Infinix is not new to fast charging. The company has been here multiple times before. They’re the ones that brought us “Thunder Charge” which would later be known as HyperCharge just over a year ago, remember?
In 2023, they’re back with All-Round FastCharge.
What is that?
Well, the simple answer, as you are probably able to make out, is that it’s very fast fast-charging. Or, as I like to call it, fast charging on steroids.
However, that answer is just too simplistic. It’s correct, yes, but it doesn’t tell the entire truth about what All-Round FastCharge is.
The long answer is as you will see below.
All-Round FastCharge is a set of hardware and software optimizations that make battery charging fast, safe and flexible.
Let’s look at all of them, shall we?
Now, when it was announced back in March, we learned that All-Round FastCharge can go as high as 260W. 260W is the peak. At that time – and that remains the case as of the time of publishing this – it’s the highest figure we have seen since we started this fast-charging craze.
The 260W fast charging is achieved when a device is plugged in using a cable and the necessary adaptor. As per what we learned when it was announced, a device will go from nothing to a quarter-way within a minute of being plugged in. What’s more, it takes just seven and a half minutes to go from nothing to fully charged! Crazy, right?
Now, fast charging is not just about when your phone is plugged in. In this day and age, wireless charging is also a thing. Even though the technology has largely been a preserve of premium (read: expensive) devices, we have seen strides being made towards making it accessible on mid-range smartphones as well. Like Infinix’s recent Note 30 series which features wireless charging across the board (though the entry-level model has to use a case to achieve that).
Now, on the wireless charging front, All-Round FastCharge peaks at 110W. That gets one a respectable timeline of just 16 minutes to go from nothing to 100%. Impressive.
Given that not all devices are made equal, users should not expect to get 260W wired fast charging on every smartphone advertised as having All-Round FastCharge. No, that won’t be the case. That technology is being tailored based on each device’s profile and capabilities. While it is impressive that sub-Kshs 30,000 devices from Infinix are rocking wireless charging, we don’t expect them to have 110W fast charging, do we?
In the case of the Infinix Note 30 series, for instance, the standard Note 30, which also happens to be the entry-level member of the series, only has 45W fast charging. That gets you from nothing to 75% in just half an hour. Yes, that sounds little when you’re talking about a peak potential of 260W but, in that device’s class, it’s the best there is. By a mile. I mean, we even have companies launching smartphones that cost over Kshs 300,000 launching with support for only 25W out of the box and just a 20W top-up if their buyers get better adaptors than… (wait, they don’t even include a basic one in the box). Do you see where I am going with this? The Infinix Note 30 VIP I just reviewed has 68W fast charging. That goes from nothing to 80% in half an hour. That’s still All-Round FastCharge.
80% is an important figure to consider because, with the AI Smart Charge feature turned on, it is where charging is capped when you plug in your phone for charging overnight.
I mean, when we are talking about such high levels of fast charging, it doesn’t make sense to leave your device plugged in for extended periods, right? While that is true, we are all creatures of habit and there will be more than one occasion when you plug in your phone as you retire for the night. When that happens, don’t worry, the phone will just charge to 80% and then, based on what it has learned about you and your charging routine, adjust its charging speed to just a trickle as it buys time for you to wake up. By the time you wake up, it will be at the 100% you expected to find it at. Batteries wear out over time (iPhone users would very well know this) and this measure is aimed at making sure that your device’s battery lasts longer. This is not exactly something new as we have seen it on various devices but it is important to bring up here because it is part and parcel of the technologies that make up All-Round FastCharge.
Now, Infinix’s AllRound Fast-Charge doesn’t just concentrate on the company’s proprietary fast-charging tech. No, it supports more universal standards as well. You get multiple charging protocol on your devices. For instance, the Infinix Note 30 Pro will accept up to 45W fast charging when plugged in using a charger and cable that support the Power Delivery 3.0 standard. Or up to 35W for the standard Note 30 and the Note 30 5G using the same PD 3.0 chargers. PPS is also supported.
One of the features that Infinix has been screaming from the rooftops about its Note 30 series smartphones is reverse charging. All-Round FastCharge also includes reverse charging. Wired reverse charging and wireless reverse charging. On the Note 30 series, the former is reserved for the entry-level Note 30 while the latter can be experienced on the Pro and the VIP models, making it possible to charge things like earbuds and smartwatches easily. Or, for those that walk around with two phones, to charge the other device when it’s low on juice. Either using a USB-C-to-USB-C cable or, if it supports wireless charging, just wirelessly.
My favourite All-Round FastCharge feature is not even the crazy charging speeds. I mean, we can get those elsewhere as well these days. And, the very many safety measures that have been built into the devices that support it are things we have become accustomed to in various ways since the last time we had phones that were exploding. My favourite All-Round FastCharge feature is Bypass Charging.
Bypass Charging happens when you’re gaming and you connect your Infinix smartphone (using its original charging equipment – charger and cable) to the charger. If it is enabled from the battery settings, as you game, the device will be charged, yes, but not in the normal way. The battery will be “bypassed” so that the charge is sent directly to the device’s motherboard to keep you going for as long as you desire without ruining the battery or having your device overheat while you hold it. Brilliant!
Now that we are in safety territory, 80% is also the number you need to remember that Infinix says that your device will still be able to hold charge after 3 years of use or 1,000 charging cycles, assuming you charge just once per day, significantly more than the industry standard of about 800 charging cycles.
Dual-channel fast-charging technology ensures that heat dissipation during charging is done in such a way that your device doesn’t heat up in the process. I can attest to this from my experience charging the Note 30 VIP with a PD 3.0 charger. There are over 60 charging protections to take care of factors such as unstable voltage (those days when Kenya Power decides you can’t have peace), lightning strikes, extreme temperatures, humidity, dust, etc and ensure user safety.
Screenshots sourced from this video by SuperSaf
