charging

OnePlus execs seem to like living on the edge just to prove a point. Company CEO Pete Lau has taken to Weibo to show off the OnePlus 3's fast charging DASH tech and how it fares against other flagships using Qualcomm's Quick Charge feature. And he does so not through rigorous lab stress test but with a somewhat controversial behavior among smartphone users. That is, playing games on the OnePlus 3 while charging it at the same time. Fortunately for the OnePlus, it was victorious and remained unscathed.

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Quick charging, by whatever name the feature is called, has become the band-aid solution to our battery woes while we await the day when newer, better batteries are finally available. Not surprisingly, each OEM or fast charging technology requires the use of a proprietary charger. The OnePlus 3, however, one ups all of those by requiring not just a proprietary charger for its Dash Charge feature to work, it also requires to use of a proprietary cable at, of course, only OnePlus sells.

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As smartphones get more powerful, they consume more battery as well. While smartphone processors are getting more advanced, battery technology has mostly stayed in the same spot for years now. To ensure an optimal mobile experience, mobile chip makers are also dipping their toes into battery tech, especially fast charging features. Last year Qualcomm revealed its Quick Charge 3.0. Now it's rival MediaTek's turn to this version 3. Its Pump Express 3.0 promises you won't waste time hugging walls by charging your smartphone from 0 to 70% in just 20 minutes. That's equivalent to 5 minutes of charging for 4 hours of talking.

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Today we're having a look at Qualcomm's own Quick Charge 3.0 as used in two new AUKEY products: the Amp Type-C 5-Port Charging Station and the QC 3.0 Dual-Port Car Charger. If you're in search of a set of USB-C compatible charging devices for your next-generation Android devices - HTC 10 and LG G5 included - these pieces of equipment are ready to roll. We've got our hands on both this week to give them the once-over for our many Quick Charge 3.0 devices, all part of the new wave.

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Despite the promises of a better USB future, USB Type-C, the reversible, all-in-one connection, is still in a stage fraught with growing pains. Some manufacturers and accessory makers are too eager to jump onto the USB-C bandwagon that they don't always check for proper compliance and implementation. Even OnePlus was guilty of that rookie mistake. Fortunately, it seems that LG has learned from others' mistakes and has ensured that the USB-C port on the LG G5 is compatible with both Qualcomm's proprietary Quick Charge 3.0 and the more standard USB Power Delivery 2.0 spec.

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Previously seen as heavy oddities and luxuries, power banks or portable battery packs have become essential life savers. While mobile devices become more powerful, batteries become less removable and less capable of catching up. But while battery packs offer emergency power, they have their drawbacks, like some added weight or yet another device you have to remember to charge before hand. AnkerBox wants to both remedy that while making a profit, by starting a charging-as-a-service business, offering battery packs and charging stations for rent or for purchase.

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A lot of attention these days is being lavished on batteries and charging, mostly because of how much we seem to be doing that every day. We're always on the lookout for better ways to power our devices, from improvements in the batteries themselves to alternative ways of charging. While the magical "charging from thin air" is still a far ways off, the technology that can pull not a rabbit but electrical energy from thin air enough to power senors might just be around the corner if Drayson Technologies' Freevolt is to be believed.

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Qualcomm is definitely piling up the hype for its upcoming Snapdragon 820 system-on-chip. And hopefully this time, it will be able to deliver without a hitch. After regaling the tech world with the abilities of the 820's three main processors, the Hexagon 680 DSP, the Adreno 530 GPU, and the new Kryo CPU cores, Qualcomm is revealing the last piece of the puzzle that will make any mobile device complete: A new X12 LTE modem capable of supporting the latest advancements and speeds in networking technology.

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Like it or not, there will eventually come a time when you will have to plug in that smartphone to a power outlet. And when that time comes, the name of the game isn't just battery size, it is charging time. Advancements in technology today has brought as the likes of Qualcomm's Quick Charge and similar features. But which smartphones really have the fastest and most efficient charging time all in all? As you might have already guessed from the title, it is probably not something you expected.

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Tesla is planning to address the problem owners of its all-electric Model S in Manhattan have in trying to find a place to charge in the congested city. According to the New York Times, the car company will be making an announcement later today detailing a partnership with some two dozen parking garages, equipping them with 240-volt chargers for Tesla vehicles. While the charging stations won't be as quick as the superchargers Tesla has built along highways, they will be much faster than plugging into a standard wall outlet.

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MOS has introduced its new Reach Go power bank, something it says is the first of its kind able to charge a laptop at full speed over USB-C. The power bank features a Etron 100-watt USB-C charge controller, and as such is able to charge your applicable laptop (that shiny new Macbook, for example) as well as your phone…and do so without taking forever. Up to two mobile devices can be charged along with the laptop, and as with any portable battery, it is useful for those times you’ll be out and about all day.

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Google's next version of Android is revealed to have a "Dozing" feature which effectively puts your smartphone to sleep. With Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google will be bringing a Doze mode that detects when your phone has not been in use for an extended period of time - when you've accidentally left it on the counter over a long weekend away, for example. When your Android device senses this amount of inactivity, it powers down all non-necessary functions. Google suggests that with this feature enabled, smartphone users could be seeing battery life extended by 2x or more.

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