which charger is the best to buy?

Just about all phones from all price ranges come with fast chargers. Sometimes they have one in the box, and other times you have to buy one separately. There are also different standards. We explain what you should take into account when buying a charger.

Fast charging or not fast charging?

Phone manufacturers increasingly assume that you already have a charger at home, and for ecological reasons, a fast charger can sometimes be missing in the box of a new phone. That is the case with new top devices from Samsung and the X series from Nokia. More manufacturers are likely to follow.

Still, you don’t want to miss out on the benefits of fast charging, because such an extra powerful charger can be of great added value. The best fast chargers on the market are changing the way you use your phone. You simply charge for a few minutes in between instead of all night long.

Also, don’t worry that your phone’s battery will wear out faster because you use a fast charger, stories like this experimental charger from Xiaomi. With the current fast chargers on the market you will not experience that problem. If you are concerned about the long-term life of your battery, then you better follow these tips.

Can my phone charge fast?

Okay, so you definitely want a fast charger, but where to start? First of all, you want to know the answer to this question, before you start looking for the right charger. Can your phone charge quickly, and with which standard exactly?

The easiest way to discover the answer to that question is to take the box of your phone out of the closet at home. You often see references to fast charging on the packaging. Look for terms like “Qualcomm QuickCharge,” “USB-PD,” or any fast-charging technology the manufacturer lists. Also pay attention to how fast your phone can charge, expressed in watts. For example: 15 watts, 20 watts, 40 watts, and so on.

If you can’t find that info on the packaging, look in the documentation in the box or on the website of the manufacturer of your phone. If you still have the supplied fast charger, you may already be able to find information on the charger itself. Although that is not the most reliable method, because there is a chance that your phone came with a normal ‘slow’ charger.

Have you found what you were looking for, keep the information at hand. So you want to learn more about the fast charging standard on the one hand and the power with which your smartphone can charge, expressed in watts.

Which charger should I buy?

Well now comes the more difficult part. There are different types of fast charging technologies that are compatible with each other in some cases, but sometimes not. Google noted two years ago that it will be very difficult for users to choose the right accessories if each manufacturer or chip maker advances its own fast charging technology. For this reason, it became mandatory for devices that appeared in the autumn of 2019 with their own fast charging technology to also support the universal USB-PD standard.

So if you have a recent phone from OPPO, for example, that works with its own Super VOOC technology, it also supports USB-PD. So you no longer have to buy your charger directly from your manufacturer, although it is possible that you can only charge with the highest power with the official charger from the manufacturer. This is a fact that we see in all phone brands from the Chinese BBK group, in particular: OPPO, Realme, OnePlus, Vivo and IQOO.

Qualcomm QuickCharge

Do you notice that your phone supports the popular Qualcomm QuickCharge fast charging technology? In that case, you should look at the version of Qualcomm’s fast charging technology and also the maximum power your phone can charge. Next, find an accessory that also supports that version of Quick Charge, or a more recent one, and can charge with the maximum power your phone can handle.

The Qualcomm table below will help you find the right match between the QuickCharge version of your phone and that of the charger in question. Note that phones that support USB-PD but not QuickCharge can still fast charge with a QuickCharge charger if it has version 4.0 or later.

Do you have a phone with a MediaTek chipset?

And what if your phone has a MediaTek chipset instead of a Qualcomm semiconductor? MediaTek phones work with the Pump Express fast charging technology, but you can safely forget that name. Importantly, that technology simply works according to the USB-PD standard and chargers that are compatible with it.

Do you buy one with or without a cable, and what with multiple ports?

To be sure of the best fast charging performance, it is better to buy a charger that comes with its own USB-C cable. If you only buy the charger itself and use a cable from home, you are not sure that you can charge with the highest possible power. Also pay attention when you see chargers that come with multiple USB ports. Often not every port supports fast charging or you only get the promised power if you only charge one device at a time. So take a good look at the product description or ask questions about the product before you buy it. That way you buy it with the right expectations.

Do you attach great importance to fast charging? Does it matter if you are looking for a new phone? Do you have any other tips for finding the right charger? Maybe you prefer to use wireless chargers? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

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