GTrusted

A Closer Look at Huawei SuperCharge 

Fast charging continues to be played up a key differentiator especially for flagship Android phone products. Phones nowadays can take advantage of a variety of fast charging technologies which run the gamut of open standards vs proprietary schemes. USB Power Delivery allows phones to quickly charge over USB Type-C connectors using any phone SOC chipset. Those phones that are based on Qualcomm Snapdragon can take advantage of Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology which runs over the phone's micro-B or Type-C connector.  

For major giants like Huawei and OPPO, their market share is large enough to justify creating their own proprietary charging technology. Like OPPO's  VOOC Ultra Fast Charger, Huawei's SuperCharge focuses on delivering fast charging by providing higher current levels at lower voltages.  While Oppo's VOOC Ultra Fast Charger provides 20 watts (5 volts @ 4 amps) by using non-standard USB cables, the Huawei SuperCharger provides 22.5 watts (4.5 volts @ 5 amps) by using standard USB cables.

Huawei claims that unlike other charging technologies that achieve fast charging by providing high voltage (like 9 volts) and standard currents (2-3 amps), the more efficient charging method is to keep voltage closer to the battery cell's voltage.

We purchased the Huawei SuperCharger at the Huawei store in Shanghai which was sold as a relatively inexpensive accessory to the Huawei Mate 9  and Huawei P10.

The Huawei SuperCharger supports different power profiles depending on what it's connected to. If used with a Huawei phone that doesn't support SuperCharge technology, the Huawei SuperCharger uses 10W (5 volts @ 2 amps). If used with a Huawei phone that supports SuperCharge, it will provide either 22.5 watts (4.5 volts @ 5 amps or 5 volts @ 4.5 amps).

The Huawei SuperCharger comes with a USB Type-A port and USB Type-A to Type-C cable to connect to the phone.

We'll be checking to see how the Huawei SuperCharger works with phones that support Huawei SuperCharge, Qualcomm Quick Charge, and USB Power Delivery technologies