Fast Charging: The difference between Power Delivery and Quick Charge
Posted on Jul 30th 2020
At Cellular Accessories For Less, we offer a plethora of solutions for your device charging needs… but we also understand it can get confusing. We’ve put together this cheat sheet to help you further understand how to best charge your device.
What does fast charging mean?
If you have a fast charge-enabled smartphone, you can upgrade from the 5 or 10 watt charger that came in the packaging to a higher powered charger, which will do the job much faster.
What’s the difference between milliamps and watts?
Amps measures the flow of electricity, while Watts measures how much power is behind it. Let’s say you’re in a water gun duel with a friend and you’re blasting them with your Nerf Super Soaker. You would use amps to measure how fast the water is traveling through the air, and you’d use watts to measure the pressure force of the water gun, which is causing water to shoot out.
One amp is equal to 1000 milliamps.
In order to actually charge your fast charging-enabled device quickly, you will need a quick charge or power delivery-enabled power adapter with at least 12 watts and 2000mA. Of course, the higher the watts and amps, the faster the charge.
What’s the difference between Quick Charge and Power Delivery?
Quick Charge technology, developed by Qualcomm, was the first fast charging standard in the mobile market, 75% faster than standard charging. It is compatible with USB-C, MicroUSB, USB-A, and Lightning connector types. Quick Charge is found in many Android phones. In fact, this technology has been licensed to companies like Samsung and Motorola, who then add their own marketing names (Turbo Power, Adaptive Fast Charging, etc)... but it’s all Quick Charge. Since the technology is the same, you could use a Samsung Quick Charger on a Motorola phone, and still be able to take advantage of the fast charging technology.
Power Delivery was developed by a consortium of technology companies called the USB Implementers Forum. Power Delivery charges four times faster than standard charging, but is only compatible with USB-C and Lightning connector types. This technology can be found in Google Pixel phones, as well as some of the newer Apple devices — though, Apple phones don’t come with a PD charger, so you would need to buy a PD adapter, as well as a USB-C to Lightning cable.
We hope this was helpful to you! Should you have any further questions or needs, we are here for you at Sales@CellularForLess.com and 310-220-2250.