When it comes to battery life and fast charging speeds, one may need to pay attention to Chinese cell phone manufacturers. These companies are in an implicit race to make the biggest batteries and fastest charging speeds.

Manufacturer Realme recently unveiled its new 320W Pocket Cannon charger, which is said to be able to fully charge a phone in less than five minutes. 320W SuperSonic Charge technology was shown to charge a 4,420 mAh battery in 4 minutes and 30 seconds (discovered by The Verge).

This size battery is slightly smaller than what many flagship lineups currently carry. The newly announced Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro have a 4,700 mAh battery.

The new charging speeds are made possible by two new technologies: the charger and a new style of battery. The company has boosted the power of its Pocket Cannon from the 240W charger released last year to the new 320W level without increasing the size of the charger.

That 240W level is not new, as Oppo revealed a 240W charging system in 2022 and Redmi announced a 300W capable charger last year.

The charger also has two USB-C ports, which can reportedly provide 150W for Realme phones and 65W for other devices like laptops.

Another innovation outlined in the video above is 4,420 mAh and features four individual calls that fold into each other so they can be squeezed into a smartphone. Apparently, all four cells can be charged simultaneously.

This follows the pattern of Realme's multi-cell batteries, which currently use dual-cell batteries and can be charged faster. Because of various regulations in Europe and the U.S., the West tends not to see some of the battery innovations that Chinese customers get, which is why OnePlus' new Glacier battery is interesting, but the question is whether 6,100 mAH will come out of China.

However, companies like Apple and Samsung are utilizing single-cell batteries, which tend to offer higher capacities. The flagship Galaxy Ultra has had a 5,000 mAh battery for several years, and next year's Galaxy S25 Ultra is rumored to have the same battery as the S24 Ultra.

There is a catch to such mega-fast charging technology: the Redmi 300W is not included in any Redmi device. Last year, the Realme GT Neo 5 was launched with 240W charging capability, but that's all from Realme.

Realme did not reveal which phones were charged in 4 minutes and 30 seconds or which devices may have 4-cell batteries in the future.

These battery tests and demos are cool, but when will we see them in real devices? Also, faster charging is cool, but longer front-end battery life would be preferable.

With the rising cost of smartphone production, it makes sense that large companies like Samsung and Apple are trying to extract as much life as possible from the batteries they already have.