The Realme GT Neo 5 is only available in China
(Picture: Realme)Fast charging is extremely handy, as anybody who has spotted their phone at 20 per cent battery just as they’re leaving the house will know.
But the 18- to 65-watt ‘fast chargers’ popular in western markets — which promise between a 40 per cent and 70 per cent boost to your battery from a half-hour spell at the plug — are about to be blown out of the water by the latest China-only handset.
The Realme GT Neo 5 supports up to 240W fast charging and ships with a suitable charger in the box. Something that won’t be lost on iPhone owners, who haven’t seen a charger bundled since 2019, when Apple popped an 18W charger in the iPhone 11 Pro’s box (the non-Pro model packed a derisory 5W charger).
So what does this mean in practical terms? It means that, should you import a Realme GT Neo 5 from China and source a suitable adapter, your phone will go from completely flat to full in just nine-and-a-half minutes. Need less juice? You’ll get 20 per cent of the 4,600mAh battery in 80 seconds, and 50 per cent back in four minutes.
It’s worth noting that these speeds require the bundled charger — connect it to your generic no-brand plug at the office, and you’ll deal with the same slow speeds as lesser mortals.
Diminishing returns
Clearly, these speeds are very fast indeed. But the race to higher and higher wattages undoubtedly brings diminishing returns with every increase.
Realme’s parent company, BBK Electronics, also owns Oppo and OnePlus, and both companies have released handsets with super-fast charging in the past. It’s something the Chinese brands clearly view as a key differentiator as they try to get a deeper foothold in the hyper-competitive smartphone market.
The freshly announced OnePlus 11 comes with a 100W charger — a full 58 per cent lower wattage than Realme’s latest — yet it still promises a full battery in under 25 minutes. Notably, that’s a step back from the OnePlus 10T, which comes with a 160W charger, but only gets to 100 per cent about five minutes faster.
Most people are used to the idea of charging their phone at night and topping up during the day as required. With that concept pretty deeply ingrained, and plenty of people carrying a portable charger for emergencies, perhaps it’s no surprise that the likes of Apple and Samsung aren’t rushing to introduce triple-figure wattage-charging support to their handsets.
And slow as they are by comparison, Samsung and Apple’s top handsets are still capable of boosting battery life by 40 per cent to 50 per cent with a half-hour spell at a 20W-25W charger.
While more speed would undoubtedly be welcome, that’s still enough for most people. And, with neither bundling chargers with their phones in a bid to curb some of the e-waste the industry generates, it seems unlikely to be either brand’s marquee feature any time soon, either.
