The Energizer name figured prominently at Mobile World Congress this year, courtesy of a prototype Android smartphone that was about an inch thick, consisting mostly of a giant battery. The prototype Power Max P18K Pop gained a huge amount of attention. The successor to the Power Max P16K Pro, it upped the battery from an already massive 16,000mAh to 18,000mAh.
With so much interest around the phone, one might have expected it to become a crowdfunding hit. But the warning signs were there when, a week into its Indiegogo campaign, just three backers had pledged $2,725 of their money. Avenir Telecom, which licenses Energizer’s name for use on phones, was looking for a wildly optimistic $1.2 million.
Now the campaign is over and the final figure stands at $15,005, just 1 percent of its goal.
While a phone that can go days without charging is a compelling prospect, it seems the P18K’s massive size wasn’t as appealing.
This might not be the last we see of the P18K. Following the end of the campaign, Avenir Telecom wrote: “Although it didn’t reach its goal, we will work on further improvement on the P18K as we do believe there is a rising interest for smartphones with incredible battery life, which can also be used as power banks.”
