150W fast-charging phones might be on the way

As we all know, batteries are the weakest link in our modern technology. Everything falls victim to the lithium-ion battery, developed decades ago - from smartphones and laptops to electric vehicles. Smartphone batteries for example, last around a day between charges, meaning you need to charge your phone almost every day.

There are other developments, though, meant to alleviate the issue, at least to some extent. Fast charging has come a long way, and nowadays we have 120W chargers that can fill up a 5,000mAh battery for less than 20 minutes. Now, according to the famous Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station, 150W fast-charging phones are on the way.

The Chinese tipster uploaded a short, enigmatic post, consisting of the number 150, followed by a watt unit, and a couple of emoticons. Digital Chat Station explains in the comment section that “Mass production machine coming soon,” suggesting that we’re going to see an official smartphone with 150W charging.

Judging from the conservative approach of companies like Samsung and Apple, we’re most definitely looking at a Chinese brand here - Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, etc. Nevertheless, these advancements in fast-charging technology are going to push the market toward faster-charging solutions, which is good for the final customer. Or is it?

How fast is too fast?

According to Xiaomi and Oppo - two of the companies on the forefront of fast-charging solutions - a 120W or 125W fast charging can lead to 20% degradation over 800 charging cycles. If you charge your phone once every day, this is still more than two years.

For comparison, Apple still cites 500 cycles for the same battery capacity retention in its iPhones. A 150W fast-charging phone would be able to charge its battery in under 15 minutes. That’s an amazing result, given the same degradation rate over 800 cycles applies.

On the other hand, two years might not be long enough, as people tend to hold on to their phones for a bit longer. If people have to replace the battery in their phone every two years (or buy a new phone, as batteries are sealed and hard to replace), this would be a major nuisance.

You can of course use software tricks to slow the charging and prolong battery life but if you have a 150W charging phone that’s able to top up the battery in mere minutes, chances are you’re going to use it on full blast.

And by the way, if you think 150W is crazy, bear in mind that Xiaomi is working on a phone with a 200W charging solution! Now, that’s crazy fast, and it will probably be able to charge a 4,500mAh battery in less than 10 minutes.

What’s the ideal charging speed for you?

Here’s a little poll for you, guys. What would be the perfect charging speed for your phone? I know, the faster the better, but bear in mind that a 200W charger at full power would probably destroy your battery in a year or so.