Charge Faster Using an adapter to plug your device into a traditional wall outlet will be a bit faster. But by plugging your device directly into an electrical outlet with a USB port, you can charge it up to 40 percent faster than using an adapter.
Depending on the device manufacturer and the USB generation, USB ports typically output between 1 and 2.1 amps. Therefore, USB port amperage is much less than if you plug your phone into a wall socket using a manufacturer-approved charger.
While USB charging cables make it easy to plug your iPhone into a PC, laptop, or gaming console, that will almost always result in a longer charge time. Even if you're using a charger with lower wattage, an outlet will usually charge faster most of the time.
Plugging your phone directly into a wall outlet gives you the fastest charge because the maximum power output of an outlet is 1 amp. That's twice as powerful as a USB plugin on your computer or in your car, which only omits 0.5 amps of power. Of course, the more power going into your phone means it'll charge faster.
Life hack note: cable size matters!
It's a pretty simple idea. Bigger cables carry more current, and so can transfer more current to your phone in the same amount of time. This means it will charge faster.
Some chargers supply more voltage or amperage than others, meaning they will charge your phone faster (as long as your phone supports it — it will draw only as much power as it knows it can handle).
Because USB ports on computers are usually designed to deliver less power than “fast chargers” are capable of, even at the same voltage. They deliver 0.5 amps at 5 volts. Fast chargers will deliver more, up to about 3 amps, though most will be in the 1–2.4 amp range.
USB-A to Lightning will charge 30% of your iPhone battery in 30 mins. This will result in a full charge in about an hour and a half. USB-C to Lightning will charge your battery 55% in 30 mins, resulting in a full iPhone charge in just under an hour. In short, USB-C is considerably faster than USB-A.
USB-C Power Delivery is a fast charging technology, supported by certain iOS/Apple and Android/Google/Samsung devices, that delivers much higher levels of power than standard charging.
USB 2.0 vs 3.0: Charging and Power
A USB 2.0 port is able to deliver 0.5 A of power while USB 3.0 is able to output 0.9 A. This means two things: USB 3.0 devices are able to charge faster and USB 3.0 ports can support more power-hungry devices.
How much voltage and current the device can accept depends on successful communication with the adapter. Generally speaking, the charging speed of USB C to C is faster than that of USB A 2.0 to USB C, but the charging speed of USB C to C is compared with that of USB A 3.0 to USB C.
USB-C comes packed with USB4 support making it the clear winner here as it supports data transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps (gigabits per second) while the Lightning connection only supports up to 480 Mbps (megabits per second) with USB 2.0. That's roughly an 80x faster rate with the USB-C connection.
USB-A can offer a charging speed of 12W. USB-A has to be inserted the correct way around into the charging ports to work. Apple uses Lightning connections for its iPhones. Lightning ports are mostly input only.
While fast charging can increase the rate at which your battery loses capacity, its actual impact is only about 0.1 percent more capacity lost than without using fast charging.
If they're off, your iPhone can charge quicker. And this way, you can also quickly turn airplane mode off to quickly check on any text message or phone calls you might be waiting on. Airplane mode will stop notifications from coming in, but will preserve battery while you're charging your iPhone.
When it comes to true specifications, USB-C simply has better data transfer rates, symmetry in its connection to help avoid frustration and broken connections, and the ability to charge large electronics. In addition USB-C allows for greater power transfer speeding up the process of charging your devices.
USB-A is classed as a legacy port, and is slowly being phased out. USB-A is limited to data transfer, while the newer USB-C standard can be used for power delivery and display output too, while also offering faster data transfer speeds.
EU lawmakers argue this move will help cut down on e-waste and ensure people only have to carry a single charger for all their devices. At present nearly every modern Android device uses the USB-C chargers along with Apple's own iPad tablets.
It is less damaging than actively using your phone while it charges. If slow charging means you will need to use it while charging, then you may be better off with fast charging.
Slow charging takes several hours and can get your battery to maximum capacity (100 percent). Fast charging can boost the battery to 80 percent in around 30 minutes.
During the charging process, the output current and voltage of the charging adapter are dynamically adjusted, resulting in slower charging when the battery is nearly full.
A phone charging slowly could just be a case of using the wrong charger. If the cable seems loose or too tight, it might not be the right cable for your phone. You could also be using an old cable. New USB cables ports are designed for fast transfer, as long as you connect newer devices optimized for these speeds.
For fast charging, manufacturers bump the voltage up from 5V to 9V or 12V and beyond, or increase amperage to 3A and above. The introduction of USB-C helps accomplish this with support for up to 100W and 20V, which makes faster charging speeds possible.
Charge Faster
Using an adapter to plug your device into a traditional wall outlet will be a bit faster. But by plugging your device directly into an electrical outlet with a USB port, you can charge it up to 40 percent faster than using an adapter.