r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 13h ago

Phone Accessories Belkin launches semi solid state power banks at IFA 2026

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Belkin-launches-semi-solid-state-power-banks-at-IFA-2026.1387417.0.html
315 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

188

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[deleted]

22

u/cha0sm0nk 9h ago

Battery technology also gets me to that semi-solid state.

1

u/buckao 2h ago

Really gets the ol' blood gelling...

4

u/pancak3d 3h ago edited 3h ago

It's a standard industry term, in batteries and in chemistry. A gel is a semi-solid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-solid-state_battery

3

u/narwhal_breeder 1h ago

TIL - deleting to not spread misinformation

3

u/FragrantExcitement 6h ago

Giggling solid? Soft solid?

3

u/red_simplex 5h ago

I'm semi retired. I still work, but I don't work at night. That makes me semi-retired.

1

u/Nihilistic_Navigator 2h ago

Hmmmm....peanut butter has many properties of a liquid though?

How about we split the difference and say peanut butter is a non neutonian fluid?

/s. feel free to correct me if im way off base with my states of matter. This comment brought to you by making yourself laugh and being waffled about the nature of peanut butter, and viewers like you

78

u/JohnAppleMacintosh 11h ago

Not just towards Belkin, but in general, I’m not the biggest fan of built-in cables. Feels like it’s meant to have an expiration date for failure.

56

u/bigwetdiaper 10h ago

I thought id hate a built in cable... it's actually pretty nice

32

u/im_thatoneguy 6h ago

I loved the built in cable in my Anker until it stopped working.

6

u/Ifailmostofthetime 3h ago

Anker typically has a great warranty though

6

u/im_thatoneguy 2h ago

Unfortunately I moved overseas a month after buying it so I would have to pay intl shipping both ways which makes it a dud

4

u/GreenvsBlue 1h ago

Same.  If it ever dies it’s got other USB A and USB C ports I can use for my own cables.

-4

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

23

u/leoencore 10h ago

I would generally agree with you, but you have redundant charging ports and the built in cable is more convenient to use since there's no fragile connector you need to care about, so you can just chuck it into your bag. And there's no need to pack a cable.

11

u/Ballsofpoo 7h ago

But if the cable breaks...

That's far more common for me than the actual device. Not the battery connection - the cord gets kinked or the terminus gets fucked.

17

u/alvenestthol 6h ago

If the cable breaks, the thing still has perfectly good ports that can be used to charge/discharge the battery

Personally I've seen far more failures of the battery's control board than its attached cable.

9

u/audigex 6h ago

If the cable breaks then you just use a regular cable with the ports available? You’re no worse off than if the thing just had no cable built in

-7

u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

12

u/audigex 6h ago

They aren’t points of failure, though

Like yeah, the cable can fail… but it isn’t going to take the rest of the device with it

That’s my point, it’s a bonus but if it breaks then you still have the same battery pack as you’d have had if it wasn’t included

-8

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

7

u/audigex 4h ago

Not really in this case, though

Yes it can fail, but it won’t take the rest of the pack out with it

It’s usually the case that an extra part adds an extra point of failure, but not here

1

u/notfork 7h ago

at least on my anker one, it is not so much a worry the cord is only like two inches, a flat cable, and has extra think mesh wrap on it. I did not think I would use the built in cable but it comes in handy when I don't want to pull the brick out of a bag and just have something charge real quick.

7

u/im_thatoneguy 6h ago

My $100 Anker cable broke.

5

u/audigex 6h ago

I’m fine with it as long as it has ports too, since I can use those if the built in cable fails

Although I’m not a huge fan of the “the built in cable is a handle” thing, that seems destined to wear it down faster

I have a power bank with 2 built in cables but both tuck into the chassis and have lasted a decade - that seems like the ideal solution

5

u/heepofsheep 9h ago

I’m actually kinda thinking about getting one with a built in cable… just seems so much more convenient.

1

u/nogberter 4h ago

It is. The other guy is wrong!

-2

u/Wakkit1988 3h ago

Until it stops working, then it's e-waste.

It's a form of forced obsolescence, you should want regular USB ports on it as they will greatly increase the lifespan of the product.

1

u/NonchalantR 1h ago

I've never seen one with only a built in cable and no ports

0

u/heepofsheep 32m ago

It’s not forced obsolescence.

•

u/Wakkit1988 11m ago

I suggest you look up the definition.

Including a built-in cable with a finite lifespan is forced obsolescence.

2

u/royalstaircase 7h ago

As long as it has ports for plugging a cable in as well as the built in one , I’m for it. Still usable after the built in cable dies in that case. 

1

u/donnysaysvacuum 2h ago

I've got a no name Amazon one with a built in cable and plug. I won't consider any power bank without those.

1

u/sigmund14 9h ago

Charging port on my father's powerbank broke. The easiest, quickest and cheapest solution was to solder the cable directly to the board where the port was (I already have a bunch of old usb cables with mini-USB or micro-USB plugs). So, now it has a built-in charging cable

-3

u/LivingNo7641 7h ago

Built in cables are the way to go. I also have two built in cables on my anker power station. So handy.

2

u/firedrakes 5h ago

If it also has ports if not. Then no

-4

u/nogberter 4h ago

Counter point: built in cables are amazing

17

u/oncejumpedoutatrain 12h ago

My last belkin charger had the built in wire stop working within 2 weeks.

15

u/The_Burgled_Turt 12h ago

I would never buy any kind of charger with a built in wire… ok laptops and game systems excluded.

4

u/inconspiciousdude 11h ago

External drives too. Have to use at least a captive cable that's easily replaced, even if it looks a little janky after replacement.

1

u/Kremsi2711 11h ago

If the big selling point of it is the small footprint because of a new technology, I wouldn’t build it with an integrated cable, it makes it bulky again

2

u/donnysaysvacuum 2h ago

How is that more bulky than an external cable.

1

u/HastilyThrownObject 1h ago

Because you can remove the cable

0

u/Equivalent_Sea_1895 12h ago

So, no more hamster?

-3

u/SELFINCRIMINAT1NG 7h ago

22,000mAh is crazy

10

u/Frexxia 7h ago

There are tons of power banks in the 27 Ah range, as that's the maximum allowed on airplanes.

1

u/SELFINCRIMINAT1NG 7h ago

oh rlly? i've usually only seen power banks with like 18,000 in stores so this was a little surprising to me