Most smartphones today come with fast charging as standard, making even Apple's hard-earned 200,000 "fast charge" seem somewhat sluggish. However, the fast charging in the smartphone industry suffers from the complex and ever-changing standards, causing serious compatibility issues and greatly affecting user experience. Even buying a power bank has become a daunting task for consumers. It's for these reasons that the market has long placed high hopes on "integrated fast charging."
On May 28, 2021, the Telecommunication Terminal Industry Association released the standard for integrated fast charging, titled "Technical Specifications for Mobile Terminal Integrated Fast Charging." The following year, led by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, along with partners such as Silergy, Rui Chip Microelectronics, Li Hui Technology, and Angbao Electronics, a new generation of integrated fast charging protocol—the UFCS integrated fast charging protocol—was officially launched.
(Source: Terminal Fast Charging Industry Association)
Unlike existing general fast charging protocols, UFCS Fusion Fast Charging not only achieves lower thresholds and costs compared to PD/PPS, but can also be implemented on both USB-A and USB-C, making it more widely applicable. Coupled with the strong support from member companies, at that time, the prospects were definitely bright.
So, here's the question: Why does a technology that could potentially affect the charging experience of hundreds of millions of people still seem to be in a state of "promising for the future" today? And most importantly, can the development of the UFCS Fusion Fast Charging protocol really solve the problems of rampant proprietary fast charging and generally low power in universal protocols?
"Fusion Fast Charging" is making progress, but not much When you hear about UFCS Fusion Fast Charging, what comes to mind first? Does Fusion Fast Charging mean we can finally bid farewell to snail-like charging speeds? Does it mean we no longer need to painstakingly distinguish between the myriad of chargers at home? Does it mean we can leave home without carrying a dizzying array of charging heads?
Well, that sentiment, Xiao Lei understands it, it's fair to say that people have suffered from the lack of universal chargers for a long time!
Since May 2021, UFCS Fusion Fast Charging has been around for three years now. How has it progressed? Well, it's fair to say there have been some advancements, but not too many.
Let's start with the latest development: Yesterday, Xiaomi launched a 120W USB-C gallium nitride (GaN) charger set on JD.com. This charger is compatible with PD 3.0, QC 3.0, and UFCS 1.0 protocols, capable of delivering up to 65W fast charging for laptops. The introductory price is 199 CNY.
(Source: Xiaomi)
As of April this year, including this product, a total of 20 power supply devices have passed Fusion Quick Charge certification. Among them are 4 Xiaomi chargers, 3 OPPO/OnePlus chargers, 5 VIVO chargers, 3 Huawei chargers, 1 Honor charger, and the remaining 4 power supply devices from accessory manufacturers. The variety of options available is simply astounding.
(Source: Terminal Fast Charging Industry Association)
Looking at the smartphone side again, according to the information obtained from the official website, the current supporters of UFCS integrated fast charging in the smartphone sector are still very few. Since its release, only a total of 18 devices support integrated fast charging.
Specifically for the year 2024, there are only five devices: iQOO12, iQOO 10 Pro, OnePlus Ace 3, OPPO Find X7, and OPPO Find X7 Ultra. Among them, the iQOO 10 Pro is a previous-year product that has been updated via OTA to support UFCS integrated fast charging. As for the OPPO Find X7 and OPPO Find X7 Ultra, they are both products under the Find X7 series. Taking all this into account, the actual number of supported devices needs to be discounted accordingly.
(Source: OPPO)
Charging equipment is scarce, and there aren't many power supply devices either. Even today, supporters of UFCS integrated fast charging are still few and far between.
The challenge of popularizing integrated fast charging lies in "compatibility."
It's strange, theoretically speaking, there isn't much technical difficulty for smartphones to support UFCS integrated fast charging, so why are these smartphone manufacturers procrastinating?
To put it simply, in an article two years ago, Xiaolei once said that "seeking common ground while reserving differences" might become a breakthrough for the popularization of integrated fast charging standards.
In other words, smartphone manufacturers can continue to develop proprietary fast charging, but they must improve the performance and compatibility of universal fast charging standards. At the same time, they should also synchronize the technology in adapters, data cables, and other accessories, at least to free consumers from the embarrassing situation at that time.
From the results, it is true that some smartphone manufacturers have improved the performance and compatibility of universal fast charging. For example, the vivo X100 series supports up to 100W PPS fast charging, and the Meizu 21 is compatible with industry-standard fast charging protocols such as PD3.0, PPS, QC4+, achieving up to 80W fast charging.
