TECH BREAK: Energizer enters smartphone market

Energizer is attempting to enter the smartphones market with their new Energizer Power Max P18K Pop smartphone. PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • Having such a big battery on this phone also means that it is thick at 0.71 inches, which in the real world is not that thick, given that there are thicker phones in the market.
  • It isn’t that ridiculously thick to warrant worry.

Say what you will about the People’s Republic of China, but they have something the entire world wishes to have: the ability to allow popular brands to crossover into new fields.

Energizer is known as a battery company, and as such, have become a household brand name creating, marketing and selling batteries.
Now Energizer is attempting to enter the smartphones market with their new Energizer Power Max P18K Pop smartphone.

Already carrying a long name, it has interesting features to boot.

It rides on a Mediatek Helio P70 chipset, backed by an octa-core processor and a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU.

It has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but if you need more, you have to sacrifice the second SIM slot to expand the phone by a further 128GB.

BIGGER THAN NECESSARY

The 6.2-inch display looks bigger than necessary, but with 1080 x 2280 pixels resolution, it is understandable. Media consumption on this is going to be a breeze.

Energizer made a good attempt at budget cameras on this device, opting for a rear triple array consisting of a 2MP depth sensor, a 5MP and a 12MP sensor backed by dual-LED dual-tone flash.
The front-facing cameras, a dual array at that, pops up from a hidden slot, and consists of a 2MP depth sensor and a 16MP shooter.

It is an LTE phone, has dual SIM support, and comes with “AC” WiFi support as well as Bluetooth 5.0. Now, everything there is pretty standard stuff, but Energizer have gone beyond crafting another Chinese phone.
They have something that says this is an Energizer, and in this case, the 18,000mAh battery that powers it. Yes, that much in a single phone.

At 18,000mAh, this phone puts numerous power banks to shame as it is, and yes, this phone supports reverse charging.
With this monster battery hanging out at the back, it is nearly impossible to drain it in a single day, regardless of how long you choose to do things on the phone, nonstop.

Why so much? One, this is an obvious Energizer flex, after all, if they are good at making batteries, why would they not show off that they can make them for phones too?

Also, Energizer might be looking at taking over smartphone battery supplies for most brands, and there is no better way to show that you can by making your own proof-of-concept.
Whatever the reason, 18,000mAh will run a very long time with an estimated 4-5 day run time on a single charge.

Having such a big battery on this phone also means that it is thick at 0.71 inches, which in the real world is not that thick, given that there are thicker phones in the market. It isn’t that ridiculously thick to warrant worry.
This phone arrives in June this year, and Energizer are yet to put a price tag on it, but with a battery that size, it is obviously aimed at emerging markets.

It will come with Android 9, a welcome choice. Can Energizer break the market?

This phone will definitely create some buzz, but it will have a lot more to prove than just having a power bank inside a phone.

It has been done before, so Energizer has to do it a lot better.