Today I plan to talk to everyone about a very important but often overlooked digital accessory, the charging head.
Here's the deal, last year when we attended the Shanghai MWC exhibition, we found that you could tell whether a media professional was from China or from abroad just by looking at their charging head.
For example, in this very straightforward image, the two heads in the middle, one of them even as big as a brick, are most likely used by Japanese and Korean media professionals.
On the other hand, the flashy Pandaer and Red Magic charging heads on the sides are easily recognizable as belonging to Chinese media professionals.
Indeed, I have also noticed that various types of chargers have been increasing in number in China recently. Even for such a small thing, there are discussions about its design, functions, and price.
This trend is likely related to the increasing demand for convenient chargers due to people's travel needs. Everyone wants a charger that is easy to carry around.
Another reason is the growing number of digital devices people own nowadays, such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops, and even electric toothbrushes. With several USB ports getting filled up quickly, it's natural to require a charger with higher power and more ports.
And now, iPhones no longer come with a charging head, so you have to buy one yourself.
These factors have contributed to a thriving market for charging heads in China.
For example, my colleague has this Red Magic Gallium Nitride charger, with a powerful 120W output and 4 ports, featuring a Transformers collaboration design that exudes luxury from every angle.
But it's a whole different story overseas, where not only are the charging heads expensive to death, but the power is also pitifully low.
For example, just by casually searching on Amazon, the first unattractive 4-port charging head that comes up has a total power output of a staggering 24W.
The term "TM's superior performance" refers to the exceptional capabilities and efficiency of the product TM.
I don't know the brand of this charger, but it's fair to say that American tech enthusiasts are living in the midst of intense competition.
Now, the question arises: why are foreign chargers big, ugly, and slow? Can't they increase the charging power or make the chargers smaller? Do foreigners not like using good chargers?
Well, yes and no.
You might be surprised to learn that explaining the charger situation requires delving into two aspects: market strategy and historical legacy.
If you think about it briefly, you'll notice that most chargers with increased power are from Chinese brands, while the charging power of foreign brands' phones is ridiculously low.
If everyone can't remember which foreign mobile phone brands are still out there, I can help you sort it out.
First of all, Apple is definitely a brand everyone knows, right? However, the charging speed of the iPhone 15 Pro Max has been tested to be around 25W at most, even falling short compared to some domestic phone models.
Another notable feature is the charging power of the Galaxy S24 from another tech giant. The standard Galaxy S24 model offers a charging power of only 25W, while the S24+ and S24 Ultra models fare better with a faster 45W charging capability.
After mentioning these two giants, we can summarize how low the charging power of many people's phones around the world is.
Coincidentally, these two happen to be the top two brands in the global smartphone market share, with a combined share of 43% worldwide.
These two brands happen to be the main players in overseas markets.
When other brands see that neither of these big brothers support fast charging, what's the point for me to do it?
Apart from FruitFruit and StarStar, there are some relatively niche brands overseas, such as the miscellaneous brand Sony Xperia 1 V, which only has a charging power of 33W.
Google's own Pixel 8 Pro supports up to 30W charging.
As for the Nothing Phone(2), it offers a 45W charging power, which is considered fast compared to other foreign brands.
So at first glance, it's true that foreign mobile phone brands generally have very low charging power.
In China, even 80W charging on our phones can be criticized as a drawback, yet overseas, 45W is considered quite fast. It just goes to show how different perspectives can be.
However, there is an exception that's not really an exception. Since Motorola was acquired by Lenovo, its specifications have also started to escalate. For example, the charging power of the Moto X40 has surged to 125W, aligning with local trends.
Overall, these foreign brands are just as agreed, with not particularly high charging power.
It's not that everyone isn't doing fast charging, it's more like fast charging simply hasn't appeared at all. It's unclear whether we've been left behind or if we've left the rest of the world behind.
There's another theory online that in foreign countries, life moves at a slower pace, so fast charging isn't necessary. Unlike us, who have to plug in our phones first thing in the morning to ensure they're fully charged.
