By: Sherrie Chen
How long does it take to charge your phone from 0% to 100%? One hour? Two hour? Or even more? Now there is a special battery with a specialized 200 Watt charger that can finish this process within one minute.
Another way in doing this is to leave the instant-charging to Israeli startup StoreDot, which is designing a power system that speed charging speed 200 times faster.
Just now, the most practical one is 50-amp charger, also called “x20” for it can power a phone in about six minutes which is one twentieth of the normal charging time. With a pocket-sized wall charger, the x20 is the easiest of StoreDot’s offerings to implement.
Also, StoreDot has developed new molecules enabling lithium-ion battery to be charged rapidly. With different charger, your phone can be finished charging in six minutes, one minute or even 30 seconds.
Among these, the x100 needs a 200 Watt charge as we mentioned before. Smartphone makers will also have to drill holes through the back, which doesn’t exactly adhere to today’s design standards. Although there is such inconvenience, just imagine getting a full charge for your phone in about one minute, many people may want to have a try.
Yet, each solution has its limitations according to StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf
The x20 model requires a special 20-pin connector that looks similar to the old iPhone and iPod connectors. However, it is going to take some convincing to move back to a specialized one since most industry have universal USB Type-C connector.
“They can implement it however they want, but I need 20 pins to do it,” Myersdorf said.
On the other side, the x100’s charger is bigger than the phone itself and is definitely not the type you would like to carry all day around.
Beside tech problems, the charging solution also add about $30 of cost to each smartphone
Myersdorf predicted that the price might increase to $90 due to taking cuts of smartphones suppliers and makers.
Now, StoreDot is currently working on a cheaper solution.But the process is sure to be much more slower than the charging speed itself. So the cost will continue to be a problem for several years.
In all, Myersdorf believes that the first StoreDot batteries will appear on the market in 2017. And we can expect to enjoy this high tech pretty soon.
