Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Another week, another problem with USB-C charging. Perhaps I’m just having a worse time than most, undoubtedly due to the sheer number of gadgets on my desk at any given time, but plugging in my new OPPO Find X9 Pro had me pulling my hair out.
It’s been a while since I’ve actually struggled to get a modern flagship to start fast charging. Like any normal person, I took my new Find X9 Pro out of the box and tried plugging it into my existing charger setup. That went OK, if not a little slow (more on that later). But I also wanted to compare my desk charger against an official 80W OPPO SuperVOOC plug, so I gave that a try as well. The phone wouldn’t charge at a rate above 22W-27W — far short of its claimed 80W charging potential.
Do you still use proprietary fast charging? 72 votes Yes, all the time. 35 % Some of my chargers do. 18 % Never. 47 %
I also tried a backup 80W SuperVOOC plug, as well as a couple of USB-C to USB-A cables I had on hand, including two that are rated for 6A or higher. No dice. Fiddling with OPPO’s Smart Rapid Charging feature made absolutely no difference to the peak power either.
After all that testing, the answer was anticlimactic: the bundled USB-A to USB-C cable was the only one that worked. Worse, it still displays the same “ultra-fast charging” banner, regardless of whether the phone is charging at 80W or 25W, leaving most people unaware that they’re charging slower than they should be.
Going back a step, OPPO’s Smart Rapid Charging setting technically warns you that a “genuine power adapter and cable” are required for fast charging. However, that toggle didn’t seem to make any difference to peak power when turning it on and off. Furthermore, this text is hidden deep within the settings menu, so few will ever be aware that their cable might be a bottleneck.
Case in point: I mixed up the official OPPO cable with two others during my testing process. There is no meaningful way to tell them apart, except that the cable that seems to work has white connector interiors (compared to the other cables, which are orange and black). See the image below.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
So here I am, messing around in settings menus and cables to get a phone to charge quickly. That wasn’t a good user experience in 2020, and it’s inexcusable in 2025.
... continue reading