Flashback: the phones that weren’t, part 1 – is 18,000mAh big sufficient?

Unlimited energy! For a short second in 2019 there was a smartphone with an enormous 18,000mAh battery – sure, that’s 3-4 occasions greater than a typical cellphone battery immediately. However, it failed to search out an viewers and it launch was canceled.

We’re speaking about the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop, a extremely descriptive title for a novel cellphone. The P18K ought to be self explanatory. “Pop” refers to the twin popup digital camera (it housed a 16MP module plus a 2MP depth sensor for face scanning).

The Energizer Power Max P18K Pop was a beast of a cellphone with an 18,000mAh battery

This cellphone was introduced alongside the Energizer Ultimate U620S Pop, which was principally the identical cellphone, besides with a teeny-tiny 3,200mAh battery and it measured a mere 10.3mm thick. Both have been proven off at the MWC in 2019 and we spent a while at Energizer sales space with this curious pair.

The Energizer Power Max P18K Pop subsequent to its small battery sibling, the Energizer Ultimate U620S Pop

The quantity 18,000mAh wasn’t chosen randomly – it really works out to only beneath the 100Wh restrict for electronics that you possibly can convey aboard airplanes. The cellphone definitely earned the “Max” tag.

According to Energizer, the Power Max P18K Pop might play music for 4 days straight or video for two days straight. There have been phones that tried to make use of environment friendly e-Ink screens to increase their endurance. Others had photo voltaic panels. The P18K Pop took the brute pressure strategy.

Once you depleted the battery it was time to recharge. That job was dealt with by the USB-C port with help for USB Power Delivery 2.0 at 18W. That doesn’t sound like a lot, however you need to bear in mind that this was earlier than the 200+ watt charging craze.

Naturally, the P18K could possibly be used as an influence financial institution to recharge different extra feeble phones. That wasn’t significantly quick both, supporting solely 2.5W output. Looking on the constructive aspect, you would prime up a number of different phones and nonetheless have sufficient juice to make it to the finish of the day.

The worth of all that energy turns into apparent when you take a look at the cellphone from the aspect. This is certainly one of the chonkiest phones we’ve got ever held. According to the official spec sheet, it measured 18mm thick, it’s weight remained a thriller.

Anyway, many referred to as the P18K a “power bank that can make calls”. That is promoting the machine brief because it was a correct Android 9 (Pie) smartphone with a Helio P70 chipset, 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage (plus a microSD slot).

It had a 6.2” 1,080 x 2,280px IPS LCD on the entrance that was a blemish-free rounded rectangle. As we talked about at the begin, the front-facing digital camera lived on a pop-up module. As for the rear, there was a 12+5+2MP digital camera setup.

So, what occurred to the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop? The producer ran an IndieGoGo marketing campaign as a type of pre-order. Fans might choose up a cellphone for $550, $150 off the estimated retail worth. However, the funding objective was set at $1.2 million and there simply wasn’t sufficient curiosity in the machine.

Maybe 18,000mAh was an excessive amount of – that’s bulk that you need to carry with you daily. Most folks would simply convey an influence financial institution with them when heading out for a protracted day exterior.

But perhaps you’re certainly one of the few individuals who can admire a cellphone with an insanely giant battery in-built. If that’s you, take a look at the Doogee V Max that was introduced earlier this 12 months – that one has a 22,000mAh battery, FAA guidelines be damned!