OnePlus 10 Pro and four other phones tipped to get 125W charging in 2022

Last year, Oppo unveiled its 125W fast-charging tech, capable of filling a phone's battery from zero to full in a mere 20 minutes. Now we might know a bit more about some of the handsets that will be carrying the technology in 2022.

Well-known tipster @stufflistings (via Notebookcheck.net) has named the OnePlus 10 Pro, the Realme GT 2 Pro, the Oppo Find X4, an Oppo N phone and the Reno 8 Pro as some of the handsets that are going to feature 125W fast-charging in the future.

Oppo and OnePlus joined forces earlier this year, while Realme is part of the same tech conglomerate. Reno is a sub-brand of Oppo meanwhile, and so you can see why all of these phones are going to be some of the first in line for the new charging capabilities.

Realme GT 2 Pro, Find X4 series, OnePlus 10 Pro, OPPO N series phone, Reno 8 Pro to feature 125W fast charging. pic.twitter.com/AnwtIz4BogNovember 12, 2021

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Previous rumors

This information isn't coming completely out of the blue: the Oppo Find X4 series of phones have already been tipped to come carrying 125W fast-charging, while we've also been hearing similar whispers about the Realme GT 2 Pro.

When it comes to leaks around the OnePlus 10 Pro, the rumors so far haven't specifically mentioned this super-speedy charging, but it would no doubt be a welcome upgrade for users. The OnePlus 9 Pro comes with 65W charging, so we're talking about a big jump.

The mention of the Oppo N phone is interesting: it's been years since the Oppo N1, the last Oppo phone with an N designation, and the suggestion is that Oppo could be bringing the name (and perhaps the 360-degree rotating camera) back to the market.

Analysis: fast charging continues to improve

The Xiaomi 11T Pro. — (Image credit: Truls Steinung)

While several smartphone specs have stagnated in recent years, charging speeds have continued to steadily improve over the years. The latest Xiaomi phones go all the way up to 120W, and now it seems as though the next Oppo releases could outpace them.

This super-fast charging technology works by essentially splitting a battery up into two and charging each half separately, in parallel. A variety of safety measures are put in place to avoid overheating and to make sure that your smartphone doesn't burst into flames while it's juicing up.

Questions remain about how healthy it is for phone batteries to be charged up this quickly in terms of their overall lifespan. For now though, it doesn't appear that super-speedy charging degrades batteries too much before people are likely to go and upgrade their handsets again to something newer.

We'll be interested to see the finer details of what the 125W fast-charging actually involves when these phones hit the market. While extra time between battery charges would be welcome too, the shorter the charging time the better.