Energizer P18K Pop

Energizer’s 18,000 mAh phone barely raised 1% of the funds needed to launch it

Damien Wilde | Apr 30 2019 - 8:02 am PT

If you cast your mind back, at MWC 2019 the chonky boi Energizer P18K Pop managed to steal some of the limelight with a massive 18,000mAh battery. Well, even despite the supposed interest, Energizer failed to raise even 1% of its goal on Indiegogo.

Avenir Telecom — the French company licensing Energizer smartphones — missed their goal of $1.2 million after only managing to amass a pitiful backing of $15,005 or £11,551 (via The Verge). That means that the Energizer P18K Pop managed 1% of its proposed funding — rather embarrassing.

It seems the lure of a device that could potentially last for a week on a single (extended) charge wasn’t enough to get people to part with their cash and see the P18K Pop actually backed.

The early-bird pricing of $549 was rather lofty given the Energizer P18K Pop wasn’t the most stacked in the specification department. Luckily for those who were foolhardy enough to want a portable brick, Indiegogo campaigns are reliant on 100% funding for money to be taken.

Shipping was supposed to take place in October 2019, but was dependent on the device being fully funded. It also probably didn’t help that the handset had an RRP of $699. You can get a OnePlus 6T for that price with some change left over for two or three power banks greater than 18,000mAh in size.

Having had some hands-on time with the device, I can genuinely say that it was an absolute beast. It’s a wonder that the handset even managed to get out of the prototype stage in the first place.

Avenir won’t be the first company to miss out on lucrative crowd-funding with the Energizer P18K Pop, and they certainly won’t be the last. But maybe next year we’ll finally get to see a 20,000mAh power bank phone…

Check out the video below to see likely the only P18K Pop we’ll see in the wild.

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