If you were asked to choose the 2 most important features on your phone, what would they be? For me, it would be battery life and fast charging. I’ve been fast charging my phones for almost a year now, and I can’t imagine going back to my slow charging way of life. Leaving our phones on the charger all night is so 2016, wouldn’t you agree? In this post, I’ll show you how you can fast charge your phone (even if you didn’t know you could!).
I’ve modified Sylvia Duckworth’s famous image to show my 2018 hierarchy of needs… which includes fast charging. 🙂
I routinely get around 50% charge in 30 minutes on my Mate 10 Pro and my iPhone X. It’s life-changing! Here’s some charging data I collected for you:
The first thing you need to do is check that your phone has the fast charging technology built into it. You can’t fast charge a phone that isn’t compatible with the technology. Check this list of smartphones. It’s mostly newer phones.
If you have a Samsung phone, the process is different than what this blog post describes since Samsung has their own fast charging system. If you have an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X or fast charging capable Android phone – the information in this post will work for you. Many phones support fast charging technology, but they don’t come with a fast charger. This post is for people who have one of those phones!
To achieve an impressive charging time, the latest chargers and smartphones must communicate well with each other. They must regulate both charging voltage and amperage to minimize charging time without creating an unsafe charging condition that could result in battery overheating, short-circuiting… or worst case scenario, starting a fire in your home, vehicle or bag. Thankfully this process is safer and faster now than ever before.
How to Fast Charge Your Phone (even if you didn’t think you could!)
Before going any further, be sure to check that your smartphone supports fast charging technology. I linked a massive list of those phones above. It’s over 300 phones! If your phone was made in 2016 or before, it’s most likely not on the list. In that case, you should stop what you’re doing and go upgrade your phone immediately. (jk)
If your phone supports fast charge technology, but you’re not able to fast charge – that simply means you need to buy the components required to make the fast charge work. The newest, fastest charging systems require a USB-C connection at the charging source to provide enough source electron flow to achieve fast charging.
For an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X (the only Apple devices that support fast charging), you’ll need one of the following USB Power Adapters:
Apple 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C power adapter or third-party USB-C power adapter that supports USB power delivery. You can read more on this Apple support page. You’ll also need a USB-C to Lightning Cable. It’s not cheap – but nothing with Apple ever is.
For Android, I recommend the following wall charger and cable:
I have both of these, and I love them!
For extremely ravenous battery consumers (you know who you are), here are two portable batteries that support fast charging technology:
This one comes with the power adapter and cable listed above – plus it comes with a high capacity portable battery. This thing is a beast and can even be used to charge USB-C laptops (like Lenovo Yoga 920 and Apple MacBook Pro). I have this one (and I love it) but beware, it’s huge and heavy!
This little battery is cute and petite (about the size of a standard smartphone). It supports fast charging and will rescue you from most minor battery emergencies.
I’m surprised how many people have phones that are compatible with fast charging technology, but they aren’t using that feature. It’s one of those things that you don’t know you need or want until you experience it – and once you do – it suddenly becomes a necessity. Once you try it, I promise, you’ll never want to go back.
Happy fast charging!
Photo credit: Recharging Danbo Power feature image (by Takashi Hososhima) / Hierarchy of needs infographic (by Sylvia Duckworth)
