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iPhone X Charging Speeds Compared: The Fastest and Easiest Ways to Charge Your iPhone

I have the Choetech wireless charger, and with my iPhone X updated to 11.2, I seem to get fast wireless charging as confirmed by my Kill-A-Watt saying 7.6W. This is with the Apple Silicone case on, and connected to an iPad 12W charger.
 

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Bladery said:
Hey jclo,

to get a final answer to the question if third party chargers are able to 7.5-watt-charge the iPhone, why don’t you compare apples certified Mophie and Belkin chargers with a few third parts options with iOS 11.2 of course?

That would be great!
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I did try two other "7.5W" chargers personally, but wasn't able to replicate Belkin 7.5W speeds. We actually have another post coming that looks at a bunch of wireless chargers from several different companies, and for that post, we did comparison tests. Our conclusion so far is basically what's in this post -- it varies a lot and there's a small and at times unnoticeable difference between 5W and 7.5W, which makes it difficult to tell. It's not clear cut, and we're talking about a few percentage points that can go either way based on the given testing conditions.

The only reliable way for me to test 5W vs. 7.5W was to use the Belkin charger before and after 7.5W wireless charging was enabled. This is something we're still investigating, and we do plan to have some additional information to share soon.
 
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hfuhruhurr said:
Good speed comparisons but speed of charge isn't the only thing to be concerned with. I'm way more worried about the longevity of my battery. Faster charging decreases the lifespan of it.

This is a lithium ion battery with a capacity of 2.7Ah and a nominal voltage of 3.8V. Thus, it will be charged with 4.2V, regardless of the source. Since we all know watts = volts * amps, the variable between charging sources is amps. So, a 5W charging source will be providing 5W/4.2V = 1.19A during charging. This equates to a C rating of 1.19/2.7 = 0.44. This is widely understood as completely healthy for a phone battery long term.

The C rating is the key here. It is defined by (amps)/(capacity in Ah). We use it to quantify how much current the battery can safely produce (during use) or accept (during charging). Some batteries are built with a high C rating, some with a low C rating. For example, batteries used in power tools have a high C rating because we need a ton of power from them. Conversely, batteries in personal electronic devices such as phones do not require a high C rating because the power demands just aren't there.

For phones, the batteries are C rated at about 1.0. Thus, this means you should not charge your iPhone X with any more current than 1.0*2.7 = 2.7A. But we need to convert this to watts because that's how the chargers are listed: 2.7*4.2 = 11.3W. So I would say the 12W charging option is the fastest one to not adversely affect the lifespan of the battery. The higher wattage options will surely charge faster but you pay a price for that speed.
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Bingo. And it's pretty easy to see this, they claim 50% charge in 1/2 an hour, so that's 2700mAh/2=1350mAh. If you convert that to the rate of charge, it's 2700mA, or 2.7A. That means by buying into USB-C to charge your phone, you're essentially paying all that money to gain 0.7A charging capability, compared with using a 10W capable USB-A power adapter.

Besides, once you get past that 50% mark, if you watch the power to battery percentage curve, it gets much slower. So unless you need to be able to charge your battery from 0-50% quickly, there is really no need to invest in fast charging, because beyond 50% (60-75-80%, etc), you'll be slow charging anyway, even with USB-C, due to the way lithium battery technology charges.
 
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jclo said:
I did try two other "7.5W" chargers personally, but wasn't able to replicate Belkin 7.5W speeds. We actually have another post coming that looks at a bunch of wireless chargers from several different companies, and for that post, we did comparison tests. Our conclusion so far is basically what's in this post -- it varies a lot and there's a small and at times unnoticeable difference between 5W and 7.5W, which makes it difficult to tell. It's not clear cut, and we're talking about a few percentage points that can go either way based on the given testing conditions.

The only reliable way for me to test 5W vs. 7.5W was to use the Belkin charger before and after 7.5W wireless charging was enabled. This is something we're still investigating, and we do plan to have some additional information to share soon.
Click to expand...

Awesome! When is the article going to be published?
I’m still looking for a charger for Christmas.
 
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Take a look in your Mac's System Information under Hardware, USB, for all current charging rates... I'm currently charging my iPhone X at 2.1A with a USB-A to Lighting cable on a 2014 rMBP. A USB power meter also confirms this.

geogecko said:
From what I have read, all MacBook USB-A ports will put out 1.1A to charge an Apple device, which would be 5.5W.
Click to expand...
 
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jclo said:
I did try two other "7.5W" chargers personally, but wasn't able to replicate Belkin 7.5W speeds. We actually have another post coming that looks at a bunch of wireless chargers from several different companies, and for that post, we did comparison tests. Our conclusion so far is basically what's in this post -- it varies a lot and there's a small and at times unnoticeable difference between 5W and 7.5W, which makes it difficult to tell. It's not clear cut, and we're talking about a few percentage points that can go either way based on the given testing conditions.