(Source: vivo)
However, it seems that the Terminal Fast Charging Industry Association is not keen on the idea of "seeking common ground while reserving differences".
According to official information, unlike other fast charging protocols, the UFCS protocol stipulates that if a device supports multiple fast charging protocols, it must first undergo UFCS recognition and communication. Only when UFCS cannot be used can other fast charging protocols be utilized. While this prioritized usage can indeed enable one charger to provide fast charging for multiple devices, it may also create exclusivity among various proprietary charging protocols.
Furthermore, according to Weibo blogger @Vetrax's revelations, the UFCS officials have recently exerted pressure on member units within the alliance, indicating that all member manufacturers must prioritize support for the UFCS protocol. As a result, the high-power PD/PPS fast charging previously seen on some new phones will become a rarity in the near future.
(Source: Weibo)
While this restriction only affects products from member companies within the UFCS alliance, it's worth noting that these members include major domestic smartphone manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, as well as leading accessory manufacturers like Baseus, Anker, Coolkit, and Pinsheng. This implies that as long as UFCS protocol is utilized, products will essentially be incompatible with other high-power universal fast charging protocols.
Though one can empathize with the official urgency due to low adoption rates, one must question whether a universal fast charging protocol, whose mission is to address the incompatibility of proprietary fast charging protocols, should indeed exhibit exclusivity towards other universal fast charging protocols. This is indeed somewhat ironic: aiming to unify various fast charging protocols with fusion fast charging, yet facing resistance due to incompatibility with universal protocols.
The road to popularizing fusion fast charging protocols is fraught with challenges.
According to Xiao Lei, there are two key conditions for the widespread adoption of UFCS fusion fast charging protocols.
Firstly, there's the matter of technological prowess. Currently, the theoretical peak power of UFCS 1.0 stands at 42W, but in practical applications, most manufacturers only adapt to 33W, with the actual charging rate during operation reaching around 27W, far from the 30W mark for most products.
In comparison, PD 3.1 boasts a theoretical peak power of 240W, with the highest power on smartphones reaching 65W, capable of powering a variety of devices including laptops, handheld consoles, and more. QC 5.0 peaks at around 100W, with the blue factory adopting 20V5A PPS hundred-watt fast charging this year. To compete with them, fusion fast charging would need to wait for at least UFCS 2.0 with a designated power rating of 60W.
(Source: Lei Jun Technology)
Next is cooperation. From the perspective of manufacturers, adapting their own products to support universal fast charging protocols is actually a thankless task. After all, it requires more manpower, resources, and communication costs. Moreover, purchasing UFCS authorization chips will also increase the cost of accessories.
For smartphone manufacturers, engaging in commercial licensing around fast charging protocols is also a rare business opportunity, similar to Apple's MFi certification. Any third-party accessory manufacturer wishing to produce products supporting specific fast charging protocols must pay a certain amount of patent licensing fees to brands within the alliance. When the user base is large enough, this becomes a long-term source of income. To incentivize their participation, the specific distribution of benefits still needs careful consideration.
(Source: Xiaomi)
In the realm of top domestic manufacturers, only OPPO and iQOO are earnestly driving the implementation of UFCS integrated fast charging in smartphones. The actions of other manufacturers remain relatively conservative, indicating that many brands still harbor reservations, afraid that their efforts might inadvertently benefit others. Nevertheless, whether it's the swift implementation of terminal fast charging technology and standardization committees, the steady progress of UFCS integrated fast charging, or manufacturers gradually loosening their support for universal fast charging protocols, these moves all signal that fast charging technology is gradually moving towards integration and standardization. Xiao Lei believes that in order for several manufacturers to break free from entrenched technological mindsets, UFCS integrated fast charging must return to its original intention when it was founded: to address compatibility issues with fast charging as its mission, and to promote the interchangeability of fast charging technology on existing terminals within the industry. Only then can we break the cycle of meaningless internal competition, meet the long-term development needs of the industry, and create a fast, safe, and compatible charging environment for consumers. Perhaps in the coming years, we'll be able to experience the same fast charging technology on different phones, and they'll be mutually compatible, completely freeing ourselves from the constraints of proprietary charging protocols. But for now, integrated fast charging may still have a long way to go.
