How to Make Your Phone Charge Faster
Chances are you’ve forgotten to charge your phone a time or two. Nothing ruins your morning quite like waking up to a dead phone and not having the time to wait for it to power up. Luckily, there have been some incredible advancements in phone charging in the past few years, making charging simple, quick and easy.
In this guide, we’ll cover some tips on how to charge your phone faster, from upgrading your phone charger to changing the way you power up.
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Get the Right Charger — One of the easiest things you can do to boost charging speed is to invest in a faster charger and upgrade to newer, quicker charging cables. Gone are the days of slow charging bricks that reload the battery at a snail’s pace. Today’s adapters can charge at speeds many times that of older styles, all without stressing out or over-heating the battery.
- Consider switching to a USB-C charger rather than using the standard USB-A that probably came with your phone. These are designed specifically for high-efficiency charging. Plus, the connector is reversible, so you don’t have to fumble around when plugging it in. Be sure to choose a USB-C Power Delivery charger, as this type of charger features technology which allows you to charge your phone up to 70 percent in 30 minutes.
- Pay attention to wattage. Chargers are labeled by wattage, which represents how much power they can push to your phone. Usually, the higher wattage indicates a faster charging speed. Typical adapters are 5W or less, but now you can get USB-C chargers with up to 60W, with 20W being quite common. These can charge your phone up to four times faster than a standard 5W charger.
Minimize Power Draw — Typically, when you’re charging your device, it’s still using some energy to receive messages and phone calls, power your speaker and facilitate apps running in the background. However, there are a few key things you can do to minimize power usage while charging. This will help your battery store some reserves and charge faster. Power down your phone before plugging it in so it doesn’t utilize any power at all while charging. If you don’t want to completely power down your phone while it charges, you still have options:
- Switch to airplane mode. This feature disables all cellular data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. so you won’t receive any phone calls or messages, which could be draining your battery even when it’s plugged in. Your wireless charger will still work even without access to Bluetooth.
- Turn on power saving mode. The whole point of your phone’s power saving mode is to limit how much of the battery is used when reserves get low. Turn this on while charging to preserve power.
- Turn off background refresh. One thing you might not know about the apps on your phone is that they may actually be using power and data even when you’re not using them. Make sure to stop apps from running in the background while charging your phone.
- Turn off certain features. Even seemingly low-power features can suck up energy while charging. Make sure to disable sound, notifications and vibration and dim your screen while it’s on the charger.
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Avoid Certain Types of Chargers — The fastest way to charge your phone is by using a USB-C charger that plugs into the wall or your car’s 12V socket. While wireless charging is convenient for certain scenarios, it isn’t the best choice when speed is your number one goal. You’ll also want to avoid standard car chargers and use a USB-C Power Delivery car charger instead.
Charge in the Right Place — Did you know that your battery can actually drain faster in extreme temperatures? That’s why you might notice that it seems to lose power rapidly when you leave it on a hot windowsill or take it with you to the beach. Be sure to charge your phone in a moderate, dry area — room temperature is best — and take off the case if it’s trapping heat.
Note: Your Phone Matters, Too
Not all phones can handle the same wattage of charging. Make sure to check your phone’s maximum supported charge speed. Currently, the maximum supported charge speed is 20W for the newest Apple phones, 45W for the newest Samsung phones and 18W for the newest Google phones. Older phones won’t be able to soak up all the benefits of the fastest chargers, but they will still charge faster than older, outdated chargers.
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