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Weekly poll results: Wired charging needs to be super fast, wireless not so much

Weekly poll results: Wired charging needs to be super fast, wireless not so much
Written by Techbot

After we posted last week’s poll about smartphone charging speeds, we kept an eye on it. After a few hours the 15-30 minutes and 30-45 minutes options were evenly matched, both outpacing the other answers in the poll. But then things started to turn.

In a surprising result the poll ended with the 15 minutes or less option on top and by quite a margin too. People have really warmed up to fast charging. The 15-30 and 30-45 minute answers are still evenly matched, but they fell well behind the super fast option.

As usual there were concerns about the negative effects on battery longevity that fast charging may have. But another opinion emerged – as app and game requirements trend upwards with time, a 2-year old phone might start feeling sluggish. Then you will start looking around for a new phone, even if your battery life is still great.

To put it another way, battery degradation is only a concern if it happens faster than the rest of the phone ages. Depending on your use cases, the chipset might still feel fast enough. But as new display and camera tech launches and as makers stop issuing OS updates to older phones, you will eventually find yourself wanting a new phone.

Weekly poll results: Wired charging needs to be super fast, wireless not so much

So there you have it – fast wired charging is good. Several people in the comments mentioned that they prefer using USB Power Delivery (which is the industry standard) rather than proprietary solutions. But even those support USB-PD, just not at the insane 100+ and even 200+ Watt power levels that proprietary tech gets you.

There was a second poll last week, concerning wireless charging. This one had an interesting result too – wireless charging is a widely requested feature but charge speed does not matter.

A slow and steady pace is useful if you charge overnight or if you have a wireless charger on your desk at work. Wireless charging has other benefits too – you can top up certain headsets and smartwatches with it, even if you didn’t bring a cable with you.

Weekly poll results: Wired charging needs to be super fast, wireless not so much

In the end, both polls were won by convenience. Super fast wired charging eliminates battery anxiety – as long as you can plug in for a few minutes, you are good for the rest of the day. Wireless charging is handy for those times when speed doesn’t matter but you would rather not tether the phone with wires.

As for those calling for the return of user-replaceable batteries, the EU might grant your wish.

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