How much does fast charging cost in terms of battery capacity?

27 March 2022
Have you noticed that phones with fast charging tend to have smaller batteries than phones without? We investigate whether the trade off is worth it.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • Twq
  • 27 Mar 2022

DrakeX, 27 Mar 2022This article feels weird. I thought the writer made a study... moreThis is the most useless piece they have written. They had the chance to test out capacity loss due to charging, instead they try to make a science out of sales strategies lmao.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • mpg
    • 27 Mar 2022

    Sammy, 27 Mar 2022Where are Samsung's 25w and 45w devices?No real difference about 5 mins between them only from 0 it'll reach 50% abit faster then literally be the same about 1 hour to charge them

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • mE0
      • 27 Mar 2022

      Charge your device how you like, as with everything else, it’s personal preference.

      I charge my ibore 13 (standard) once every 2 days….I put it on charge either first thing in the morning or when I get home….no in between midday charges.
      I like my iPhone just as much as my moto e20 and Samsung a52s
      iPhone is my work and banking device.

      One day I might jump on the bandwagon of fast charging oppo or xiaomi….the xiaomi 12 pro or oppo find x5 pro look sweet.

      Enjoy your life and your device, it’s your choice

        This article feels weird. I thought the writer made a study of how fast charging affects battery health but totally different from what I actually read. My Realme X2 Pro has 4,000 mAh and is advertised to charge at 55W. Now there's a Realme GT Neo 3 that has 4,500 mAh AND 150W charging. Not only is it bigger but also faster. The previous models also had the same battery capacity. Maybe the next model they'll bump it to 5,000 mAh at 150W charging. I have a theory as to why manufacturers use smaller batteries, it's to boast their shorter charging times even though it's possible they could still use the same battery capacity.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • sSI
          • 27 Mar 2022

          It would be great if cellphones would allow us to take off the batteries and pop in a new one like in the old days. We wouldn't worry about fast charging or battery capacity anymore. We would just buy as many spare batteries as needed. We would not have to worry about losing battery capacity either.

            • S
            • Sammy
            • 7tS
            • 27 Mar 2022

            Where are Samsung's 25w and 45w devices?

              • J
              • James
              • Tr4
              • 27 Mar 2022

              The only thing is we cant replace the old batteries due to the phones design nowadays. 120w is a handy feature indeed. All phones with 120W charging speeds should have removable back design.

                I would rather trade the 1000w charging for the old 4-5 hours charge, and have a battery warranty on 2 years and a phone that lasts 5-7 days per charge. With the faster charging, the shorter the battery warranty is. Now it's actually only 3 months battery warranty, because that's obviously how fast it dies from the speedy charging we have today. 3 years ago it was 6 months warranty.

                  Simply if you use two separate blocks of battery cells with accompanying electronics of course you will lose let's say 10 - 15% of capacity for equal volume compare to using only one.
                  For example if 25 - 33W fast charging is good enough for single battery block then duble that is perfectly the same thing when using two.
                  So much fuss about something so obvious as usual.

                    For me, anything above 50W is overkill. Even 45W is more than fast enough for my daily use. I'd rather let the phone steadily charge the battery while maintaining the overall heat rather than giving a huge burst of current while making the battery hot along the way. Instead of focusing on overkill charging speeds, what smartphone brands should do is adapt heat suppression features as Sony and ASUS have done with their phones. I have the chance to try out Sony's H.S power control feature from my friend's Xperia 5 Mk3 while playing AetherSX2 emulator and it's a complete revelation. That is something I want more smartphone brands to embrace.

                      I found 30-33W more than enough, unitl I got my 11T Pro. The stupidly fast 120W got me addicted. The battery lasts a day easily with moderate use and some gaming with lots of BT on. However, having it full in 20 minutes means that I do not worry at all.
                      It also uses dual cells (2500mAh each) and the 120W full power doesn't work more than a short time and gradually drops in pwoer so the hyper charging isn't as hot or damaging as one might think.
                      But I will happily rever to 30-33W again if my phone could last as much as the superb Mi Note 10 Lite.

                        Thank you for this detailed analysis of tech usage amd hardware distribution and price analysis.

                          • D
                          • AnonD-1033007
                          • g8K
                          • 27 Mar 2022

                          I use Samsung's 18w charger for my A52s, i never let my phone below 20% (sometimes 25-30) so it takes around 1 hour to charge which is enough for my needs.

                            Nice topic ! Btw i always used 33W charging brick to charge my Mi10U, i rarely used its 120W original brick. I always charge it in a room with air-conditioner.

                            For more than 1 year of usage, the battery life of my phone feels pretty same. Only 1 time charge per day when workdays.
                            If playing heavy games (asphalt, emulator, genshin), the duration from 100% to 15% still about 3h30min, feels same like the first time.

                            So the tips for better battery life is avoid high temperature like 120W charger, avoid outdoor charging, wireless charging, & dont use the phone while you charge it

                              • C
                              • Cash
                              • X$u
                              • 27 Mar 2022

                              Manufacturers make battery smaller to help with their advertising claim of "100% in 15 min" or "50% in 5 min". Its a pretty dodgy strategy if you ask me. I would take an extra 500mah over extra fast charging any day as long as the charging speed is more than 20w

                                well. i charge my A52S on 15W charger. since android 12 they implemented that thing to stop at 85%, so for 15-20 to 85 it takes 1 hour. I am not a power user, so I am ok with that. I still have a j6, 4 years old, still preatty good battery life, I will say it didnt degrade more then 15%. accubattery doesnt seam so accurate anyway. im planning to keep the phone for more then 5 years so we see how it goes.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • fCC
                                  • 27 Mar 2022

                                  Unnecessarily fast charging speeds also kill the battery fast

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • xq5
                                    • 27 Mar 2022

                                    Even 15W is enough. Only takes 1.5 hours to fully charge 4500mah battery.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • Kxf
                                      • 27 Mar 2022

                                      charging doesn't matter.whatthe point if u have big capacity mah but power hungry + overheating cpu?

                                        • N
                                        • N
                                        • 3Sw
                                        • 27 Mar 2022

                                        Slow chargers are better in terms of how long you can use your phone.
                                        The percentage you see is just a number and it doesn't show the true usable capacity that the battery has in the moment. The energy density is different with the different charging speeds. A lot of people noticed that. And that is because the battery is chemical part, not electronics. As long we use current lithium technology. Fast chargers damage battery and the energy density is not great. So what you see is not what you get.
                                        I use 2,5W charger ( 5V - 0,5A, 4-9 euros in amazon) and my battery of 13 mini last very long. I've never charged my phone to 100%. What will be perfect for me is 1W charger for overnight charging. And I am not saying I will not use faster chargers here and there, but most people use the charger overnight.
                                        For example a top up my phone to 38% yesterday and for 15 hours I have 6 hours on screen time and still have 10% battery.
                                        Overall long overdue article for the most critical and outdated part of the smartphones, but still not complete.

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