Regarding this theory, all I can say is, have you been reading too much "Yilin" magazine?
It's like why people in foreign subways are always reading books. It's not because they love reading, it's because there's no signal underground to play on their phones.
Once fast charging catches on abroad, watch how quickly they adopt it.
As for another reason, it's a matter of historical legacy. This goes all the way back to the era when Edison first invented direct current.
Let's go back over a hundred years ago when Edison invented DC electricity. The world's first central power plant shone brightly in New York, equipped with three 110V DC generators.
Following this came the Second Industrial Revolution, where the United States was covered in wires, and electric lights and other lighting devices entered countless households.
However, Americans soon found it challenging to increase power transmission efficiency by raising the voltage, such as from the existing 110V to 220V. The government had already laid down the 110V lines extensively, and people had purchased household appliances that operated on 110V. Switching to 220V would have been quite inconvenient for everyone.
As a result, the United States continued with the 110V voltage.
Unexpectedly, a rule set over a hundred years ago ended up affecting the charging speed in the era of smartphones.
This is where we introduce the victim, OnePlus.
When the OnePlus 10 Pro was released, it featured the 80W SUPERVOOC flash charging. As one of the few domestically produced phones available in the United States, digital enthusiasts abroad were also looking forward to it.
Upon plugging in the phone for charging in the United States, they noticed something was amiss.
Hey buddy, why is your phone only charging at 65W?
The reason is simple: OnePlus's 80W SUPERVOOC flash charging does not support 110V or 120V AC power.
Alas, my esteemed "five minutes of charging, two hours of talk time" green factory, when has it ever suffered such injustice.
Of course, not all chargers are like this.
We specifically asked the experts at Flash Extreme, and they mentioned that as long as the charging head supports a wide voltage range, such as being labeled with 100V-240V, it should work fine in other countries as well.
However, in tests conducted in a 110V environment specifically designed for charging heads, some chargers may experience a decrease in power output.
On the other hand, low voltage can make the design of chargers more complicated and may indirectly lead to unattractive charger designs.
For example, the Flash Extreme 100W charger I have on hand, the Xiaomi Bluetooth version, has its applicable power adjusted to 180V-240V due to the complex voltage adaptation of the Bluetooth chip.
As a result, when I use it in the United States or Japan, it can only output 50 watts of power.
On the other hand, for its non-Bluetooth standard version, it can adapt to a wide voltage range of 100V-240V, so there is no issue of "halving the power."
If you want both Bluetooth functionality and global voltage compatibility, it would require significant circuit modifications. However, this would lead to no voltage issues but an increase in size.
Moreover, in some countries, due to socket standards and other reasons, it affects the aesthetics of the plug, keeping the size "unreasonably large."
Specifically, this refers to the UK and a series of Commonwealth countries; I have never seen such large charging plugs before.
I once went to Singapore and had bought an adapter in advance. Then I encountered the scene of "adding a head on top of another head" in a human pyramid.
The main difference lies in the electrical standards used. The peculiar plug design in the UK is known as Type-G or BS 1363 plug. In this three-pin plug, the top pin is the earth wire, while the bottom two are the neutral and live wires.
In the UK, the earth wire is slightly longer than the live and neutral wires, so it's connected before the live and neutral wires. This setup ensures that in case of a leakage in the appliance, the current will flow through the earth wire first, preventing electric shock.
British plugs also have a larger surrounding area, making it less likely for fingers to touch the pins, which indeed enhances safety.
However, the downside is the bulky and unattractive design of these plugs.
As a result, foreign manufacturers initially had no plans for fast charging. It seems like an unspoken agreement - if you don't do it, then I won't either - with a focus on mediocrity.
Moreover, different countries have varying voltage and plug standards, making it nearly impossible to achieve a universal charger that is compact, stylish, and fast for everyone to use freely.
Anyway, I still hope that our domestic brands can actively expand overseas, allowing more people to use stylish and functional chargers.
Anyway, next time I go on a business trip, I plan to bring the coolest charger from the office to impress the foreigners.
