Mobile World Congress is the biggest show of the year for phones, and at MWC 2025, companies have shown off some very intriguing concept devices with cool tech for gaming and folding displays. But Infinix is pitching something else: solar power inlaid in the phone itself to charge its battery when users are out in the sun.
At the show, Infinix demonstrated its SolarEnergy-Reserving technology, as it’s called, on a prototype of the company’s Infinix Note 40 model of phones as well as a version of its upcoming Infinix Note 50 phone wrapped in a proprietary solar charging case. In both solutions, small circular lights on the back of the phone near the rear cameras winked on when solar recharging was active. The phones also had pop-ups on the front display acknowledging charging.
Here is a closer look at the prototype Infinix Note 40 phone with the company’s solar charging technology. The vertical white circular light next to the cameras indicates the solar charging is working.
The technology is still in testing and their implementation on the prototype devices isn’t final, so a lot could change before it makes its way to market-ready devices. For instance, the case solution connected to the phone via a set of pins on the side matching up to conductive connectors on the handset. But at MWC, Infinix told CNET’s Tara Brown that the tech can charge at up to 2 watts, recharging around 10% battery life in an hour.
That’s slower than conventional wireless charging (which can get up to 25 watts in the newest phones), and far slower than wired solutions that can go from 45 to 200 watts or more in some handsets. But the virtue of passive charging wherever your phone is, so long as it’s facing a light source, would be very convenient — especially for folks eking out more battery life in emergencies.
While Infinix’s solar tech was implanted in the back cover of the prototype phone or the case on the other device, meaning the backside of the phone would have to face a light source, it runs on all ambient light — not just sunlight — which would include indoor lighting, too. Infinix’s AI-driven “Sunflower” wireless charging tech, as it’s called, adjusts the energy transmission path depending on external lighting conditions and how the device is positioned.
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Infinix is looking for other applications for its solar tech beyond smartphones, like wearables and other digital devices. Other companies at MWC 2025 also had solar power concepts, like the Anker Solix Cloak that recharges devices when worn.
Infinix also introduced a different concept technology at MWC 2025: E-Color Shift 2.0, an evolution of its previous tech that uses AI-controlled modules on the back of a phone to shift colors and patterns depending on factors like weather, wallpapers and surroundings.
Watch this: Samsung’s Stretchable, Rollable and Foldable Screens Are on Display at MWC 2025
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