Smarthone charging speeds have come close to being doubled in the last two years. And now Oppo, a China based phone manufacturer, has upped the challenge. Oppo has been at the front of this race with VOOC and now they have levelled up with massive improvements to their VOOC Flash Charge Technology.

All mobile devices such as smart phones use batteries as their source of power and keeping the battery charged and the device operating has been a challenge until the introduction of Oppo VOOC Flash Charge.

What Does OPPO VOOC Mean?

OPPO VOOC stands for Voltage Open Loop Multi-Stage Constant-Current Charging. Quite a mouthful but what it simply means is faster charging than is available from standard smartphone chargers. The VOOC can improve charging time and can charge a battery from totally flat to 100% in about 69 minutes. However, this can vary slightly depending on the type of Oppo phone and battery.

How Does VOOC Work?

It all comes down to power which is measured in Watts. A Watt (W) is the measurement of power that flows from the charger to the battery and is calculated by multiplying the Volts (V) by the Amps (A). VOOC works by supplying a higher constant-current to the battery which is measured in Amps. The greater the current, the bigger the Wattage and the more power the battery receives allowing it to charge faster.

For example, a standard charger supplies 5V and 0.5A providing 2.5W. An OPPO VOOC charger provides 5V and 4A which supplies the battery with 20W. Therefore, the battery will charge at a much faster rate with a VOOC charger than with a standard charger.

There are two circumstances under which the fast charger will not deliver a fast charge. If the phone is being used to watch videos or play games while on charge, the charge to the battery will be reduced to lower heat emissions that could be hazardous. However, even under these circumstances, the battery will still charge faster than it would using a standard charger.

All batteries charge at a lower rate once they have reached 80% and this is no different with the VOOC charger. On average, it would take a phone to be charged to 80% just 45 minutes but it would take an additional 24 minutes to charge to 100% from flat.

SuperVOOC Charging

In 2018 VOOC was succeeded by SuperVOOC which is the world’s fastest flash charge. SuperVOOC debuted with the Oppo’s R17 Pro and Find X phones in 2018.

SuperVOOC sets a new benchmark for fast charging technology that keeps up with the modern life’s rapid pace. SuperVOOC Flash Charge can go from 1% to 100% in just 35 minutes which is almost four times the standard charging speed.

SuperVOOC uses specially designed chargers and SuperVOOC charging cables that have a higher power output than your typical conventional charger. With Oppo’s SuperVOOC up to 50W of charging power is delivered, compared to 10W which is the maximum output of a standard USB charger.

SuperVOOC fast charging utilises 2 x 1700mAh batteries in a bi-cell design. Charging with SuperVOOC for only 5 minutes is enough for two hours of talk time on your phone.

VOOC 3.0

Now there is a new, faster VOOC 3.0 technology the OPPO F11/F11 Pro, K3 series and Reno series utilise VOOC 3.0. With VOOC 3.0, you can charge up your smartphone even more quickly.

VOOC 3.0 uses higher current to maximize charging efficiency and quicker than VOOC’s previous versions, VOOC 3.0 can fully charge a battery 20 minutes faster than VOOC 2.0 and uses lower voltage.

Is VOOC Charging Safe?

Both VOOC and SuperVOOC fast charging have been designed with safety in mind and SuperVOOC and it’s good to know VOOC fast charging systems do not negatively impact on battery life.

OPPO VOOC and SuperVOOC chargers have 5 core protection measures to ensure the safety of the charger, battery, cable, nodes and mobile phone. The safety of the charger has been rigorously tested and passed international safety standards. This testing was conducted by TÜV Rheinland in Germany.

TÜV Rheinland is an international safety authority and this company has certified VOOC and SuperVOOC. This testing comprised 1,000 trial tests, and this amount exceeds the industry requirement. Testing also involved 600 independent fast-charge and discharge battery life tests as well as 10,000 hot plug tests on charging terminals.

Charging produces heat which is harmful and dangerous to the battery and other components of the phone. The faster the charge, the greater the heat that is produced which is why most chargers limit the flow of current and charge a battery slowly. However, because VOOC increases the Amps and not the Volts, the heat produced is not increased greatly and reportedly lowers the temperature of the charging adapter.

Different Versions of VOOC Charging

There are 3 different versions of VOOC Flash Chargers currently available:

The VOOC 2.0 basic adapter that supplies a charge of 5V and 4A as described above. The SuperVOOC for two-cell batteries and delivers 10V and 5A. VOOC 3.0 which is the latest adapter launched on 2019 supplying a charge of 5V and 5A. The charger increases the rate if battery charging by 23.8% compared the VOOC 2.0 according to reports.

Oppo has also announced that they are licensing their VOOC and SuperVOOC charge technology. Utilising this technology, the company is aiming to drive the development of the flash charging industry. Oppo aims to jointly build a VOOC flash charge ecosystem with their industry partners with the goal of providing superior fast charging experience for customers.

Upcoming VOOC Versions

On September 17 2019 at Shenzhen Oppo announced the launch of three new versions of VOOC: 65W SuperVOOC Fast Charge 2.0, 30W Wireless VOOC Flash Charge and VOOC Flash Charge 4.0.

This announcement reinforces Oppo’s leading position in the fast charging arena as the mobile industry commences 5G connectivity.

The SuperVOOC 2.0, is a 65W technology that will launch in the company’s soon to be released smartphone, the Reno Ace will be able to fully charge a 4000mAh battery in a mere 30 minutes.

SuperVOOC 2.0 is also capable of charging a 4000mAh battery up to 27% in a just five minutes and is backwards compatible with SuperVOOC and VOOC Flash Charge.

Employing an advanced design and built with more efficient components with a streamlined manufacturing process charging efficiency of SuperVOOC 2.0 is enhanced and at the same time heat generation has been reduced which all means, an improved delivering a charging experience will be delivered.

Oppo’s 30W Wireless VOOC may well be the best wireless charging technology currently available, and puts wireless VOOC, on level footing with wired VOOC in regards to charge speed, with a 4000mAh battery being able to reach a fully charged state in 80 minutes.

The 30W wireless VOOC is compatible with the QI standard and will also support charging power of 5W or 10W.

In order to improve 30W wireless VOOC’s safety the hardware has been designed to avoid overheating. Additionally there is foreign object detection functionality built in that will ensure charging immediately ceases should the charging board detect the presence of foreign metal objects.

And VOOC 4.0 is a full upgrade and will be used in the Oppo’s K5. Oppo state that this will be the next-generation fast charge solution. With a charge power comparable to VOOC 3.0, VOOC 4.0 will charge a 4000mAh battery to 67% in just 30 minutes and to 100% in 73 minutes. This is 12% faster than the previous generation VOOC 3.0.

VOOC 4.0 can achieve full load charging power of of 20W (5Vx 4A).

Brian Shen, Vice President and President of Oppo Global Marketing, tweeted about the launch.

After a lot of anticipation about 65W SuperVOOC, let me show you how fast it really is! 😎 pic.twitter.com/p1UHi18v6Q — Brian Shen (@BrianShenYiRen) September 17, 2019

With more than 1,700 patents worldwide since Oppo initially launched VOOC technology in 2014 and with more than 145 million users of VOOC, the company has a goal of providing smartphone users a superior charging experience with these three improved and upgraded charging technologies.

Oppo state that as power demanding apps and the emerging 5G technology generate demand for even longer battery life and faster charging capabilities they will continuously upgrade VOOC technology.