3A charge current in a 4x4 mm footprint — the thermal trade-off
The BQ25601DRTWR packs a 3A programmable charge current into a 24-WFQFN with exposed pad, 4x4 mm body. That current density means the thermal pad layout and PCB copper area directly set the sustained charge rate — the part can deliver the full 3A only when the board pulls heat away through the pad vias and internal plane. Input supply range goes to 13.5V max, covering USB BC1.2, standard 5V adapters, and 12V auxiliary rails without a front-end buck. The I2C interface lets the host set charge current and regulation voltage, so the same BOM works across different cell capacities by changing a few register writes.
Protection set and battery chemistry match
On-die fault protection covers over-current, over-temperature, over-voltage, and short-circuit events — no external comparator or supervisor needed for the basic safety envelope. The chemistry target is 1-cell Lithium Ion/Polymer with a maximum battery regulation voltage of 4.62V, suitable for the common 4.2V and 4.35V cell types. The programmable features are limited to charge current and voltage — no NTC thermistor input or JEITA profile on this variant, so external temperature monitoring falls to the host MCU through the I2C bus.