A short battery life is one of the most annoying things about a smartphone. Sometimes it doesn’t even last the entire day, and by the time evening comes, the phone has to be plugged in to charge.

Some manufacturers offer a quick-charge option that gives the battery enough juice in a few minutes to last a few hours. However, there’s a widespread belief that this fast-charging can damage the battery

we expect “quick charging“, alternatively known as fast or turbo charging, to be an increasingly common feature. But what exactly is quick charging?

Let’s establish a basis for comparison by describing how usual charging works. Typical chargers power up your phone at a controlled, consistent pace, because power flowing in too quickly could damage the battery and, if things go truly awry, fry your phone.

Quick charge is designed to be safe, despite the influx of charge, though you may have to take measures like turning off the device in order to use it.

There seems to be no threat to human health and safety, but what about that of your battery? Many are concerned that frequent use of quick charging exhausts overall lithium ion battery life more quickly. This is a logical conclusion – after all, quick charging generates more heat than normal, and heat is known to fizzle fuel cells.

Actually,fast chargers are kind of a misnomer. The phone will only draw as much power as needed from a charger, regardless of how high the amperage rating is. Some people say a higher-than-stock rated charger had allowed for somewhat quicker charging, but I haven’t done any tests between my normal and higher rated chargers, or seen any tests backing up or disproving those claims. My belief is that if it is any quicker, it’s not enough to be noticeable to the average user.