Can’t afford the buzzy battery toaster from CES? Try these alternatives instead
The Swippitt at CES 2025. Kerry Wan/ZDNETCES 2025 is bringing some seriously cool tech, and while we’ve seen plenty of hype around fitness wearables, TVs, smart home gear, and more, there’s one device so captivating that it’s hard to look away — the Swippitt. Swippitt is a boxy device that lets you insert your phone into the opening, and in two seconds, it comes out with a fully-charged battery. The allure of this tech toaster hasn’t been understated, and we’ve seen it with our own eyes. Also: CES 2025: The 15 most impressive products so farHere’s how the mobile-like toaster works. To use the Swippitt, a user needs the Swippitt Hub and the accompanying Link case. On the back of the Link case is a battery, which when inserted into the Hub (much like a bagel in a toaster slot) gets swapped out for another fully charged 3,500 mAh battery, perfectly boosting your device in a simple exchange. The depleted battery that was just swapped into the hub is then charged. [embedded content]The process is so quick and seamless that it left ZDNET’s Kerry Wan confused. So, who wouldn’t want a real-life piece of tech that feels right out of Disney’s 1999 Smart House flick? The answer is anyone who doesn’t want to spend almost $700 on the setup, which includes the Swippitt hub and two Link phone cases. Also: New product wows CES by fully charging a phone in under 5 secondsYou can pre-order the device now on the Swippit website and get 30% off all products, plus an additional CES promotion that takes $100 off the price of the Hub. That still places you at over $350 for a Hub and one case, though, and even at that discounted rate, it begs the biggest question: should you just buy alternative power-boosting options? As a mobile accessory and battery pack expert at ZDNET, I’ll suggest a few other options to keep your phone juiced up when you need it most without dropping your cash on this pricey futuristic appliance. More
