Any smartphone compatible with the USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) protocol and equipped with at least a 15W USB-C power adapter technically supports fast charging. Now, standard fast charging lets the battery juice up from dead to 50% in less than 30 minutes.
In pursuit of ever faster fast-charging methods, manufacturers like Xiaomi have resorted to proprietary technology. Xiaomi’s HyperCharge feature, for example, boosts voltage and current values for much quicker 210W charging measured in minutes.
Here’s how 210W charging works and what charging speeds you should expect in real life, including whether such rapid recharging degrades battery health.
How Does 210W Fast Charging Work?
Xiaomi was the first to make 210W charging a reality. In November 2022, it showed off 210W charging, enabling a 4,000 mAh battery to go from 0% to 100% in eight minutes.
The technology permits the Note 12 Explorer from Redmi, a subsidiary of Xiaomi, to recharge its 4300mAh battery fully in nine minutes or up to 66% in just five minutes. By comparison, Xiaomi’s previous 120W HyperCharge technology and Oppo’s 150W SuperVOOC take approximately 15 minutes to recharge a 4,500mAh battery.
As if that wasn’t enough, Xiaomi one-upped itself with a preview of 300W charging that completely replenishes a 4,100mah battery in under five minutes, setting a new record.
Charging power, expressed in watts, is the product of voltage and current. The higher the voltage or current, the higher the charging power. To make 210W charging feasible, reliable, and safe, Xiaomi uses a dual-GaN power adapter and three special 100W GaNFast chips fromNavitaswith over 50 safety features.
Dedicated silicon provides protection against overheating, USB input overcurrent and overvoltage, and more for both the charger and the phone. It monitors data from multiple sensors in the phone to keep the battery’s thermal performance within the safety margins.
210W charging uses an improved electrolyte formula and battery materials such as graphene for greater conductivity than traditional lithium-ion batteries. This enhances the performance of the electrodes whilst reducing their size, letting the cells sandwiched between thermal materials quickly store and discharge power without wasting too much energy to heat.
Standard fast charging gradually reduces speed past the 80% mark, which is one of theways to improve battery life. Xiaomi’s own Mi-FC technology permits larger wattage past the 80% mark. The approach helps shorten the wait after 80% until the battery is fully charged.
At this point, you must be wondering how safe this all is.
How Does 210W Charging Affect Battery Life?
Won’t 210W charging wear out the battery’s capacity too quickly and reduce its lifespan significantly? The short answer is probably not. Xiaomi’s HyperCharge retains up to 80% battery capacity after 1,000 charges, which is well within the margins of any normal battery.
According to a study conducted byResearchGate, smartphone customers can expect battery health to drop below 80% after anywhere from 500 to 1,000 full charge cycles.
iPhone batteries, for instance, were designed to retain up to 80% capacity after 500 full charge and discharge cycles. Xiaomi says any battery will drop in capacity by 20% over two years regardless of wattage. However, the claim is yet to be proven as these devices are still quite new. Unless you’re really in a hurry, you should use a slow charge mode to maximize the lifespan of your battery.
Realistic Charging Speed Expectations
A variety of factors affect charging speed in the real world. If the power adapter produces too much noise or the battery becomes hot, the charging speed will suffer. What phone manufacturers won’t tell you iswhether such fast charging is bad for battery life.
You may need to turn on the Boost Mode option in the Battery section on your Xiaomi to enable 210W charging in the first place.
On top of that, people couldn’t hit the rated charge speeds in real-life usage. By all accounts, you’ll experience slower charging compared to Xiaomi’s tests conducted in ideal conditions. For example, the Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition averages 15 minutes from 0% to 100%. Factors influencing charging speeds include battery age, room temperature, and even software updates.
In the meantime, Xiaomi has been working to certify 300W charging. Now, you have to wonder about the potentialdownsides to ultra-fast charging smartphones.
Pushing the envelope further might compromise safety. After all, there are physical and chemical limits until boosting the power wattage starts to damage battery health. We’re already close to the point where boosting charge speeds beyond 210W is diminishing returns.
How Fast Is Fast Enough?
Can you imagine that not that long ago, it took two hours to recharge a phone fully? Fast charging came to the rescue, promising a 50% charge in less than 30 minutes. And with 210W charging, one can juice up the battery to 66% with a quick five-minute charge.
We’ve now reached a point of convenience where a few minutes give us a couple of hours of run time. Soon enough, it won’t matter much if the wait shortens by a few additional minutes. You’ll fix yourself a sandwich and be at 100% charge before you’ve eaten it.
