Compare Phones with Fast Charging
Are you looking for a phone with fast charging? Here you’ll find all devices with a fast-charging feature: models that can recharge a significant portion of their battery in a short amount of time—handy if you often do quick top-ups instead of leaving your phone plugged in overnight. For each device, you’ll see the providers listed side by side, so you can independently compare power output and charging technology. Refine your search using the filters on this page.
What should you look for when fast charging?
Fast charging depends on three things that need to work together: the phone, the charger, and the cable. If any one of these three doesn’t support high power, charging will revert to a slower speed. Furthermore, the charger isn’t always included in the box, and in practice, you’ll usually only achieve the highest speed with a charger from the same brand.
How do phones with fast charging really differ?
- Power in watts: this determines how quickly the battery charges, although the benefit per additional watt decreases
- Charging technology: USB Power Delivery is the common standard; in addition, manufacturers have proprietary technologies that only achieve their maximum speed with their own chargers
- Wireless charging: convenient for quick top-ups, but still slower than charging with a cable
- Battery capacity: a larger battery takes longer to charge at the same power output, so power and capacity only tell the whole story when considered together
You don’t need to compare the connectors. Since the end of December 2024, all new phones in the European Union have a USB-C port. If a device charges faster than 15 watts, it must also be able to do so via USB Power Delivery. As a result, any USB-C charger works with any new phone; only the maximum speed requires a charger and cable suitable for that power output.
Be mindful of high power output if you frequently do quick top-ups, such as 15 minutes before heading out the door.
Pay attention to battery capacity if you want to get through an entire day without needing a power outlet; in that case, check out phones with long battery life.
Pay attention to what’s included in the box if you don’t want to buy a separate charger; otherwise, check out the selection of chargers right away.
What does the wattage tell you?
The wattage listed on the packaging is a peak value, not an average. Devices usually maintain that peak power for only a few minutes before scaling back to conserve battery life and keep the temperature under control. As a result, two devices with a significant difference on paper may actually perform similarly in practice. For a fair comparison, look at the charging time to 50 percent and to full capacity, not just the number itself. Above the threshold where fast charging begins, each incremental increase yields a smaller benefit, so higher isn’t necessarily better.
What do all those brand names mean?
Manufacturers like to give their charging technology its own name, such as SuperVOOC (Oppo and OnePlus), HyperCharge (Xiaomi), Super Fast Charging (Samsung), and TurboPower (Motorola). In each case, it boils down to the phone and charger communicating with each other to determine the voltage and current at which they’ll operate. If you use a charger from a different brand, the device will simply continue charging using the shared standard—just not as quickly.
Is fast charging bad for your battery?
No, under normal use, you’ll hardly notice any difference. Modern phones reduce the charging power as the battery fills up, continuously monitor the temperature, and automatically stop once the battery is full. Charging at the highest power does generate more heat than slow charging, and over a few years, that will result in a slight loss of capacity. For the same reason, charging in direct sunlight or under a pillow is not recommended. Many devices also have a setting that limits charging to around 80 to 85 percent, which preserves the battery’s life in the long run.
