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Fast charging can be a difficult topic to wrap your head around: there are a bunch of competing standards, all with different cables and power adapters. Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4 and 4+ allow charging at up to 100W, though few devices reach that. Both versions also allow you to use USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) chargers to reach speeds of up to 27W, so your phone or tablet will work with just about any fast charger.
Fast charging can be a difficult topic to wrap your head around. There are a lot of competing standards, all with different cables and power adapters, but one of the most popular is Qualcomm's 'Quick Charge' technology. There are different versions with different charging speeds, but QC 2.0 and 3.0 are still common to find in today's phones and tablets.
5 great USB charging stations that will keep all your gadgets ready for action
Avoid the rat's nest of cables
We live in interesting times—most of us are staying home to slow the spread of coronavirus. Many people are also trying to jury-rig a home office to get work done. That might mean you've got devices like laptops, phones, and tablets floating around that need charging, and you probably want to avoid the inevitable tangle of cables. A charging station can come in handy during these trying times, and here are the best ones you can get.
When I pack my bags before traveling, I use something I call my "packlist," which is basically a to-do list that I re-use every time I'm going somewhere. Next to the obvious "tees" and "underwear" entries, I have at least four different chargers: one for my Mac, another one for my smartwatch, a USB-C cable to power up my phone, and a microUSB cord to plug my headphones and battery pack. You could argue I could save myself the trouble of taking so many with me by using adapters, but I usually need to fill up several if not all my devices at the same time, which is why all-in-one chargers are perfectly adapted to me. Satechi's excellent travel charger is of the best on the market, and it's now selling for $47.99, a $12 drop from its previous $59.99 price.
You've probably seen wall outlets with built-in USB ports, but this outlet from TopGreener is pretty special. Not only does it have a USB Type-A connector, but the connector supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0, and there's an additional Type-C port. The wall outlet is now $33.99 on Amazon, a $6 reduction from the original price.
Over the past few weeks, some owners of the 2016 Pixel XL have reported problems using quick chargers on Android P. For most of that time, Android P was still in beta, so bugs were to be expected. Unfortunately, issues with quick charging are still present in the final 9.0 release.
Chargers usually only use one type of fast charging technology - be it Qualcomm Quick Charge, OnePlus DashCharge, USB Power Delivery, or something else. If you want something that can charge nearly everything at a fast rate, ZeroLemon's all-in-one brick is for you, and it's $30 off right now from Amazon.The charger doesn't really have a name, besides the SEO alphabet soup listed on the Amazon page, but it has just about all the features you'd need. There's one Quick Charge 3.0 port, one 65W USB Type-C Power Delivery port, and two standard 2.4A Type-A ports. Put simply, this should quickly top up just about any phone/tablet you might own.You may notice this one-star review on Amazon, with one owner saying the charger left a burnt hole on their desk. We reached out to ZeroLemon about this, and they sent us proof that the device passed Amazon's product safety requirements, so you can take that into consideration. The charger is $30 off if you use coupon code 9BCSWSFJ at checkout.Source: Amazon
There are quite a few quick charging standards in the wild, from USB-PD to Motorola TurboPower. Qualcomm's Quick Charge remains a popular option, used in devices like the Galaxy S8 and LG G6. While there aren't any devices on the market supporting QC 4, Qualcomm has announced QC 4+ with a few additional features over the already-new standard.
Remember the days of regular charging with microUSB? You could use the same cable and plug for years and never know the difference. Now, every phone that comes out bumps up the charging standard, and not all Type-C cables are created equal. Aukey has a selection of charging accessories on sale today via Amazon with discounts as large as $11 with a coupon code.Here are the discounted products along with the coupon codes you'll need to enter.
I really wish that phone manufacturers would make up their minds and choose just one fast charging technology. Some phones use Qualcomm Quick charge, others use a 5V 3A power supply via Type-C (I won't even get started on those who do something else completely different). It's annoying that each group of devices requires a different charger to charge at its peak potential. That is, unless you have one charger that can do both. That's precisely what this AUKEY car charger has, with one port for each charging technology. It's also on sale for more than 50 percent off today when you apply a coupon code.Frequent device switchers or couples and families sporting phones using different charging technologies should be all over this deal. Head over to Amazon to pick one up for yourself if it strikes your fancy. Make sure you apply the coupon code ZW6AYBPF at checkout to chop the price in half like a deal ninja with a price slicing katana.
