The smartphone industry is evolving at an increasingly fast pace. The race to get to the top involves constant improvements in the processing capabilities, cameras, display technology, and battery life. Lately, as the batteries on smartphones have grown bigger, smartphone companies and consumers have been emphasizing on faster-charging solutions, inviting innovation from all directions. Almost every major smartphone brand is now implementing dependably fast charging solutions that couldn't be imagined in the past. The current commercial solutions for smartphones go as high as 65W charging by means of independent solutions from Vivo, OPPO, Realme, and Xiaomi. The industry is now preparing for a significant leap as OPPO is announcing its technologies for 125W fast wired charging and 65W fast wireless charging. Along with this, OPPO is also announcing two new compact GaN chargers with up to 110W output.
This is not the first time we're hearing of a viable charging solution with three-digit power output. Last year, Xiaomi demonstrated its 100W fast wired charging that could charge a 4000mAh battery in under 20 minutes. The technology, however, is yet to take off due to limitations in commercial implementation. OPPO surpasses this with the 125W solution that is claimed to charge a 4000mAh battery up to 41% in 5 minutes and fully in 20 minutes.
125W OPPO flash charge
OPPO is launching its 125W flash charge technology along with a 110W "mini" flash charger. The 125W flash charge technology also supports USB-PD at 65W and USB-PPS at 125W and is backward compatible with devices that support its previous SuperVOOC standard for 65W charging. The technology draws 6.25A current and relays it across a potential difference of 20V.
The supported battery will be split into two halves for parallel charging and will utilize 128-bit microcontrollers to optimize the voltage as well as the flow of current. OPPO will also be integrating ten temperature sensors to keep the temperature of the phone under 40ºC as well as a fuse for overvoltage protection to ensure safety and avoid any fire-related hazard. OPPO claims that supported batteries will retain 80% health even after 800 charging cycles.
65W fast wireless charging
In addition to the superfast wired charging, OPPO is also introducing its 65W fast wireless charging. Along with the technology comes a new "conceptual" 65W AirVOOC wireless charging dock from OPPO that will be able to refill a 4000mAh battery fully in just 30 minutes. The company says it will achieve this fast charging rate by reducing the interference to the magnetic induction coil.
The conceptual charger will come with a glass surface and will be equipped with a semiconductor cooler and a fan to keep the temperatures of both – the phone and the charging pad – under control. In addition, OPPO will be using a dual-coil design for charging in parallel.
110W and 50W mini fast chargers
Besides announcing the new charging technologies, OPPO has also announced two new compact chargers, including a 110W mini flash charger and a 50W mini SuperVOOC charger. Both of these are GaN (Gallium Nitride) chargers and allow for more efficient current transmission and space utilization. The 50W mini charger measures only 1.05cm in thickness and supports USB-PD at 27W and USB-PPS at 50W. The 110W is only 1.2cm thick and occupies the same space as an 18W charging brick.
OPPO has not commented on the availability of these technologies, nor has it mentioned the device that will first receive support. But their preparedness in terms of accessory support and a comprehensive action plan may appear far more convincing to users as compared to other brands. We hope to see at least one OPPO smartphone with support for 125W or 110W flash charge technology in 2020.