If you're looking to buy a new charger, you're sure to see a lot of ads for PD 3.0 and QC 3.0. These technologies are already integrated into many products, including various portable chargers. At first glance, they might look the same. After all, both technologies are designed for quick charging. Just two versions of the same product, right? In fact, in a broad sense, you're right. Both PD 3.0 and QC 3.0 will charge faster than traditional USB. At the same time, there are important differences. Depending on your phone, one of these might be the better choice. In fact, many phones support PD 3.0, but not QC 3.0, and vice versa. So, what's the difference? Let's start by discussing the basics of both technologies and choose the one that works best for you.
|
|
QC 3.0 is similar to PD 3.0 because it provides better charging performance than standard USB. Like PD 3.0, both the charger and device must be compatible with QC 3.0 to work properly. If your phone supports QC 3.0, but the charger does not, you will not get any benefits. Similarly, if you use an old phone with a QC 3.0 charger, you can only charge it at the standard USB rate.
QC is the abbreviation of "Quick Charge", which is a proprietary technology developed by Qualcomm. The reason this is important is that it requires a license to use it. If manufacturers are unwilling to pay Qualcomm's licensing fees, they will not be able to integrate QC 3.0 technology. Therefore, many devices that support PD charging do not support QC charging.On the other hand, QC 3.0 considers efficiency and speed when designing. This is part of Qualcomm's efforts to create the world's most environmentally friendly technology. Early versions of Quick Charge (1.0 and 2.0) have been very efficient. But the speed of QC 3.0 has increased by 40%, while power consumption has only increased by a small part. This is due to the intelligent negotiation of Optimal Voltage (INOV) technology-you guessed it-which is also proprietary.