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TechStage/Flickr
fast charge

This smartphone company says it can charge a phone fully in 15 minutes

The Chinese company Oppo says it can fully charge a 2,500mAH battery in the space of 15 minutes.

SINCE THERE ISN’T any new battery technology on the horizon, many smartphone makers have tried making phones last longer by making them more efficient or introducing fast charging methods.

Chances are you may not know about Oppo, the Chinese company that specialises in smartphones as well as electronics, but it claims to now have the world’s fastest charging method.

Calling the new system the Super VOOC Flash Charge, it claims it can charge a 2,500 mAH battery built into its phone from empty to full in the space of 15 minutes (For reference, the iPhone 6s has a 1,715mAH battery while the Samsung S6 has 2,550mAH).

One of the bigger concerns with fast charging is it usually involves a higher voltage than the battery can handle, or the battery ends up overheating. Both approaches can end up damaging the battery and make it less efficient.

Oppo says it solved this by combining low-voltage charge with a customised battery to ensure the current is regulated as well. By keeping the charge and the temperature low, it removes the need for a converter – something needed if the charger uses a high-voltage – and ensures it’s more efficient.

The customised element means such technology would be limited to just Oppo’s own smartphones, if you try using a similar fast-charging system with its phones, it will just resort to the normal charging speed.

While the technology has been made, it unlikely to arrive until next year at the earliest as there are no phones supporting it yet. The technology also supports micro-USB and USB Type-C, putting it in line with global standards.

Read: Things aren’t looking good for Uber’s ridesharing plans in Ireland >

Read: The FBI gives its reasons for wanting an iPhone unlocked, but Apple is having none of it >

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