Four years ago, my then-colleague Vlad brought you news of an 18,000mAh battery with a phone in it. Well, I am delighted to inform you that Avenir Telecom is at it again, only now it’s packed a smartphone into a 28,000mAh battery. That, in this industry, is what we call progress.
The device itself is called the Hard Case P28K, and like its predecessor it’ll be sold under the Energizer brand (which Avenir licenses from the battery manufacturer). The company claims the P28K’s battery is substantial enough to last for a whole week regular of usage. The device also has a pretty rugged IP69 rating to survive the kinds of off-the-grid adventures you might want to have while away from a charging point. Talk time is rated at 122 hours (or a little over five days) while standby time extends up to 2252 hours, or almost 94 days.
The downside is that it’s an absolute unit. At 27.8mm thick, and 570g in weight, the Hard Case P28K is over three times the thickness and weight of an iPhone 15. So, look, don’t buy this thing if you want something svelte. It can be fast charged at up to 33W, and we’ve followed up with Avenir Telecom for an estimate of how long it’ll take to fully charge.
If you must insist on treating this thing like a regular smartphone, its specs are entry-level. There’s no 5G, and its processor is a nondescript MediaTek MT6789. You get 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a trio of rear cameras, Android 14, and a 6.78-inch 1080p LCD display.
Avenir Telecom plans to sell the Energizer Hard Case P28K for €249.99 when it goes on sale in October this year. It’ll be available globally, but not in the US.
Update February 25th, 3:38PM ET: Updated to note 33W maximum fast charging speed.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/25/24082954/avenir-telecom-energizer-hard-case-p28k-28000mah-smartphone