Xiaomi's new wireless charging solution rivals HUAWEI's wired charging

Wireless charging is generally slower than wired charging solutions, but we’ve seen some big leaps made in the last 18 months or so.

Xiaomi has been at the front of the pack when it comes to faster wireless charging, and it’s just raised the bar again by demonstrating 40W wireless charging. Vice-president Chang Cheng made the announcement on Weibo today, while also posting a time-lapse video to illustrate the speed. Check it out below.

The video shows a phone with a 4,000mAh battery hitting 50% capacity just under 20 minutes due to the faster charging solution. The Xiaomi device is fully topped up after just 40 minutes of 40W wireless charging.

This is a pretty big step for Xiaomi, as it puts the firm in line with wired charging solutions from the likes of Huawei. HUAWEI’s flagship Pro devices offer 40W wired charging solutions, capable of topping up a 4,200mAh battery in just over an hour. Xiaomi’s demonstration uses a smaller battery obviously, but it still seems extremely fast.

It’s one thing to demonstrate 40W wireless charging and another to actually implement it in a smartphone though. After all, Xiaomi showed off 100W wired charging late last year, but its Mi 10 Pro flagship tops out at 50W speeds. Then again, the Mi 10 Pro also offers 30W wireless charging, which suggests that a 40W wireless solution is closer to a commercial reality. So could we see this tech any time soon?

“We don’t have an availability timeline for commercial release to share as of now,” Xiaomi representatives told Android Authority in response to an emailed query. The representatives also confirmed that it tested the solution on a Mi 10 Pro, but stressed that it was still under development.