Charging Technology?
If there is one thing we can take away from this entire test, it is that Huawei’s Supercharge and OnePlus’ Dash Charge are, on average, the fastest of all the technologies we looked at. In fact, you really can’t go wrong with any of these technologies because they’re all quite quick, unless you choose the iPhone X, which takes a little bit longer than other phones—like, almost an hour or two longer.
We can also infer that OnePlus is not lying when they claim that they can provide a day’s worth of power in just half an hour. 30 minutes to a 73% charge. What kind of magic is this? In my experience using the OnePlus 5, 73% of the battery can actually get me through the day. If it doesn’t, I can always put it in for 15 minutes to recharge it and get it back to 50%.
While conducting these tests, I picked up on a few tendencies. First of all, Dash Charge accelerates quickly at first, much like a sprinter in a 100-meter race, but it soon realises that it is racing a marathon rather than a sprint and slows down, which is when Huawei and Xiaomi typically overtake it. Their tech recognises that it’s a marathon and gets going just quickly enough to maintain consistency.
In general, Dash Charge is the most advanced of these technologies.
That Huawei’s SuperCharge comes pretty close is undoubtedly noteworthy. I mean, under no circumstances did I anticipate Supercharging to overtake Dash Charge and win. Other than that, Qualcomm’s Quick Charge is unquestionably among the best available. Google uses USB power supply, which has a significant impact on its speeds. The iPhone X can save the day in this situation. The Pixel 2 XL doesn’t look all that horrible considering how long it took.
The Ultimate Fast Charging Battle!
The New Fast Charging Battery from Huawei Charges from 0% to 48% in Just 5 Minutes
