The world isn’t ready for the lighting-fast charging tech originating from China in the coming months. One of Xiaomi’s 120W fast-charging devices, the 11T Pro, was recently launched in South Africa, with the power brick actually included in the box. That one’ll top up the 5,000mAh battery in just 17 minutes.
But a new report suggests that consumers may see 150W chargers hit the market soon. This leak comes courtesy of a Weibo tipster called Digital Chat Station, a trusted leaker according to Android Authority. The leaker simply posted ‘150W’ on the Chinese social media platform, followed by a comment explaining that a mass-produced device with the feature is ‘coming soon’.
Destroying batteries, 150W at a time
It’s strange, considering 120W hasn’t even made it to the mass market and is only available in a handful of devices. And 150W is blisteringly fast.
The 11T Pro’s bundled 120W charger ability to fill a battery to 100% in less than 20 minutes still feels surreal. We can’t comprehend 150W at this point. The jump of 30W over Xiaomi’s biggest fast charger suggests that it could wind up beating its 17-minute top-up time — with the same sized battery, of course. The question becomes: where does this stop?
When it comes to fast charging tech, there are also valid concerns over battery degradation. There are questions about how well they hold up over extended periods of time charging at high speeds. Xiaomi reckons its charging tech degrades batteries by 20% over 800 charge cycles. Increasing charging speed will ultimately decrease a phone battery’s long-term health.