Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0

Being able to charge your phone or tablet faster at home and more importantly when you're on motion may be one of the biggest improvement we've seen in mobile tech in some time.

And while one of the many cool things about living in 2017 is not necessarily needing to understand how a lot of the tech around you works, if you take the time to better understand what you are using there's a good chance you'll get more out of it. A perfect simple example is the power supply you use for your smartphone.

If you've purchased a new phone recently, there's a good chance the power supply in the box is capable of charging your phone significantly faster than any of the other chargers you have in the house. This little slice of magic is called Quick Charge from Qualcomm, and it's a two-step process that promises to safely charge your phone faster than any other tech out there right now.

Quick Charge 4.0

Starting with the Snapdragon 835, Quick Charge 4.0 promises even faster charging that's safer than ever before.

Quick Charge 4.0 has three key improvements:

> It's 20% faster
> 30% more efficient than Quick Charge 3 and
> runs about five degrees Celsius cooler.

Additional "battery saver" features will prolong the life of the battery in your phone, and QC 4.0 is said to be fully USB-C USB-PD (Power Delivery) compliant.

We all love faster charging and batteries that last longer. But the last feature in our list is perhaps the most important. The latest Android Compatibility Definition Document, Google has strongly recommended manufacturers move away from non-standard USB-C charging solutions like Quick Charge and adhere to the USB-PD spec. With QC 4.0, you'll not only be able to extend your phone usage by up to five hours with just five minutes of charging, but won't have to worry as much about matching the charger to the thing being charged.

QC 4.0 also includes the latest iteration of Qualcomm's custom power management algorithm, Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV). Additions include real-time thermal management which will regulate the temperature during power delivery to keep things safer and more efficient. New power management ICs are also part of the picture and will come with QC 4-ready devices.

Expect to see devices with Quick Charge 4.0 starting in the first half of 2017.