Xiaomi Mi 4c Charging Analysis Part-2

Today we continue to check the charging performance on Xiaomi Mi 4C.

Last month we finished the Xiaomi Mi 4c Charging Analysis Part-1. Today we continue to check the charging performance on Xiaomi Mi 4C.

You should read a lot of Xiaomi Mi 4C reviews from different sites, but as a brand which concentrates on chargers, Tronsmart focuses on different chargers’ charging performance for Xiaomi Mi 4C. We will test the original power adapter, suggest how to quickly charge your device, and help to pick up the correct alternative chargers.

In the following analysis, you will see we test with regular 5V/2A charger ( no quick charge), and original xiaomi charger (support quick charge 2.0), also tronsmart charger(support quick charge 2.0).

Here we go:

The specification of Xiao Mi 4c original power adapter:

INPUT : AC100-240V

OUTPUT: DC5V/2.0A , 9V/1.2A , 12V/1.0A,max 12W

Type-C male to USB2.0 A male 1.0 m Cable

We are the first time to see the 12w quick charger. We even doubt if this is certified quick charge at first, because, Our quick charge are all 18W, support 5V/2A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A. After check on Qualcomm site, we found, this charger is really certified by Qualcomm, xiaomi should consider the cost and use this 12w solution, In this area, more volt means more cost.

Now, let’s do some real test to check the performance:

1) Test with the above xiaomi 12w quick charger:

Total Charging time from battery 0% to 100% is 2 hours and 7 mins with the original charger.

When we first connect the charger, the Mi 4c and the charger have the “communicate” and directly change the charging volt from 5V to 9V. and in the whole charging time, the volt is always kept in around 9v to make sure get the fastest charging speed.

In the first 10 mins, it can charge the Mi 4c from 0%-14%, it’s fast! and after 30 mins, Mi 4c get 34% battery. It takes about 1.5hours to get 90% battery, but for the rest 10%, it takes another 30 mins.

The charging current is becoming smaller as the battery is full.

2) Test with the regular 5V/2A 10W charger(no quick charge support), We use the original charger from Oneplus 2. 

The total charging time for Mi4c from 0%-100% is about 2H 43min.

 The original adapter of OnePlus Two is built-in standard 5V/2.0A output power, don’t support Quick Charge. So the charger just can give 5V volt to Mi 4c.

In the first 10 mins, the mi4c just get 9% battery, and 30mins later, it has 26% battery. Which is slower than the xiaomi’s quick charger.

2) Test with Tronsmart QC 2.0 Wall Charger (18W)

We are a bit surprised by the result, at first we thought our 18W charger should make it faster than the xiaomi’s 12w charger, however, from the above test, we found, the charging time is almost the same, Xiaomi must limit the total watt which Mi4c can hold. Our charger can successfully “communicate” with Mi4c, and change the charging volt to 9V, however, the current can’t go up than 1.2A. total watt is still lower than 12W.

 For the same charger, we test in zenfone 2, it can give 16w. so it’s not our charge problem, but Xiaomi makes some limit. 

4) Test with Tronsmart Type-C Car Charger(INPUT DC12-24V OUTPUT DC 5V/2.0A 9V/2.0A 12V/1.5A) :

Because our ammeter doesn’t have the type c female port, we can’t read the volt/current in the charging, but we can see the charging time and battery change.

Total charging time with our type c for Mi 4c is just 1 hour 58mins. It’s the best result in all of the test!

If like we talked above, xiaomi limit the charging power, why our Tronsmart type c charger still can make it a little faster?

Our engineer did some analysis, and find because our charger with built-in type c cable, it can reduce the power consumption effectively, so the total charging speed is better than original charger, even USB port wall charger. But since xiaomi limit the total charging power, we still can’t improve the charging speed a lot, just 7% from the analysis.

Conclusion

XiaoMi 4C is the few device which support Type C and Quick Charge 2.0 technology together.

The Charging performance is not as good as we expected, thought 2 hours 7 mins fully charge is not a very bad result, but we are very upset to see xiaomi did some trick in the charger, even they state it support quick charge 2.0, however, the total power just 12W.

Check OnePlus 2 charging analysis, Though it don’t support quick charge 2.0, the battery is also bigger(3300mA) than Mi 4C(3080mA) , The total charging time for Oneplus 2 just 2 hour 10mins. Almost same as the XiaoMi Mi4C (2 hours 7 mins) , which claim to support quick charge 2.0 technology.

So some suggestions for the Xiaomi Mi 4C users:

1) Use quick charger to charge Xiaomi Mi 4C instead of the ordinary charger.  Tronsmart offer the world’s most abundant quick chargers. From 1 port usb wall charger to 5 port  and from 1 port usb car charger to 4 port.

2) A charger with built-in cable can reduce the power consumption. Suggest to buy charger with such form preferentially. If you need a car charger for your xiaomi mi 4c, Tronsmart type-c car charger will be a good choice for you.

About Tronsmart

As the world’s leading Quick Charge accessories brand, Tronsmart designs and builds a complete Quick Charge product line including wall, car and desktop chargers. All Tronsmart products have passed Qualcomm Certification and are the featured quick charger brand on Qualcomm official site.