There aren't many car chargers that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. Aukey's CC-T8 car charger has not one, but two QC3.0-compatible USB ports capable of an output of 2.4A each. Now you can get it for only $9 on Amazon after a special code.Once you add the car charger to your cart, simply add the code OHBVOTE9 at checkout to receive 47% off the total price. Android devices that support the faster charging include the LG G5, HTC 10, LG V20, and more. Like all QC 3.0 chargers, it is backwards-compatible with QC 2.0, and of course will work with all your other USB devices as well.You can get the CC-T8 charger at the link below, and see the promotion details for all the terms and conditions.Source: Amazon
Listen nerds, I know a lot of you got some new gadgets gifted to you in the last few days. Those electronic critters come hungry, and they'll need a nightly infusion of electrons to stay healthy and happy. Fortunately, your buddy Jeff at AP has scouted out a good deal on a pretty decent wall charger that'll do the trick. The charger in question is manufactured by Aukey, one of the myriad Chinese manufacturers that produce good, albeit boring, chargers. It comes with three ports, one of which is a QC 2.0 port. Yeah, it's not QC 3.0 – but hey, 6 bucks. The remaining two are your typical 2.4A ports. The unit plugs directly into the wall and is reasonably compact (it's smaller than a credit card) for a three port charger.A 3.3ft Micro USB cable is included and Aukey backs their products with a two-year warranty so you need not fear product failure. If you want it, head over to Amazon, pop in coupon code FPRJZNSL at checkout and watch the price drop to $6.
The march of chipset progress goes on: Qualcomm announced this morning that its new Snapdragon 835 chipset is on the way, utilizing Samsung's new 10 nanometer fabrication process, as well as the latest generation of its Quick Charge technology. Qualcomm did not share many details about its newest flagship processor, only claiming unspecified increases in speed, efficiency, and a reduction of physical space used by the chip (all at least partly a result of the switch from 14nm to 10nm). Qualcomm says Snapdragon 835 devices will be arriving on the market in the first half of 2017. Number of cores and other improvements were not disclosed - this appears to be a strictly preliminary announcement. The most we got was this, some figures expressing the theoretical advantages of the new 10nm process.
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- ASUS's website is also offering the watch at the same price.
Just last week, we featured a deal for the smaller 1.45" ZenWatch 2 with a metal band. Now, we're back with another ASUS smartwatch offer; Amazon and B&H are both offering the 1.63" ZenWatch 2 with HyperCharge for just $119. Not only is this a larger, slightly newer model, but it's also $10 less than the deal from last week.$119 is an extremely small price to pay for a watch that has specs this modern. Like the current Android Wear boss, the Huawei Watch, this ZenWatch 2 sports an AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 400, half a gig of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, IP67 water resistance, and a speaker. In addition, this version comes with HyperCharge, which is an ASUS-exclusive quick charge method that allows the ZenWatch 2 to charge from 0 to 60% in just 15 minutes. Considering how rapidly non-quick charge-equipped Android Wear devices top up their batteries already, this could either be considered extremely impressive or quite useless.If you're interested, you can purchase one from either Amazon or B&H. Only the model with a brown rubber strap is available at $119 from both retailers. If you grab this from Amazon, you can get free one-day shipping if you're a Prime member, but if you buy it from B&H, you have the option of walking into their New York location and buying it in person (although you will have to pay NY sales tax). Decisions, decisions.
For the last year, Googler Benson Leung has been waging a one-man war on bad USB accessories. Going forward, he'll have some help in the form of the USB Implementers Forum itself. The USB-IF has announced a certification program complete with a handy little logo. If you see that logo, you'll know the accessory in question is in compliance with the spec and won't break your gear.
