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QUALCOMM Quick Charge (QC) protocol

 

​The most well-known fast charging protocol that is known is Quick Charge. This protocol was developed by the Qualcomm company, which is also known for the Snapdragon chips in many smartphones. It is a proprietary battery charging protocol.

 

Quick charge protocols:

  • Quick Charge 1 was released in 2013, supporting up to 10W of power.

  • Quick Charge 2 was released in 2014, increasing the power output to 36W (60W with HVDCP class B) and introducing features like a High Voltage Dedicated Charging Port (HVDCP) and optional Dual Charge (using 2 power management integrated circuits splitting power into 2 streams decreasing heating).

  • Quick Charge 3 was released in 2016, supporting charging power up to 36W (60W with HVDCP class B) and introducing INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimal Voltage), Battery Saver Technologies, HVDCP+, and optional Dual Charge+. It's compatible with USB-A,USB-C, Micro-USB ports. It is backward compatible with QC 2.0

  • Quick Charge 4 was announced in Dec2016, supporting up to 100W via Qualcomm’s implementation and 27W via USB PD (Power Delivery), including features like HVDCP++, Dual Charge++, INOV 3.0, and Battery Saver Technologies 2 and compatibility with USB PD. Quick Charge 4 chargers are not backward compatible with older Quick Charge.

  • Quick Charge 4+ was announced in June 2017. It introduces Intelligent Thermal Balancing and Advanced Safety Features to eliminate hot spots and protect against overheating and short-circuit or damage to the USB-C connector. Unlike Quick Charge 4, Quick Charge 4+ is fully backward compatible with QC 2 and 3.

  • Quick Charge 5 was announced in July 2020. Supporting up to 100W. This standard is cross-compatible with USB PD PPS. It can double the voltage output from a charger to a power receiver if it has double-cell batteries in series configuration (2S). Devices with a single battery will be able to achieve up to 45W peak charging speeds. Quick Charge 5 is fully backward compatible with all older QC versions.

  • QuickCharge5+ This protocol was announced by Qualcomm in September 2025. It is also based on PD-PPS technology, but offers 140W charging at 20V7A (as opposed to PD140W - 28V5A).​

Backward compatibility of QC protocols:

Quick Charge protocols compatibility

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