Winners and Losers: Xiaomi reveals battery game changer, while cross-gen holds the PS5 back
Another week in the world of tech has come and gone, and it’s time to break down which brands and fanbases emerged victorious, and which ones would rather put the past behind them, in Trusted Reviews’ Winners and Losers.
E3 2021 and WWDC 2021 are both happening next week. That fact alone has me double checking my kitchen to ensure that I have enough coffee stocked up to cover the absolute glut of news and announcements that are about to drop. In anticipation of what’s to come, you’d be completely forgiven for missing some of this week’s top stories.
For today’s Winners and Losers however, we’ve picked two news pieces that are well worth your attention, particularly as they have big implications for their respective industries. The first is an almost unreal feat of innovation on Xiaomi’s part which could change smartphones as we know them, while the other unearths the current conundrum taking place in the gaming world under an ongoing effort to make triple-A games playable across multiple console generations.
Winner: Xiaomi
It doesn’t matter which phone you’re currently using, we have all – at some point or another – been caught out by battery life. Whether that involves waking up late and being unable to charge your phone before rushing out the door, or having the battery reach zero just as your Uber is about to arrive, everyone has a story involving some sort of battery related mishap.
It wasn’t too hard then to imagine a collective brain implosion as Xiaomi unveiled its latest battery concept, which could charge from 0 to 100% in just eight minutes. No, that’s not a typo, it really is eight minutes. If you still don’t believe it, then Xiaomi has the video to prove it – just have a watch and see for yourself.
Known as Xiaomi Hyper Charge, this technology hasn’t been allocated to a particular phone as of yet, but it is likely that we’ll see it implemented not too far down the line in one of Xiaomi’s flagships. It also works for wireless charging, taking a dead battery to 100% in a slightly longer but no less impressive 15 minutes.
With incremental changes now being the norm throughout the smartphone industry, it’s rare to see something as game changing as this, and until the technology hits the market we’ll be waiting with baited breath, but it’s fair to say that Xiaomi might have just absolved humanity of any further battery-related stress.
Loser: PS5 owners
As if being a PS5 owner wasn’t hard enough (you still need to embark on a herculean effort these days to even get one), it now seems as if the worth of having one is questionable for the foreseeable future. This sentiment is growing around the topic of cross-gen play, specifically around the news that God of War: Ragnarok is also being developed for PS4.
While that might not sound like a bad thing on the surface, given that cross-gen support means that the massive PS4 player base won’t be left behind, it does temper the expectations of how the new God of War might utilise the extra grunt afforded by the PS5’s higher specs.
Take Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart for instance. Because the game is being made exclusively for the PS5, the title has been able to incorporate the console’s super-fast load times into the story, allowing the dynamic duo to travel between worlds in the blink of an eye. Returnal on the other hand, another PS5 exclusive, utilised the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers to create a gameplay style that just isn’t possible on Sony’s older console.
Given that both God of War and Horizon: Forbidden West (Sony’s next two triple-A games) are being made for PS4 and PS5 simultaneously, it’ll be some time before we see developers fully jump aboard the next-gen train and create experiences that warrant buying these expensive machines in the first place. In the meantime, you might want to think twice about adding to basket when a new batch of PS5 stock rears its head.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
