Phones with quick charge: the fastest charging from 0 to 100% (2016 edition)

56

Great battery life is one of the most sought after features in a phone these days, but there is one other aspect of the battery situation that does not get that much of the spotlight: how much time does it take to recharge that battery?

Most of us leave our phones charging during the night, but what if we could get a significant charge in just 30 minutes or so of charging. That would be quite the game-changer, and that's exactly what some companies are after with quick charging technologies.

That's why we've looked at all the major phones available on the market right now in 2016, and try to find the ones that are fastest to recharge. Along with the fastest charging phones, we'll be shaming some phones that have good battery life, but take a depressingly long time to replenish their battery.

With no further ado, here are the fastest charging phones in 2016.

#1: LG V10 | LG G5


Specs (V10 | G5)
Charge time (0% to 100%): 1 hour 5 minutes | 1 hour 16 minutes
Wall charger: 9 V - 1.8 A or 5 V - 1.8 A
Battery Capacity: 3,000 mAh | 2,800 mAh
Battery life: 5 hours 51 minutes | 5 hours 51 minutes

LG seems to be leading the way when it comes to quick charging: the LG V10, released last fall, is the absolutely fastest charging phone to date. True, the V10 can't brag about having good battery life (in fact, we often ran out of battery by the end of the day while using it more intensely), but you could just plug it for a few minutes and have a significant amount of battery juice replenished. The full charge takes just a bit more than an hour. Impressive!

By a narrow margin, the LG G5 - a phone that does not have a very good battery life - captures the number two spot when it comes to quick charging. Its easily removable battery is also fast to recharge: it takes just an hour and 16 minutes to fully recharge it from 0% to a 100%. You can also get a significant amount of juice by just plugging it for a few minutes. This could be a real life-saver and even though the phone otherwise might not last a full day with intense use, its quick charging powers somewhat make up for that.


#2: Samsung Galaxy S6 / Note 5 / Galaxy S7


Specs (S6 | Note 5 | S7)
Charge time (0% to 100%): 1 hour 18 minutes / 1 hour 21 minutes / 1 hour 28 minutes
Wall charger: 9 V - 1.67 A or 5 V - 2 A
Battery Capacity: 2,550 mAh | 3,000 mAh | 3,000 mAh
Battery life: 7 hours 14 minutes | 9 hours 11 minutes | 6 hours 37 minutes

Samsung's Fast Charging technology has proven to be great and we have not one, but three Samsung phones lined up for the second place with similarly fast charging speeds despite their different size batteries. The Galaxy S6, Note 5 and Galaxy S7 all recharge in less than an hour and a half, and combined with their above average battery life, they are probably your best bet if you want a good balance between battery life and charging speeds.


#3: Google Nexus 6P


Charge time (0% to 100%): 1 hour 29 minutes
Battery Capacity: 3,450 mAh
Battery life: 6 hours 24 minutes

Google's Nexus 6P offers a clean, stock Android experience in the form that Google itself sees it and it comes with the advantage of being first in the line for Android updates. When it comes to battery life, it's rather average, but it somewhat makes up for that with its quick charge capabilities: using its default USB-C charger, one can fully replenish its battery in less than an hour and a half.


#4: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge


Charge time (0% to 100%): 1 hour 39 minutes
Wall charger: 9 V - 1.8 A or 5 V - 1.8 A
Battery Capacity: 3,600 mAh
Battery life: 7 hours 18 minutes

The Internet went ecstatic over Samsung's announcement that the Galaxy S7 edge will have a much larger than average 3,600 mAh battery, and while the cell failed to break records in most tests, it's still a very solid performer with very good battery life. What its also great is fast recharge times: using the quick charge-enabled wall charger, you can get your S7 Edge fully recharged in an hour and 39 minutes. This is impressively fast for such a large battery. Kudos to Samsung!


