7.47 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

World’s smallest mobile phone charger...

Published
By Staff

It is pegged as the world’s smallest mobile phone charger, and has a world record to show for it.

The Devotec Fuel Micro Charger measures 1.3 x 0.9 x 0.5 inches (roughly 33 x 23 x 13 mm), making it the smallest emergency phone charger in the world. It contains a rechargeable 5C lithium-ion 220-milliAmp hour battery designed to offer several hours of standby power or 20-30 minutes of talk time and works with any phone using a Micro USB connector.

Sounds cool, but the project needs funding. Devotec Industries, backers of the project, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund shipment of the new product, called ‘Fuel.’

The projects has so far raised more than $47,000, more than double of what it said was required ($20,000). While the minimum pledge is tiny $1, a pledge of $15 (plus $3 shipping cost for those outside the US) will land 500 backers (all gone) the Devotec Fuel micro-charger at almost half of its suggested retail price ($24.99 + shipping).

The pledge is open until April 19, and pledges range up to $41 or more, with such patrons guaranteed a Red/Green set plus the privilege of getting to be on the upcoming iPhone Lightening charger list – yes, this one doesn’t work for the iPhone 5 but the next in line promises to.

Nevertheless, here are some facts, images and a video of Fuel, the world’s smallest cell phone charger:

Why Fuel?

Perfect for when you have had an unexpected delay, or haven’t been able to fully charge your phone, and you need to make a few calls, send a work email or use your GPS and maps function to find your way home.

The Devotec Fuel Micro Charger is an emergency back-up solution. The Micro Charger is fully rechargeable, and is able to keep its charge for at least 1 month before needing to be recharged.

How Small?

The Fuel Micro charger is the world’s smallest cell phone recharging device. And it is absolutely tiny – just 1.3 by 0.9 by half an inch. It’s so small that it can sit easily on your keyring, you can slip it into the 5th pocket of your jeans, or even have it hanging off your cellphone.

How does it work?

Charge up the Fuel Micro Charger from the supplied cable or any AC micro-USB wall plug. Then just put it in your pocket, on your key chain or in your car and forget about it.

To Use: Turn the power switch on and plug into your phone, the same as you would your charger. Your phone will start to recharge straight away.

What is inside it?

Part of our background is in component sourcing. The firm claims to have spent months searching, testing and evaluating the smallest and most efficient parts to use with the Fuel Micro Charger. The components it uses are the smallest available, and they seem have used innovative features like flexible-PCBs to shrink component size, in order to make Fuel as small as possible, and to have as big an internal battery as they could.

However, the electronics are controlled by a premium Texas Instruments platform, and Devotec has included multiple safety redundancy features, such as a PCM on the battery and a battery management IC on the PCB to make no compromises on the safety of Fuel.

What is the body made of?

The body of the product is pure die-cast aluminium. This means it is incredibly strong but still light weight. The aluminium is painted, lacquered and then baked to give a semi-gloss finish. The housing weighs around half an ounce.

What about the battery?

The majority of the space inside the Fuel Micro Charger is taken up by an energy dense lithium-ion rechargeable battery. This battery is a 5C battery, rated at 220 milliamp hours. This should provide around 20-30 minutes extra talk time, or a few hours on standby, although that is dependent on what type of phone you have and how you use it.

Is the battery safe?

The battery itself has an integrated PCM and there is a battery management IC on the PCB, so the fuel micro charger is extra safe.

What are those LEDs and switch?

On the outside of the case, there are three LEDs. These help tell if the Fuel is turned on, fully charged, or charging. Each of the three LEDs will Light up to tell different information about the Micro Charger:

• Red: Charging

• Green: Fully Charged

• Blue: Power On

There is a switch to turn the Fuel Micro Charger on and off, keeping the battery from needlessly discharging when not in use.

And the Micro-USB?

Micro-USB is the standard charging connector for all phones apart from iPhone. The firm uses specially sourced low profile components, which while being the smallest on the market, are also certified to work with any existing micro-USB connector – so we can charge almost any Android, Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, Nokia or BlackBerry phone.

No iPhone?

No, this version of Fuel does not work with iPhone. However the backers are ‘Apple Made for iPhone’ certified and are working on it. They will be making an iPhone 5 Lightning connector version only.

The reason the say they didn't launch an Apple version just now is that the lightning connector used with Apple is much longer than the micro-USB they currently use. So this would dig into battery space in the current format. Also, they would need to make some changes required by Apple to the PCB.

They are working on it though, and claim to have some exciting ideas for the iPhone version.