Realme has presented its 320W charging, allowing you to get back to action faster than ever. Dubbed SuperSonic charging, this technology lets you fill your daily companion from 1% to 100% in under five minutes.
Not satisfied with 150W and 240W fast charging at a time when many competitors stagnate below 65W? Here’s looking at you, Samsung… Well, Realme is beating everyone to 320W charging. This ridiculous boost in power handling allows you to fully juice up a 4,400mAh battery in just four minutes and 30 seconds. Yes, these are not the highest capacities available since some brands already pack 6,000mAh in their smartphones, but if you only need five minutes to top it off, the capacity becomes less of a concern.
One issue that may come to mind is battery longevity at these power levels. To protect the battery from damage, fast charging modes reduce the input power as it fills. In other words, the phone will charge at the maximum rate only for the first half or so before moving to a slower speed. However, Realme didn’t clarify the rates or curve at which this 320W mode runs.
To avoid hammering one battery with so much power, the brand split this charge among four cells folded together. Additionally, this battery is only charged at 20V, which reduces heat and increases safety. Lastly, the brand uses what it calls AirGap charging, a non-contact voltage transforming technology – presumably to isolate high voltage from reaching the battery in case of a failure, further improving safety.
Since this much wattage needs to come from somewhere, Realme has also presented its world’s densest power adapter, boasting 93% conversion efficiency. It comes with two Type-C ports, so you can charge other devices simultaneously if you need to.
While this demonstration is about smartphones, nothing stops gaming handheld makers from implementing such technologies in future machines. I would even argue that they need it more than phones since they tend to run near their maximum performance at all times, whereas smartphones remain idle for the largest part of the day. Imagine having a Steam Deck or ROG Ally that gets back to 100% in 15 minutes – sign me up.