by Back in late October, we saw Xiaomi launch its 210W mobile charging technology using its Redmi sub-brand, and this was eventually beaten by a 240W version from Realme – part of the Oppo and OnePlus family – in early February. Given that it’s MWC week, today Xiaomi quickly responded with a gigantic 300W demo, which brought the charging time down to just under five minutes – almost half of the two mentioned achievements. Xiaomi added that this new 300W charger comes in the same size as its previous 210W counterpart, thanks to a better modular design plus heat dissipation inside.
The 300W demo featured a Redmi Note 12 Pro+ modified with a 4100mAh battery, which is slightly less than the 4300mAh in the 210W Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition (and Realme has a far more generous 4600mAh). As you can see in the video, the phone reached 20 percent in just over a minute, followed by the 50 percent mark in 2 minutes and 12 seconds, and then 100 percent in just under 5 minutes. The power meter indicated a peak input of just over 290W for the charger, and it also managed to sustain 280W and above for around two minutes at one point.
The company said the battery here packs more powerful 15C cells (as opposed to the 10C cells in the Discovery Edition), which are made up of new carbon materials instead of some of the conventional graphite parts, thus reducing the thickness of the electrodes by 35 percent. Coupled with an improved electrolyte formula, this lithium-ion battery can pack a higher power density with a faster charge and discharge rate, while apparently reducing the amount of heat produced in the process. These ultra-thin cells are then stacked with thermal materials in between as part of a new ‘sandwich’ design, to optimize heat dissipation while making better use of internal space. In terms of security, Xiaomi claimed that there are over 50 functions built into the system to keep track of the current, voltage and temperature of each charging chip.
Xiaomi’s announcement today has definitely set another milestone for the mobile industry, although the company did not mention whether this 300W charging technology will be mass produced. Xiaomi also didn’t share figures on charging cycles, which provides a sobering reminder of how battery life can be affected by higher charging power.
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