The Swapery gives new meaning to swappable smartphone batteries

Power banks are great if you need to make sure that your smartphone battery stays topped up while on the go. The problem is that you have to wait for them to recharge your phone. Depending on the power bank’s power output, this might take a while. This is where The Swapery comes in.

The Swapery has made its debut at CES 2024. This is an interesting gadget as it bills itself as an automated system that can swap out drained batteries on your phone for fully recharged ones. Attach a battery to the back of your phone, and when the battery drains, place it in The Swapery machine.

After a few seconds, the machine will take out the drained battery and replace it with one that’s full, essentially giving your phone a “full charge”. It is a pretty awesome idea, but we’ll admit we do have some questions about it and how it works. Does the new battery simply act as a power bank? Or does it somehow bypass your phone’s internal battery and allow it to run fully off the external battery?

This is reminiscent of Qi2 and MagSafe, where accessory makers can create power banks that attach magnetically to your phone without the need of cables.

One of the issues with The Swapery is that it requires a charging station. This means that it isn’t quite as portable as a power bank. It could come in handy if you don’t have time to wait for your phone to charge. The device is expected to be made available come Q2 2024 so head on over to its website if you’re interested.