Mobile Technology

Fuel might be the world's smallest phone charger

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Fuel just might be the world smallest phone charger
The plans for the Fuel phone charger
The inside of Fuel with the charger cap removed
The components that make up Fuel
Fuel compared to a standard pair of earbuds
Fuel side by side with a standard car key
Fuel just might be the world smallest phone charger
Fuel plugged into a smartphone
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Devotec Industries is launching a new product on Kickstarter that just might be the world's smallest emergency phone charging device. It's designed to be easily carried on a key ring, and everything needed to top up a phone is crammed inside a space smaller than the keys themselves.

So just how small is Fuel? According to the creators, it is 1.3-inches tall, 0.9-inches wide and 0.5-inches thick (33 x 22 x 12 mm). The housing of the device is made with die cast aluminum and weighs around half an ounce (about 14 g). Most of the interior is taken up by its 220 mAh lithium-ion battery.

Obviously, in a device this small you are not going to see a battery with crazy high capacity. Still, it's claimed to provide about 20-30 minutes of additional talk time, and up to a couple hours of standby time, depending on the phone.

The Fuel charger features a standard micro-USB port, so it will be able to provide juice to most phones. Sadly, iPhone owners are currently left out of this one, though Devotec does appear to be planning the release of a version with an iPhone 5/Lightning connector at some point in the near future.

Fuel compared to a standard pair of earbuds

The creators claim the device can retain its charge for anywhere between a month and three months before needing to be charged, and comes with a power switch designed to keep it from discharging needlessly. Three LEDs inform the user of its current status (charging, fully charged, and so on).

Fuel has blown past its US$20,000 goal on Kickstarter – it's currently sitting at well over $60,000 with almost 3,000 backers. The minimum pledge to grab a Fuel charger is $20, and there's a little over two weeks left in the funding period. Devotec Industries expects to deliver the devices to backers in July of this year.

The Kickstarter pitch below provides more information on Fuel.

Source: Devotec, Kickstarter

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5 comments
Ozuzi
Does a backup battery count as a 'charger'?
Milton
I'm a little concerned about the switch tab extruding beyond the die-cast body. Wouldn't it be prone to catching on something and turning "ON" accidentally?
professore
So why is it sad the iphone users cannot use this device? It uses the universal micro-usb connector than the majority of the entire world's phones use these days. Apparently Apple chose another proprietary route thus excluding their followers from the benefits of following a standard. Goodness, is this deja vu all over again ?
Jay Finke
I would think a dynamo would be a better idea, a dynamo with a spring so that it could be wound up. and make it out of plastic, the cost of metal is way too high.
ChairmanLMAO
Ya some tech. This just makes me angry! Here i'm thinking - cool a tiny safe fuel cell. The name is decieving - I bet all the kickstarter investors are thinking the same thing and when they get it - if they get it - they will be disappointed. Jay is right it would have been better if it was a dynamo. How are you gonna really count on this when you need it?
Do you even know about fuel cells? - this isnt even a gizmo.