If you happen to be in the market for a new gadget to charge your phone, or perhaps every USB-powered device in your house, you're in luck. Tronsmart and Aukey, two of the more prominent accessory sellers on Amazon, are both offering discounts with coupon codes today. If you have a Quick Charge 2.0 compatible phone or tablet, you can pick up a three-port Tronsmart wall charger for just .50 with the coupon 3USBWALL. The double car charger version is also .50 with the coupon 2USBCHAR. Both are discounted by a little less than ten bucks.If two or three ports simply aren't enough for you, the Titan multi-port charger can send Quick Charge juice to five different gadgets simultaneously. It's normally $38 for the white version, but add the coupon code USBTITAN and you can knock that price down to .49. For those who don't need multiple Quick Charge ports, Aukey offers pretty much the same thing with a lower watt rating and only one Quick Charge port out of five. It's normally $25, but with the coupon code 3PP6COR3 it gets bumped down to just .99. And finally if you need a little power on the go, Aukey has a respectable 10400mAh portable battery for .99 after adding the coupon code JEOSBZMP.
As usual, all of these deals offer free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime customers, and these coupon codes are probably limited to the United States. We don't know when they expire, so get an order in soon to take advantage of those lower prices.
Anker is running a pretty big campaign in celebration of their new Quick Charge 3.0 chargers with discounts on a ton of products and even smartphone giveaways. This isn't your typical deal alert: there are over a dozen different discounts for products across Amazon US and UK, with everything from chargers to battery packs to cables. The campaign is also running in Germany, and while there aren't any coupon codes for Amazon.de, the prices are comparable to the ones in the US and UK, so be sure to check the source link if you want to order something from inside continental Europe, too.Quick Charge 3.0 is an improvement over Qualcomm's previous 2.0 technology, and it provides up to 85% faster charging than a conventional charger. According to Anker's own tests, this means it should take about 1h30 to fully charge a 2150 mAh battery, compared to 2h20 using Quick Charge 2.0 and 3h30 for a normal charger.Here's a rundown of all their Quick Charge 3.0 and 2.0 deals:
Do you like Qualcomm's Quick Charge? Are you impatiently waiting for all devices and accessories to be compatible with Quick Charge 3.0? Then OPPO is about to rain on your parade with its Super VOOC technology. And I mean really rain.
Are you sad that you missed out on winning a Tronsmart Titan 5 port 90W QC 2.0 charger in our drawing last November? You aren't the only one, and hey, at least Artem let you enter the drawing. (Apparently there's something unethical about giving the prizes to your employees. Pfft.)Now's your chance to get your hands on one of these beasts for a very reasonable price. Using coupon code 5USBPORT at checkout on Amazon will drop the price by $14 to $23.99– that's less than five bucks a port and one heck of a good deal.Unlike some QC 2.0 multi-chargers that have one quick-charging port and four standard ones, this beast boasts five high-speed USB ports. I don't use the word beast lightly either, the Titan is pretty massive, about the size of a gaming laptop's power supply.The Titan is a pretty young product, but it has a 4.9 star rating so far with 34 reviews on Amazon. While I don't own this particular charger, I have been very impressed with the quality of other Tronsmart items I have purchased in the past and feel great about recommending the company's products.I really want one of these behemoths, even though I only have one QC 2.0 compatible device. I'm swayed by the power of the dark charger. I also don't want to sleep on the couch tonight when my wife finds out I bought yet another gadget. Decisions.If you want one for yourself, you can grab it using the link below. Don't forget to use the coupon code 5USBPORT to lower the price. Also, please note that the discount only applies to the black model.Source: Amazon
A wise man once said, "If an empty wall outlet thy home doth possess, thou should fill it with a charger for thy personal electronics with great haste." I think it was Shakespeare, but I'm not entirely sure, so don't quote me on that.Well, regardless of who said it, the sentiment is true for many of us gadget lovers. I really don't think it's possible to have too many chargers. Today you can pick up a great one for just a few bucks. Aukey has their Quick Charge 2.0 single port wall charger on sale for just $6.50 after applying coupon code V4R8BK3J at checkout to knock off a substantial $8.50. That's more than half off! Not bad at all.I own this charger, I bought it a few months back for nearly twice this price, and it works great. Included with the charger is a 3.3ft MicroUSB cable and an 18 month warranty. 1500 customers have bestowed the charger with a 4.5 star rating, which is pretty darn good.Has Shakespeare inspired you this morning to buy more wall chargers? If he has, then go pick up this Aukey on Amazon while the coupon code is still active. You can use it to charge thy devices to their fullest extent.Source: Amazon