Oppo’s Wireless Fast Charging Tech Is Really Fast While Remaining Cool

Asia Oppo’s Wireless Fast Charging Tech Is Really Fast While Remaining Cool Ben Sin Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover consumer tech in Asia New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 8, 2022, 06:25am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A render of the Oppo SuperVooc wireless charger Oppo A few years ago, I visited the southern China headquarters of phone brand Oppo to learn more about the company’s fast-charging technology, which at the time was the fastest in the industry.

Back in 2018, an Oppo flagship smartphone could charge from 0-100% in 30 minutes or so, while the best Apple or Samsung phone would need over an hour. The engineer who invented Oppo’s proprietary charging tech, Zhang Jialiang, explained to me at the time that the fundamental idea behind the technology was prioritizing current instead of voltage, which was the opposite of what other fast charging tech were doing at the time. Despite Oppo phones leading the way in wired charging speeds at the time, its phones were noticeably missing wireless charging technology, which other brands were already offering.

Zhang told me Oppo wanted to wait until they could deliver a similarly fast wireless charging solution before offering wireless charging. Side view of the charger. Oppo That day has arrived.

I recently got to test Oppo’s new SuperVOOC wireless charger, which can charge supported Oppo phones at 50W speeds, wirelessly. I tested the charger with Oppo’s top phone, the Find X5 Pro, which packs a large 5,000 mAh battery, and the charger could fill the phone from 0 to 100% in 47 minutes. MORE FOR YOU China Detains Fallen HNA Ex-Billionaire Chairman Ahead Of Airline Restructuring Vote Nasdaq Listing Of Freshworks Creates Windfall For Indian Founder And Hundreds Of Employees Ninja Van Becomes Singapore’s Newest Unicorn After Raising $578 Million From Alibaba, B Capital By comparison, it takes 62 minutes to wirelessly charge Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, which has the same sized 5,000 mAh battery.

While 0-100 speed is important to note, it’s also not realistic because few people wait until their phone battery is entirely drained before charging. And if someone is in a rush, they wouldn’t need to wait until the phone is fully at 100%, either. So a more realistic real world type tests is a mid-day 15 or 20 minute top up, when the phone is low on juice.

From my testing, the SuperVOOC wireless charger (VOOC stands for Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging) is even faster at these short burst top-ups. A 15 minute charge took the Find X5 Pro from 8% to 40%, and a 26 minute charge took the phone from 8% to 65%. This makes sense, because battery charging works like how a car accelerates, there’s a slow ramp up period in the first 10% or so, and charging also slows down in the last 10% as the battery nears full capacity.

So charging in the middle 80% is typically faster than the first and last 10%. The charger itself is a bit bigger than many entry level wireless chargers, but considering the superior performance, it’s acceptable. The larger size is to accommodate the technology inside, which includes a dual-coil charging system and a base that’s elevated off the surface for better air circulation.

And that’s where the other impressive part of the technology comes in, even after a 26 minutes charge, the wireless charger and the phone were not hot. Slightly warm, yes, but not hot like other phones that have just been charging for 20 minutes. The Oppo SuperVooc charger charging a Oppo Find X5 Pro Oppo Oppo says it’s also designed six safety protection methods into the wireless charger to prevent over-voltage and temperature overload.

It will also apparently identify foreign metal objects such as a paperclip or coin that may have been stuck to the phone. While Oppo’s fast charging tech is unique to Oppo smartphones, it is also standard Qi charging compatible, meaning other phones that support wireless charging, like an iPhone, will also charge on this charger, just at nowhere near the speeds that an Oppo phone can achieve. Oppo’s selling the wireless charger in Asia and Europe, with prices that vary depending on region.

In the UK, it retails for £69. 99 ($84), and in China and Singapore, around the equivalent of $60. This is pricier than a typical wireless charger, but it’ll also top up your phone much faster—if you’re using a recent Oppo or OnePlus phone.

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