Xiaomi Charging Evolution
While many iPhone users are still using the standard 5V1A slow-charging head, the charging speed of the Xiaomi phone has come to 120W. 5W to 120W, a 24-fold leap, how did the Xiaomi phone do it?
Xiaomi released the Mi 10 Ultra (Supreme Memorial Edition), which supports 120W wired charging + 50W wireless charging + 10W wireless reverse-charging. Today, Xiaomi’s official release, detailing the evolution of Xiaomi’s charging path: the decade of Xiaomi’s phone, but also the decade of charging technology innovation.
Wired Charging Evolution: From 5W to 120W, a slight twist but a late bloomer.
If one sentence to sum up the early history of Xiaomi’s charging technology development, is to “get up early to catch the evening set”. In 2011, the first generation of Xiaomi Mi phone with 5V1A 5W charging, then the same period of 500mA charging already ahead.
In 2013, the Xiaomi Mi 3 for the first time adopted a non-removable battery all-in-one design, supporting the then-advanced Quick Charge technology QC 2.0, the optional quick-charge head can achieve 10W (5V2A) fast charging, charging time reduced by 30%. Starting with the Mi 3, Xiaomi officially “laid out fast charging”.
In 2015, the Mi 5 used the then-latest QC 3.0, dual Charger parallel charging technology to increase the charging rate by 20%, and power once again, up to 18W charging.
While this was the leading fast-charging technology at the time, it was used for several years, with all three generations from the Mi 5 to the Mi 8 being 18W fast-charged.
During this period, all kinds of charging technology in the mobile phone field continued to innovate and develop, there are magic Micro-USB high-current solutions, as well as high-power solutions. Charging power has been increasing, with 20W, 22.5W, 30W, and even 40W charging slowly appearing in front of everyone.
In 2019, the Xiaomi Mi 9 uses 27W wired charging, which is the first time in recent years that Xiaomi’s digital flagship phone has increased its charging power. It comes standard with a 27W power adapter and supports the QC 4+ fast charging protocol. For the first time, the pump charging technology with half-voltage direct charging is used to boost charging power and reduce energy loss during charging, and it is certified by TÜV Rheinland for safe fast charging.
Although the wired charging power is lower than other flagship phones of the same year, then this is just beginning. As an upgrade to the Xiaomi Mi 9, the Mi 9 Pro, released in the same year, charging is once again upgraded to support 40W wired charging, with a 45W power adapter as standard, and a full 4,000mAh battery in 48 minutes. Besides, the power adapter is compatible with the PD protocol, easy to charge laptops and other devices that support the PD protocol.
Six months later, the Mi 10 Pro released in February 2020 will increase the charging power to 50W, almost the limit of the single-cell solution at the time. 4500mAh, 45 minutes to charge to 100%.
And this Mi 10 Ultra, using the industry’s rare 120W ultra-high-power wired charging, built-in butterfly dual-serial core, equivalent 4500mAh, 5 minutes to charge 41%, 23 minutes to charge to 100%, becoming the first mass-produced phone to support 120W ultra-high-power charging.
Behind this are countless Xiaomi engineers’ continuous solution experimentation and architecture optimization.
- New 4:2 high power charging architecture to improve overall conversion efficiency and reduce charging energy loss.
- The custom charge pumps to increase charging conversion efficiency to 98.5%.
- Butterfly double string battery, double the charging power while stuffing 4500mAh in the extreme space.
- First mass-produced graphene-based fast-charging battery with 1000 times more conductivity than conventional materials.
- 34 layers of security and a built-in independent charge control chip.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is not only the first mass-produced 120W high-powered wired second charge but more importantly, it also supports the fastest 50W wireless second charge, which can be charged to 100% in 40 minutes.
Wireless charging Evolution
Back in early 2018, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S supported 7.5W wireless charging for the first time, making it the first phone in China to support wireless charging, which was only supported by Apple and Samsung’s flagship models at the time. And then the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3, released in October 2018, further upgraded the wireless charging power to 10W.
The Mi 9, released in early 2019, not only supports 27W wired charging, but more importantly is equipped with the fastest 20W wireless charging at the time, far exceeding the wireless charging power of 5W and 7.5W of friendly companies in the same period, and has passed the Qi EPP certification of the WPC Wireless Charging Alliance. Xiaomi Mi 9’s 20W wireless charging greatly improves the speed of wireless charging and truly makes wireless charging enter a new stage of practicality and usefulness.
Released in the second half of 2019, the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro continues to stay ahead of the curve with the world’s fastest 30W wireless charging, which can fully charge the 4000mAh Mi 9 Pro in 69 minutes, with charging speeds comparable to mainstream wired charging.
On the Mi 9 Pro, the addition of a dual charge pump boosts peak charging power, and the first application of Xiaomi’s self-developed 4:1 efficient direct charging architecture, dual-band transmission technology, and Mi-FC fast charging technology further boosts charging speed, making wireless > wired possible.
The Mi 10 series, released in early 2020, continues its predecessor’s 30W wireless charging technology, in which the Mi 10 Pro can charge a large 4500mAh battery to 100% in just 65 minutes, greatly enhancing the charging experience in the 5G era and making multi-scene charging more convenient. Not only has high-speed wireless charging, but also supports up to 10W wireless reverse charging, which can reverse wireless fast charging to other devices that support wireless charging.
The just-released Mi 10 Ultra, which once again breaks the record in wireless charging for mobile phones, is equipped with 50W wireless charging, which can charge a large 4500mAh battery to 100% in 40 minutes, and the charging speed even surpasses the same power wired charging.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra will be ultra-efficient parallel custom charge pump with the combination of dual-serial battery, the new custom charge pump conversion efficiency further increased to more than 98.5%, more efficient charging, and lower loss, from the source to reduce the energy loss in the charging process.
Secondly, the newly designed butterfly type dual-cell series structure design can double the charging power in the case of charging current unchanged. The butterfly encapsulation also has a smaller protection circuit than the traditional side-by-side dual-serial battery, gaining greater battery capacity with the same size.
Looking back at the Mi 1 to the Mi 10 Ultra, countless Xiaomi engineers have kept moving forward in the field of charging technology, one step at a time. People always overestimate the changes in the next year but underestimate the changes in the next decade. Let’s look forward to the next decade, what kind of shape the mobile phone will evolve to, and among them, what kind of surprises Xiaomi’s charging technology will bring to you.
