Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra’s 120W fast charger only delivers 67% of its max rated output

Xiaomi made a splash in August when it introduced its Mi 10 Ultra flagship smartphone to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The phone boasted many top-of-the-line features and chief among them was its 120W fast wired charging. 

But a recent report from Android Authority calls into question the validity of those claims as it found that the charger actually provides “just” 80W to the Mi 10 Ultra, which is well short of the touted 120W rate.

At the start of their test, they found the Mi 10 Ultra can charge at 92.3W but for the majority of the time it was hitting 80W. It should be noted that despite it not hitting 120W, the Mi 10 Ultra still delivers within the promised 0-100% charging time of 23 minutes and achieves a full charge in 21 minutes. They did not discount the fact that Xiaomi may have managed to hit 120W when they tested the Mi 10 Ultra in the lab, but in the real world, users will have to settle for two-thirds of that claimed figure.

Admittedly, despite the short fall, the Mi 10 Ultra’s 80W fast charging is quite impressive. To put that in context, other flagship devices like the Oppo Find X2 Pro offers and recently launched Huawei Mate 40 Pro offer 65W and 66W fast charging respectively.

Aside from flagship devices, gaming phones like the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel boasts a 90W fast charging though you will need to plug in both USB-C ports to achieve this. It still boasts 65W fast charge even if you use just one port.

Xiaomi has also been innovating in the realm of wireless charging. It recently introduced its new wireless charging tech that boasts an incredibly quick 80W output. They demonstrated how a modified Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro with a 4,000mAh battery, the 80W wireless charger can push 50% charge in just 8 minutes and 100% charge in just 19 minutes.

However, the Mi 10 Ultra’s 80W fast charge comes at another cost: increased temperatures. Android Authority measured the Mi 10 Ultra was producing scorching temperatures 43.8°C at its peak charge time while charging at 80W. Even so, the phone didn’t maintain that high temperature throughout the charge and its temperature actually dropped to 38.9°C as the battery after it was 70% charged.

They noted that when charging at 50W, temperatures only peaked at 39.1°C with most of the charging taking place below 37°C. Considering that the 50W charging takes only 8 minute slower to fully charge the phone, seems like a worthwhile trade-off.

The report concluded that even though the Mi 10 Ultra clearly could not charge at the fabled 120W rate, charging at such a rate would have stressed the battery even more and impact its longevity. 

So, what do you think? Is it worthwhile to fast charge your phone in less than half an hour at 120W or 80W even at the cost of higher temperatures? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[SOURCE]

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