30 watts, 67 watts or 120 watts?
It is currently one-upmanship among smartphone manufacturers who offer increasingly fast charging systems for their devices.
According to Guillaume Bensi, founder of Green_e which develops eco-designed chargers, the principle goes against the environment and will push us to multiply cables and charging blocks in our closets.
Even more, the entrepreneur sees in the generalization of charging via USB-C in 2024, an opportunity for, paradoxically, Apple to impose its law.
64% of 18/25 year olds are afraid of running out of battery on their smartphone, according to an OpinionWay study for smartphone manufacturer Oppo.
From 30 watts to 120 watts (for the future Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G capable of recharging in 23 minutes!), fast charging systems are now replacing backup batteries or Powerbank.
Founder of the company Green_e which offers eco-designed and durable chargers, Guillaume Bensi regrets that the new fast charging systems are not made to be compatible.
The irresistible rise of fast chargers
What explains the meteoric rise of fast chargers?
“This reassures the consumer!” assures Guillaume Bensi.
For manufacturers, a smartphone is an operating account that requires meeting the public's needs for ever more energy, specifications and competition.
Unlike Apple, most Asian brands use the selling point of charging speed for ever-bigger batteries.
» So that the batteries are of different sizes, and of different amperage.
Today, we no longer speak of amperage, but of Watts (W).
The energy used is expressed in milliamperes hour (mAh).
Explanations.
If Apple does not participate in this bidding, it is because the Apple brand's M1 chip, which equips the latest iPhones, is extremely powerful while consuming much less than competing chips, especially those from Qualcomm.
So in this case, why put a big battery, when the "motor" of the terminal consumes little?
“Where Samsung houses a 5000 mAh battery which has a real cost in its Galaxy S22 Ultra, Apple prefers to boost its processor and save money on the rest, believes Guillaume Bensi.
Because if Apple does not communicate it, the battery capacity of the iPhone 13 would be 3095 mAh, so that Apple chargers are only 20 Watts!
»
A common protocol, but with limits
Fortunately, today there is a common protocol for brands, Power Delivery technology.
The charging cable and the smartphone communicate with each other, whether under iOS or Android.
Thus, it is the system that checks whether the cable is capable of receiving and transmitting the energy from the charging head.
And they adapt to each other.
For example, a MacBook compatible with 100 W charging accepts only a trickle of energy from a 36 W smartphone charger. Similarly, a Galaxy S21 Pro (45 W) only receives 45 W. from a 100 W MacBook charger. The problem is that the power of the devices will not stop growing.
“Let's plan, continues Guillaume Bensi: if in a few years, I change my smartphone, I will be forced to buy a new charger that corresponds to the power of the moment.
Fast charging revives the absurd principle of one charger per device which multiplies the waste.
It makes no sense !
»
Won't the generalization of USB-C help to standardize all this?
“Not sure, answers Guillaume Bensi.
Although manufacturers will have to adopt USB-C to USB-C cables, nothing will prevent them from using proprietary wireless charging technology.
The founder of the Green_e company predicts that Apple, in order not to take the risk of getting angry with Europe, will remove the Lighting charging port from its smartphones, but will remove the cable and force us to buy a MagSafe wireless charger in order to maintain control over its ecosystem.
“While MagSafe appears to be the greenest wireless charging system currently, as the one with the least energy loss, there is only Belkin (which is owned by FoxCom, which makes iPhones in China ) and the Japanese Mophie who have access to it.
We, manufacturers of generic chargers, cannot buy it.
»
Is a green future possible?
And yet, this is perhaps where eco-companies have a role to play.
Because a company like Green_e has developed a unique 65-watt charger that can power both computers and smartphones (ref: GR-6101 65W, sold for 34.90 euros).
This almost universal charger corresponds to 80% of uses on the market, from the iPhone 13 at 20 watts, to the MacBook Air at 45 watts, etc.
“If we encouraged the manufacturers of the major smartphone brands to have their accessories produced by eco-responsible companies, we would solve many problems: on the one hand, that of continuously sourcing raw materials;
on the other hand, that of waste, with durable and recyclable accessories.
»
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