SUNNY TIMES FOR LI-ION!

RUNNING OUT OF PHONE JUICE OFTEN? THE RIGHT BATTERY TECH MAY HELP

The computing clout of your mobile phone grows exponentially with every new release — processors are now octacore — eight times more powerful than they were five years ago. The RAM memory has grown on some handsets to 6 GB, which is more than many laptops. Displays handle ultra HD or 4K video. All these are power guzzlers — and sadly, power is perennially in short supply on most phones.

There are two approaches currently being tried to overcome customers’ battery blues with the only power technology currently in use — LithiumIon (Li-Ion): One is to pack in bigger batteries into the phone. The downside here is size — big battery phones tend to be bulky.

The second approach is to tap technology that ensure very fast charge — usually attaining 60 to 70 per cent of the full charge in about 30 minutes. Most of these technologies are proprietary — the Super VOOC Flash used by Oppo or Dash Charge that comes with OnePlus phones.

Manufacturers of the chips that fuel the phone have launched their own rapid charging solutions. Phones using Mediatek processor are able to roll out PumpExpress fast charge technology. Phones with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor have access to Quick Charge technology.

How do these technologies work to reduce the charging time? If you use the standard charger cable, it works at 5 volts DC and 0.5 amperes, which multiplied, gives 2.5 watts of power. The proprietary fast chargers boost the current handling to 4 or 5 amps and use special charging cables which work with higher voltages, as high as 9 to 12 V DC. Dash Charge works at 4 A and 5 V and ensures that the extra heat is not spread to the phone but to the power adapter. They do the charging in two stages — first, use high power to rapidly charge the phone to 75-80 per cent of its full charge in a very short time. Then, reduce the power to slowly top up the battery to full charge. This allows companies to claim that their phones can attain 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes or in the case of Qualcomm Quick Charge, “0 to 50 per cent in 15 minutes” or “5 for 5 — 5 minutes charging, 5 hours of battery life”. With the new Type C USB connector becoming more common, there was a fear that some of these proprietary technologies might not match the power delivery standards of this reversible connector. But Qualcomm has announced the latest Version4 of Quick Charge (QC4) for commercial availability by June 2017, with Type C compatability. The QC4 can also charge two devices at the same time.

Remember, all fast charge technologies work today only with the special charger provided. These can cost as much as `1,500 each and so far the industry has not agreed on an universal fast charge design. Sunny times may be back for LiIon.

So far the industry has not agreed on an universal fast charge design 75-80% The first stage of charging uses high power to rapidly charge the phone 0-50% Qualcomm Quick Charge helps the phone to charge in 15 minutes