Forget charging your phone. This viral "phone toaster" revealed at CES 2025 is promising to bring the days of low battery warnings, portable chargers, and unsightly cables to an end. All you have to do is insert your phone, and two seconds later it's spit back out with a fresh battery.
It's called the Swippitt Hub, a toaster-size box that interacts with a system of interchangeable batteries that fit into specially designed phone cases. The case, which Swippitt refers to as the Link, houses a 3,500mAh battery on the back, enough extra battery capacity to charge your phone between 50-90% depending on the model. Just use your phone like normal, and the extra battery tops off your phone throughout the day via a power connector integrated into the case. Any power you don't use sits in reserve until needed.
So where does the toaster-looking apparatus come in? Well, when you slot your phone into the Hub, the system swaps out the case's battery for a fully charged one. There are a total of five batteries inside the machine, and it'll even automatically sort them in order of their charge percentage so that users don’t get a drained battery swapped back into their case.
Using an accompanying app, you can set all kinds of parameters like charging only at certain times of the day or only charging your phone's battery to 80% to extend its lifespan. All of the batteries come in one standard size, with only the case differing depending on what kind of phone you have. Since the Hub uses a mechanical process to swap batteries, it works with any phone as long as there's a Swippitt case designed for it. So whether you have one of the best Android phones or best iPhones, you can rest assured that your handset will be topped up on the go.
A seamless charging experience at a premium
While there are plenty of gimmicky inventions on display at every CES, Swippitt is selling a seamless charging experience that addresses a lot of common headaches when it comes to keeping our devices topped up. Swippitt aims to make its charging system so ubiquitous that you might eventually visit a friend’s home, your workplace or the like and be able to swap out batteries, even if it's not your own Swippitt Hub.
Of course, that convenience comes at a cost. The toaster-like Swippitt Hub retails for $450, and each Swippitt Link case with the battery included costs $120. The company is running some introductory promos to soften the blow though. You can pre-order the Swippitt Hub from their website and get 30% off all products through January. An additional CES promotion takes another $100 off the Hub's price tag.
It's a nifty idea, but if you're on a budget, you might be better off using that money to stock up on the best portable chargers and power banks instead.
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