Is Oppo’s latest demo proof that fast charging is getting too fast?

Oppo is the latest in a string of companies who have figured out how to fully charge smartphones in minutes, instead of hours. Great, right? The situation may not be as peachy as it seems, though. With faster charging speed comes faster battery degradation, and that’s less then ideal for a few reasons.

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[gabrielgon]

Easy solution: offer extremely fast charging but don't have it enabled by default. Let people use it only when needed. Most people charge their phones over night, so it doesn't matter if it takes 1 or 7 hours to charge, but when you're out of juice and need it, you can heat the heck out of the battery and get charged up quickly only when in need, which nowadays with big batteries and software solutions is rare, so no real impact on battery longevity.

[booooooooooooooooooooooo]

I don’t feel anxiety. I be cruising around on 3% of battery

[bldkillz]

30w charging is already more than sufficient to the be honest, even 25w on my note 10+. 30 minutes gets from 60% in the morning to like 93% which is enough and stays cool

[DelacrixMorgan]

My God, you made me realised that Vivo, Oppo and Realme are under the same parent company!
(Yes, already knew Oppo and OnePlus is the same company)

[coolpoete]

Thanks for posting this, I've always been weary of "super-uber" fast charging technologies. I'd rather have a reliable battery over a longer period of time.

[awkc]

Battery's usually deminish 10-15% per year. Your phone needs to stay between 20-80% to prolong your battery's lifespan.

[shaantalk]

Before covid lockdown, I used travel daily to work and come back home at night. In office we need to move within meeting rooms, cafeterias, desk, other people's desk etc all just to get our work done. If my phone has less battery but charges faster then I get a fear of dead battery. If my it has bigger battery with fast charge is gold. But atleast a big enough battery that lasts through the day so that I don't have to carry a powerbank or charging chord to office is very important to me

[aestheticstudio]

This video has been uploaded at the right time fast charging is necessary but this is getting really out of control it's better for these companies to research and find a new battery technology probably a solid state one rather than just trying to charge li-ion faster preliminary tests show solid state batteries in the lab can be charged 5 times faster without any loss or heat

[TaimatCR]

This is why Sony's battery care and hs technology are great

[piwypd]

having 100% charge on a battery puts stress on it, same on using in with less than 15%, to extend health charge between 20% up to 80%
having a fast charge ( I own real me x 2 pro with 60w) is an advantage, meand that I can be between these range without being attached to the wall, I just charge while having adump or shower and I up to go for the rest of the day.

[Tigerex]

Just make it removable. 0-100% in 5 seconds flat, and no risk of explosion, or degradation.

[Devyn]

I dunno the occasional time my phone dies on me and I can’t charge it for a bit it’s more liberating than anything. It’s nice to disconnect sometimes.

[makatron]

I don't even fast charge everyday, mostly charge overnight and have the fast charger for when I'm in a hurry.

[SaifullahRaes]

Missing the days when I could take out the battery and swap it for a charged one... no wait time at all.

[wayne]

Realme me are using 6c batteries in their new devices. Fast charging has been used in lipo rc cars for years with no issues.

[globalko]

Increase charge speed => Optimize batteries to last 1000 cycles => Increase charge speed, ad infinitum, easy. I don't understand why you are making this a problem, this will probably accelerate battery development

[JordanNeenan]

Whatever Engadget's roadmap to producing 4K videos is, it can't come quickly enough.

[ryanwaasdorp]

Same as overclocking. More voltage, shorter lifespan.

[LNSLateNightSaturday]

I charge my Pixel3a every 2 days, and I do it overnight. I try to keep it between 20 - 80% for long-term longevity, and honestly the 35 watts or so that I get from the included charger is plenty fast for me. Even if I need a quick top-off, I can get up to 70% pretty quickly from almost any battery level.

[empireravenshadow]

Fast charging is a really bad idea for lithium batteries. There's a good reason electric cars and power backups prefer trickle charging. To increase longevity and safety.