is a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
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A new company called BMX, founded by accessory royalty, has emerged from Kickstarter to make its SolidSafe semi-solid state power banks available to the general public.
BMX, which stands for Better Mobile Xperience, is lead by Daniel Chin, the man who founded Sanho, the company behind those Hyper-branded batteries and accessories long adored by Apple users. Targus bought Sanho in 2021, freeing Chin up for new adventures.
Both BMX and Kuxiu insist on calling their batteries “solid state,” but they’re not — instead they use a solid-liquid mixed electrolyte. Nevertheless, they still have advantages over traditional batteries and can be mass produced using existing manufacturing processes to help keep costs down. The power banks cost about twice as much to purchase but last over twice as long so you’ll likely come out ahead in the end, and without any burns or property damage.
Just look at how well these semi-solid state batteries hold up to drilling, bending, and cutting:
Now see how traditional Lithium-ion batteries using all-liquid electrolytes compare:
The SolidSafe range is available in 5,000mAh and 10,000mAh capacities with prices starting at $79. There’s also a 10,000mAh model with a microSD slot (max 512GB) that lists for $129. Unfortunately, they’re all stuck on older 15W Qi2 MagSafe-compatible wireless charging, instead of the newer Qi2.2 that can handled 25W. Otherwise, you get 30W USB-C in/out and a USB-C cable integrated into the lanyard, which is handy.
Right now they show sold out on the BMX site, but they should appear on Amazon in the US in January.