Qualcomm has offered an in-house charging tech for over a decade under the Quick Charge label, covering everything from portable gadgets to laptops. With the latest iteration of its charging stack, the company is promising more versatility, lower heat generation, and, most importantly, cost savings for an average consumer.
What’s the big picture?
Qualcomm Quick Charge 5+ doesn’t bring any notable boost in raw charging speeds, but it offers some crucial benefits to make the experience better, without compromising its ability to charge a device from 0-50% in just five minutes. The biggest upgrade is the improved thermal pipeline, which ensures that there is minimal heat generated during the charging process.
This is achieved by intelligently adjusting the supplied current and voltage based on the device requirements. When the current levels are high, the voltage will be dynamically dropped within the 20V/7A range. Thanks to this approach, Qualcomm promises sustained fast charging without any drops due to a spike in temperature.
“Other high voltage charging methods generate more heat, forcing devices to slow down charging to stay within safe limits,” says the company. So, whether the device is plugged in at rest, or being used for intensive tasks like gaming, it can top up its battery rapidly without things getting toasty.
It’s not all about speed
The intelligent allocation of power delivery to devices not only avoids heat build-up, but also brings cost savings for customers. Qualcomm says Quick Charge 5+ enables reduced “costs by an average of $2 per accessory on compute devices” owing to the lowering of voltage during the charging process.
How exactly those costs are passed down to customers remains to be seen. In hindsight, low heat build-up not only avoids fire hazard scenarios, but also reduces the thermal stress on batteries, which plays a crucial role in keeping them healthy for the long run. Simply put, the battery will retain its electrochemical mojo and reduce the chances of a replacement.
The first wave of devices that support the Quick Charge 5+ standard will make an appearance at the Snapdragon Summit 2025 towards the end of the year. Notably, the latest charging tech from the company also promises backwards compatibility with devices that support the older Quick Charge 2.0, 3.0, 3.0+, 4.0, 4.0+, and 5 standards.
