Although Chinese-branded smartphone tech is just coming into SA in the past few months, locals aren’t used to names like Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi quite yet. But what these brands do exceptionally well, is reinvent and improve the technology that has existed for years.

This is especially true of Oppo, that is on a mission to decrease charging time for phones using new fast-charging technology. This week, Oppo announced that it is working on a 125W charging system that is claimed to be one of the most advanced charging options in the world.

How does it work?

According to Oppo, the new system can charge up a 4,000mAh phone battery fully in just 20 minutes. That’s a few minutes more than Vivo’s previous attempt that apparently filled up a 4,000mAh battery in just 16 minutes. The tech hasn’t made it into consumers’ plug yet, but an announcement like this generally precede a consumer device announcement.

According to the headlines, Oppo states that its new tech can charge a phone up to 41% in just 5 minutes. This will actually revolutionise the last-minute charge, and may remove the need to keep a smartphone tethered throughout the evening, which is fine for battery health in short-term, but not in the long term.

“This isn’t simply a matter of building a big power adapter and plugging it into a regular phone — the charger, cable, and battery itself need to be designed together for safety and efficiency,” The Verge details. So the phone used in the test is fitted with special double-6C cells with ‘breakthrough battery ratio’. So all the hardware is specially designed, and won’t work with a different cable, box or phone.

Although we don’t know whether this device will make it to market tomorrow or next year, we’re convinced we’ll see the similar tech in the upcoming years. One day we won’t have battery woes anymore, thanks to companies like Oppo.

Source: The Verge