We saw our first phones breaching the 100W charging barrier last year, and that trend has continued in 2021 with 120W devices like the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus and Xiaomi Mix 4. However, it seems like charging speeds could be set for yet another boost soon.
Frequent Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station has claimed that 150W charging is on the way. The leaker also added in the comments of the post that a mass-produced device will be “coming soon.”
For what it’s worth, 120W charging speeds are ridiculously fast already. The Xiaomi Mix 4 has 120W charging for its 4,500mAh battery, hitting full capacity in 21 minutes or in 15 minutes via a so-called Boost Mode. So we have to imagine that 150W charging could shave several minutes off this time if we’ve got the same battery size (although there’s more to charging than pure wattage).
A side-effect of ultra-fast charging
One major concern though is battery degradation, as faster charging results in faster degradation over time. Xiaomi and Oppo both previously stated that their 120W and 125W solutions respectively result in 20% degradation over 800 charging cycles (roughly two years). That’s not amazing but not awful either, although it is a little concerning for the increasing number of consumers who are holding onto their phones for more than two years.
We’re expecting a 150W charging solution to perform a little worse in this regard, although Xiaomi previously claimed that its upcoming 200W tech maintains 20% degradation after 800 charging cycles too. So there’s still hope for consumers who want ultra-fast charging but a healthy battery down the line.