The only reliable way for me to test 5W vs. 7.5W was to use the Belkin charger before and after 7.5W wireless charging was enabled. This is something we're still investigating, and we do plan to have some additional information to share soon.
Click to expand...

That would be great, do you think you might be able to get a definitive answer from manufacturers about that 7.5w charging being encrypted and not released to 3rd parties? I've tried contacting RavPower but got generic replies just stating that they offer a 7.5w charging capability on their end...
 
jocamero said:
Take a look in your Mac's System Information under Hardware, USB, for all current charging rates... I'm currently charging my iPhone X at 2.1A with a USB-A to Lighting cable on a 2014 rMBP. A USB power meter also confirms this.
Click to expand...

I don't see anything too specific on my late-2014 5K iMac, so I'm not sure at what speed my iPhone X is charging at there.
 
jocamero said:
Take a look in your Mac's System Information under Hardware, USB, for all current charging rates... I'm currently charging my iPhone X at 2.1A with a USB-A to Lighting cable on a 2014 rMBP. A USB power meter also confirms this.
Click to expand...

Must have been outdated information I read, I don't actually have a MB. That's good to know, since most Windows computers will charge at that same rate as well.
 
jclo said:
Yes, with the exception of the 5W test on the Belkin charger that was done running iOS 11.1.2.
Click to expand...
Thanks. These results are similar to what Joanna Stern from the WSJ produced a few weeks ago.
 
mroy16 said:
I completely agree with your decision in presenting the information. The primary variable being tested was the wattage/type of the charging method. The time intervals were simply there to provide additional information (technically this is a 3-variable graph, but no one wants to interpret a 3D-plot). If you had only used the 60 minute time stamp, no one would even notice.
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I like Juli's chart layout as well. No it wasn't standard, but hardly an issue to read and interpret.


mroy16 said:
Back to the topic at hand, it's useful to know all of this information, but with moderate use and the battery life on these phones, I suspect most people are fine using any charging method overnight. I don't mind Apple providing me with the slowest charging option, since the battery they provide lasts me all day. When I'm asleep, I don't need my phone to charge in 2 hours - I just need it charged by the time I wake up.
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I disagree with you here. For your particular use case, the slowest charging option might work. There are for more use cases that make Apple's decision seem either cheap or intentional (to get people to spend extra for increased charging capacity). Imo, the 12W iPad charger should be standard issue.
 
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pullfocus said:
The last sentence of this piece.

"...but it's convenient to be able to set your iPhone right next to you on a wireless charger and pick it up when necessary without the need to hassle with a cord."

Hassle? Really? Come on, now.
Click to expand...
First world problems.

One day people are going to expect their phone to wipe their ass. They won't remember how to do it themselves.

:rolleyes:
 
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For my iPad Pro 12.9 2gen, I bought the Apple 29W USB-C power adapter and USB-C to Lightning cable and this has dramatically improved the charge time by roughly 50%. Honestly, without the adapter, it’s painful to watch as it takes forever to charge. However, my MacBook Air 2013 is the complete opposite - just wish Apple could provide the power adapter as standard with the iPad...
 
I really can't fathom the advantage of placing the phone on a special charging pad and just plugging it in. Seems like complete gimmickry to me.
 
Zaqfalcon said:
I really can't fathom the advantage of placing the phone on a special charging pad and just plugging it in. Seems like complete gimmickry to me.
Click to expand...

Certain cafes support wireless charging, so I see it as super convenient. What is a gimmicky is the Animoji and Touch bar.
 
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Plenty happy with wireless. Slap it on when I go to bed. Take it off in the morning. Also charges in my desk at work when I normally would set my phone down anyway. Wireless was a long time coming and I’m glad Apple saw the light. Even happier that they didn’t decide to do some proprietary nonsense.
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Ggggggggggg said:
Welcome to 2014 features apple owners
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Been using android alongside iOS since lollipop. And I agree. Still happy to have them itregardless of the fact they took this long to achieve. Something that is good is still good even if it takes a while to get there.
 
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verpeiler said:
1000+ dollar phone, but too greedy to ship it with a fast charger.... so lame ._.
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They are not too greedy to include it. They just know you wont pay extra for it. Because, I'm sure you're aware, nothing in that box is free. Nothing. It's all built into the price.

I've never actually had anyone in the wild complain to me that any iPhone charges too slowly. Just people on forums like this one. Apple, in it's ceaseless beneficence, finally gifted you edge case users with fast charging if you are willing to make the investment and still nothing but complaining. I would love to see Apple's usage stats for 12 watt chargers and up. I wouldn't be surprised to find out it's in the low single digits.

Enjoy that awesome box, the swank bag and the smile on the store employee's face. You paid top dollar for all of it. Then fish $19 out of your pocket and get the 12 watt power adapter. It's a modest investment and you won't regret it.
 
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