Realme’s 320W fast charging can fully charge a smartphone in four and a half minutes

Realme has once again taken the lead in the fast charging arms race with its new 320W SuperSonic Charge technology. The company demonstrated the tech by fully charging a smartphone with a 4,420mAh battery (which is a bit smaller than what’s in the new Pixel 9 and 9 Pro) in four minutes and 30 seconds.

The charging speeds are made possible by two key innovations announced during an event in Shenzhen, China. Realme managed to boost the power output of its existing 240W charger that debuted last year to 320W without increasing its size. The Pocket Cannon, as the upgraded charger is called, also now features two USB-C ports capable of delivering 150W to Realme’s smartphones, and 65W to devices like laptops.

The other innovation is a new 4,420mAh battery with four individual cells that can all be charged simultaneously and also folds up to squeeze inside a smartphone. Apple and Samsung’s smartphones currently use single-cell batteries, which typically offer more capacity, while companies like OnePlus and Realme use dual-cell batteries capable of faster charging times.

Early last year, Realme introduced the GT Neo 5 which, at the time, was the fastest-charging smartphone available with 240W capabilities that could fully replenish its 4,600mAh battery in nine and a half minutes. Less than a month later, Redmi, another Chinese phone maker and a subsidiary of Xiaomi, announced 300W fast charging technology that during demonstrations was able to fully charge a smartphone with a 4,100mAh battery in about five minutes.

So far, Redmi’s 300W charging tech hasn’t been included on any devices from the company, and for the time being, it’s the same story with Realme’s new 320W tech. The company didn’t reveal which smartphone was used during its charging demonstration, and it made no announcements about future devices that would include the new SuperSonic Charge feature and four-cell battery.