OPPO announces 240W charging: Get a 100% charge in under 10 minutes (Updated)

Update: March 1, 2022 (9:59 AM ET): OPPO has come back to us with answers regarding its newly demonstrated 240W charging technology. The firm announced the tech yesterday, but what does it mean for battery degradation over time?

“For now, 240W SuperVOOC is capable of having a battery lifespan that meets the industrial standards, which is to maintain 80% of its original capacity after as many as 800 charge cycles,” the manufacturer told Android Authority in an emailed response.

Guide: How to pick the right fast charger for your smartphone

This is in line with the company’s previously announced 125W charging tech as well as Xiaomi’s 200W charging. However, it pales in comparison to the firm’s newly announced 150W tech, which retains ~80% capacity after 1,600 cycles.

OPPO also touched on safety features for its 240W charging solution, noting features like adapter overload protection, battery fuse protection, flash charge condition judgment, charging port overload protection, and battery overload protection.

Original article: February 28, 2022 (1:42 PM ET): The smartphone industry has been pushing ever faster charging speeds in the last few years, going from 30W, 50W, and 65W to 80W, 100W, and even 120W in commercial devices. We’ve also seen companies demonstrate 200W charging tech.

Now, OPPO has used MWC 2022 to announce 240W charging technology, dubbed 240W SuperVOOC Flash Charge. The smartphone maker claims that the tech can charge a 4,500mAh battery in just nine minutes, adding that the battery will reach 50% capacity in three and a half minutes. Check out the video posted by OPPO below.

OPPO hasn’t confirmed when we can expect to see this in a commercial device, nor has it revealed any information about battery degradation when using 240W charging. So we hope the effective battery capacity isn’t greatly diminished after a year or two. We also know that many phones continue to charge for a while after hitting a stated “100%” capacity, so we’re also curious to see whether this is the case here too.

This isn’t even the first time we heard about OPPO offering new fast charging tech today, as the company also announced new 150W charging technology. This standard — which will come to OPPO, realme, and OnePlus phones later this year — will maintain 80% battery capacity after 1,600 charging cycles (just over four years).

We’ve asked OPPO about commercial plans for 240W charging, battery degradation, and safety measures in use when charging at this speed. We’ll update the article when it gets back to us.