'Super-charger' will top-up smartphone battery in just five minutes

A British businessman who became fed up with his smartphone battery dying on flights has developed a super-charging powerpack which he claims fills up in five minutes.

Stephen Voller created Zap&Go to replace the small stick chargers often carried as an emergency backup, which use lithium batteries.

He licensed the design for a super capacitor made from graphene — which absorbs electricity more quickly because it does not rely on a chemical reaction — from Oxford University scientists.

Zap&Go is one of the British companies to have unveiled new designs at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. Its powerpack — which has been billed as “the only charger you’ll ever need” — is said to give “over two hours of on-the-go charge time” for three devices at once, either by USB or wirelessly.

Mr Voller said: “I did a lot of travelling on business and became increasingly frustrated that charging the phone was an absolute nightmare. It became clear what people wanted was a device that charged quickly as they went around, particularly if they forget to plug their phone in before they go to sleep. This allows you to charge it while you’re having your cornflakes.”

Zap&Go is on pre-sale for £99.