If you, like me, have ever desperately plugged your charger into any outlet available for even a few minutes to prevent your phone from dying, then you will also be impressed with Xiaomi’s new charging technology. The company claims that its new chargers, dubbed HyperCharge, have broken the global records for wired and wireless charging.
Xiaomi showed off the new HyperCharge chargers in a video posted to social media on Monday. The video featured a custom build of the company’s Mi 11 Pro, equipped with a 4,000mAh battery, which juiced up to full in just eight minutes using Xiaomi’s 200W wired charger. Xiaomi said the phone charged to 10% in 44 seconds and 50% in three minutes.
Next, Xiaomi charged a custom Mi 11 Pro with the same battery wirelessly with a 120W charger in 15 minutes. The company claimed it was 10% charged in one minute and 50% charged in seven minutes.
Charge up to 100% in just 8 minutes using wired charging and 15 minutes wirelessly! #XiaomiHyperCharge
Too good to be true? Check out the timer yourself! #InnovationForEveryone pic.twitter.com/muBTPkRchl
— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) May 31, 2021
If accurate, Xiaomi’s purported new wired charging speed will beat out rival OPPO’s flash charge technology. OPPO debuted a 125W wired charger with this technology last year, which it called the latest “breakthrough” for the mobile phone industry. Xiaomi and OPPO have been at each other’s throats in the phone charging races in recent years, and it seems that Xiaomi has taken the lead again, and by a big margin, according to XDA Developers.
Although this feat is certainly notable, don’t get too excited. XDA Developers said that the HyperCharge technology is not close to ready for commercial release (and let’s not forget that Xiaomi doesn’t sell its phones in the U.S. at the moment). In addition, Xiaomi may like to show off its charging capabilities, but it doesn’t always offer the fastest chargers it has on hand for its phones.
In these cases though, it’s important to think about the bigger picture, as the Verge reminds us. These kinds of super-fast charging technologies are usually reserved, via chargers and cables, to a particular phone manufacturer, and they’re unlikely to become mainstream for a while. The best solution: buy yourself a phone with a good battery that won’t have you searching for chargers every hour.