Fast charging is one of the most prevalent solutions nowadays to the problem of battery life in modern smartphones. Battery capacity hasn't changed a lot in recent times, yet we keep on demanding more and more out of our phones, so fast charging was introduced as a way to juice them up faster than usual. However, not all fast charging phones are created equal, whether it's in terms of technology, charger used, or battery capacity to fill up. To figure out the fastest charging phone(s), Tom's Guide set out to test 7 different smartphone models in a variety of situations.

The list has the Galaxy S6 (proprietary Samsung technology with its high-wattage charger), Asus Zenfone 2 (Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 based "Boostmaster technology"), LG G4 (Qualcomm QC 2.0), Motorola Nexus 6 and Droid Turbo (Qualcomm QC 2.0 branded as "Turbo Charge"), and finally the OnePlus 2 and Apple iPhone 6 (no fast charging technology). Putting aside the logistics of the test, which you can read in details on the original article, here are the noteworthy results.

The Asus Zenfone 2 filled the highest percentage of its battery at the 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes marks, tying the Galaxy S6 on the last one. Then the Galaxy S6 was the fastest to reach 80% and 100% of its battery charge. The G4, Nexus 6, and Droid Turbo were in the middle of the pack for most of these results, leaving the OnePlus 2 and iPhone 6 behind them. One thing worth noting though is that the testers didn't specify which charger they used on the iPhone 6. It seems that they had the one provided in the box, instead of the much faster iPad charger that is iPhone-compatible, and that's unfair considering that they used a QC 2.0 charger with the G4 although it doesn't ship with one in the box.

Now these numbers are obviously based on percentages, so they don't take into account the battery capacity that has to be filled. When you factor that in, the Zenfone 2's 3000mAh is still the fastest to charge at 15 and 30 minutes, but the Galaxy S6's small'ish 2550mAh means that its stellar performance in reaching 100% isn't that impressive anymore. The Droid Turbo actually surpasses it, charging at an average rate of 36.45 mA per minute.

I wouldn't be one to base my phone purchase decision on a few more or less minutes in its charging performance, but it's safe to say that choosing a phone with a fast charging technology, whether it's Qualcomm's or another company's, is better than going for one without. After that, you're really picking at straws trying to find the difference between the fastest mA per minute, the fastest to charge at first, the fastest to fully charge, and so on. No smartphone at this point seems to win on all fronts.

Source: Tom's Guide