Hands-on: Swippitt is a clever ‘instant’ phone charger, but it’s probably not for you

Ben Schoon | Jan 11 2025 - 10:00 am PT

We’ve all had that moment where our phones are dying, but we need to leave. Charging is usually too slow, and carrying around a battery bank can be annoying. That’s the problem Swippitt wants to solve with a clever phone charger that’s “instant,” but it’s probably not for you.

Swippitt is described as an “instant power system” for smartphones, providing power for the day in just a couple of seconds on any devices, from iPhone to Galaxy to, hopefully, Google Pixel.

How does that work?

A case on your phone has a battery which charges the device through the day, but the battery doesn’t need to be “charged” manually. Instead, when you start to run low on power, you can simply place the device inside of the Swippitt hub and, in just a couple of seconds, that battery is swapped out with a fresh one, giving you fresh power to work with, just without any wait.

For those of us who are forgetful when it comes to charging, Swippitt solves a clear problem. Instead of needing to charge another thing, new batteries are ready to go whenever you need them. The hub houses five batteries that are charged and ready to go, with another one in your case. There’s an app that lets you see the status of each battery, with part of the intention being that multiple users in the same household can share these batteries and swap out when the need arises. The app also allows the owner to “reserve” a charged battery to ensure they’ll have one available if other users try to get them.

But, at the same time, there are some obvious downsides, starting with the case itself. While it’s a well-made case, it’s still thick as any battery case would be.

Each battery has a capacity of 3,300 mAh, which should be enough to boost anyone’s phone for an evening out, or the majority of a day, but if you’re relying solely on the Swippitt hub to charge (the case does have charging, just no Qi), you might need to get a boost at some point through the day. There’s also the concern of battery health in the phone. You’ll need to take advantage of charging limits and/or bypass charging to prevent the constant charging from damaging the battery over time.

Still, this is a clever idea, and one that some people will probably value greatly.

Pre-orders are open now with a $100 discount for the hub going on around CES 2025, taking the cost down to around $350. The hub runs between $245 and $280 depending on which finish you pick up, while the “Link” case runs $84. Personally, I’d be looking forward to a smaller version that perhaps only has two spare batteries, as that’d be better for a single person or couple.

What do you think of Swippitt?