#5 (tied): HTC 10 | Google Nexus 5X


Specs (HTC 10 | Nexus 5X)
Charge time (0% to 100%): 1 hour 40 minutes
Battery Capacity: 3,000 mAh | 2,700 mAh
Battery life: 7 hours 10 minutes | 6 hours 25 minutes

At the number five spot we have the HTC 10 and Google's Nexus 5X. Both charge up fully in an hour and 40 minutes, which is a very good result. HTC's quick charger is more effective since it has to deal with a larger, 3,000 mAh battery, while the Nexus 5X USB-C charger needs to recharge a 2,700 mAh cell. Both these phones offer good balance between battery life and charging times.


#6: LG G4


Charge time (0% to 100%): 2 hours 7 minutes
Wall charger: 5V - 1.8A
Battery Capacity: 3,000 mAh
Battery life: 6 hours 6 minutes

From here on, we are going into the land of the devices that take a long time to recharge. If you start running out of juice, a quick charge won't do all that much good here. The LG G4 with its 3,000 mAh battery has support for the quick charge technology, but using the stock charger it takes a long 2 hours and 7 minutes to fully recharge. Not as bad as the devices that follow, but given its rather disappointing battery life, this is not a good balance.


#7: Xiaomi Mi 5


Charge time (0% to 100%): 2 hours 19 minutes
Battery Capacity: 3,000 mAh
Battery life: 7 hours 27 minutes

The new, straight-out-of-China Xiaomi Mi 5 has great looks and an alluring price, as well as a very good battery life, but it's not among the fastest to recharge. It takes nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes to get its cell fully replenished.


#8: Huawei P9


Charge time (0% to 100%): 2 hours 26 minutes
Wall charger: 5V - 2A
Battery Capacity: 3,000 mAh
Battery life: 6 hours 51 minutes

Huawei was the fastest growing phone maker in 2015, and it's put all its bets on the Huawei P9 in 2016. The phone delivers good battery life in our tests, but even more so in daily use where efficient app management makes further contributions. The Huawei P9, however, lacks proper fast charging and it takes a long 2 hours and 26 minutes to fully recharge.


#9: OnePlus 2


Charge time (0% to 100%): 2 hours 30 minutes
Wall charger: 5V - 2A
Battery Capacity: 3,300 mAh
Battery life: 6 hours 38 minutes

The OnePlus 2, a phone by a company known for its loud marketing and great prices, is a good phone with decent (but not great) battery life. However, when it comes to charging it up, the USB-C stock charger on the OnePlus 2 is a disappointment as it takes a long 2 hours and a half to recharge its battery.


#10: Apple iPhone 6s / 6s Plus


Specs (6s | 6s Plus)
Charge time (0% to 100%): 2 hours 30 minutes | 2 hours 45 minutes
Wall charger: 5V - 1A
Battery Capacity: 1715 mAh | 2750 mAh
Battery life: 8 hours 15 minutes | 9 hours 11 minutes

Finally, last on this list and number one on the shame list are the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Both stellar performers in terms of battery life, they fail miserably with excruciatingly slow recharge times: it takes two hours and a half to recharge the small, 1,1715 mAh cell on the 6s, and even more - 2 hours and 45 minutes to replenish tha battery of the 6s Plus. This makes for some imbalance: despite their battery longevity, once the battery runs out there is no way to quickly recharge it.


hoursLower is better
LG G5
1h 16 min
Samsung Galaxy S6
1h 18 min
Samsung Galaxy Note5
1h 21 min
Samsung Galaxy S7
1h 28 min
Google Nexus 6P
1h 29 min
Google Nexus 5X
1h 40 min
HTC 10
1h 40 min
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
1h 39 min
LG G4
2h 7 min
Xiaomi Mi 5
2h 19 min
Huawei P9
2h 26 min
OnePlus 2
2h 30 min
Apple iPhone 6s
2h 30 min
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
2h 45 min
LG V10
1h 5 min

Recommended Stories

Loading Comments...
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless