Quick Charge (QC) is a proprietary battery charging protocol developed by Qualcomm, used for managing power delivered over USB, mainly by communicating to the power supply and negotiating a voltage.
Quick Charge is used by certain chargers with devices that run on Qualcomm system-on-chip (SoCs), such as some phones. Both the device and charger must support QC for QC charging to happen; alternatively, if either fail to implement QC, then regular USB charging happens instead. QC charges batteries in devices faster than standard USB allows by increasing the output voltage supplied by the USB charger, while adopting techniques to prevent the battery damage caused by uncontrolled fast charging and regulating the incoming voltage internally. Many chargers that implement Quick Charge 2.0 and later are wall adaptors, but it is implemented on some in-car chargers, and some power banks use it to both receive and deliver charge.
Quick Charge is also used by other manufacturers' proprietary rapid-charging systems.
Details
Quick Charge is a proprietary technology that can charge battery-powered devices, primarily mobile phones, at power levels exceeding the 7.5 watts (5volts at 1.5amps) possible in the USB BC 1.2 standard, using existing USB cables. The higher voltage available allows more power (watts) to be supplied through wires without excessive heating. As current is lower for the same power if voltage is increased, there is less resistive loss, which becomes significant for longer cables.
Numerous other companies have competing technologies, including MediaTekPump Express and OPPO VOOC (licensed to OnePlus as Dash Charge), the latter of which supplies higher current without voltage increase, relying on thicker USB wires to handle the current without overheating, as described in VOOC §Technology.[1]
Circuit board to simulate QuickCharge voltage request signals
Though not publicly documented, the voltage negotiation between device and charger has been reverse-engineered, and a custom voltage can be manually requested from the charger using a trigger circuit that simulates the negotiation to an end device.[2][3]
For Quick Charge charging to happen, both the power supply and the device being charged must implement it; otherwise charging falls back to the standard USB ten watts.
Quick Charge 2.0 introduced an optional feature called Dual Charge (initially called Parallel Charging),[4] using two PMICs to split the power into 2 streams to reduce phone temperature.[5]
Quick Charge 3.0 introduced INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimal Voltage), Battery Saver Technologies, HVDCP+, and optional Dual Charge+. INOV is an algorithm that determines the optimum power transfer while maximizing efficiency. Battery Saver Technologies aims to maintain at least 80% of the battery's original charge capacity after 500 charge cycles.[6] Qualcomm claims Quick Charge 3.0 is up to 4–6°C cooler, 16% faster and 38% more efficient than Quick Charge 2.0, and that Quick Charge 3.0 with Dual Charge+ is up to 7–8°C cooler, 27% faster and 45% more efficient than Quick Charge 2.0 with Dual Charge.[4]
Quick Charge 4 was announced in December 2016 for the Snapdragon 835 and later chips. Quick Charge 4 implements HVDCP++, optional Dual Charge++, INOV 3.0, and Battery Saver Technologies 2. It is cross-compatible with both USB-C and USB-PD specifications, with fallback to USB-PD if either the charger or device is not QC-compatible. However, Quick Charge 4 chargers are not backward compatible with Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0.[7] It also features additional safety measures to protect against over-voltage, over-current and overheating, as well as cable quality detection. Qualcomm claims Quick Charge 4 with Dual Charge++ is up to 5°C cooler, 20% faster and 30% more efficient than Quick Charge 3.0 with Dual Charge+.[5]
Quick Charge 4+ was announced on June 1, 2017. It introduces Intelligent Thermal Balancing and Advanced Safety Features to eliminate hot spots and protect against overheating and short-circuit or damage to the USB-C connector. Dual Charge++ is mandatory, while in prior versions Dual Charge was optional. Unlike Quick Charge 4, Quick Charge 4+ is fully backward compatible with Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0 devices.[8][9]
Quick Charge 5 was announced on 27 July 2020.[10] With up to 100W of power, on a mobile phone with a 4500mAh battery, Qualcomm claims 50% charge in just 5 minutes. Qualcomm announced that this standard is cross-compatible with USB Power Delivery and Programmable Power Supply (USB PD PPS), and that its technology can communicate with the charger when charging double cells and double the voltage and current out. For instance, a single battery requests 8.8V; the dual cell can then ask the PPS charger to output 17.6 volts and split it in half to the two separate batteries, providing 5.6 amps total to achieve 100 watts. The first phone with this technology was the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra.[11]
Quick Charge 5+ was announced on Sep 10, 2025.[12]
Quick Charge for Wireless Power
On February 25, 2019, Qualcomm announced Quick Charge for Wireless Power. Quick Charge for Wireless Power falls back on the Qi standard by the Wireless Power Consortium if either the charger or device is not compatible.[13]
Universal Fast Charging Specification (UFCS) – Huawei, Honor, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Silergy, Rockchip, Lipton Technology and Onpo Electronics
Notes
↑Some mobile phones deactivate fast charging during operation, and only activate fast charging during standby mode or power-off state.
↑The Galaxy Note 4, released in September 2014, was already equipped with Quick Charge 2.0.[17]
↑Because Quick Charge 3.0 power supplies are backwards-compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, Quick Charge 3.0 chargers are often able to deliver more power to Quick Charge 2.0 loads than Quick Charge 2.0 chargers, since Quick Charge 3.0 chargers can provide higher currents at the same voltages.
↑Samsung's own 15W Quick Charge 2.0 mobile phone chargers can produce only 5 and 9 volts (at 2A and 1.67A respectively), not 12 volts (at which 1.25A is possible in some other 15W Quick Charge 2.0 chargers).[37][38]
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