RIM Reconfirms that PlayBook Charger Charges Smartphones Twice as Fast

 

We told you last month that RIM’s ShopBlackBerry store practically confirmed that the BlackBerry PlayBook Rapid Charger can charge BlackBerry smartphones twice as fast. Now we have even more proof from RIM on that front. They put up a new knowledge base entry titled “BlackBerry smartphone compatibility with BlackBerry PlayBook charger.” According to that article:

The charger that ships with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is the BlackBerry Premium Charger and is fully compatible with a number of current BlackBerry smartphones. Unlike the traditional BlackBerry smartphone wall charger which converts AC to 700 mAh, the BlackBerry Premium Charger outputs at 1800 mAh which charges the BlackBerry smartphone twice as fast.

The battery does heat up slightly but is within acceptable levels.

RIM lists the following devices as compatible with the PlayBook Rapid Charger though it is practically a list of all BlackBerry devices with MicroUSB connectors:

BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet
BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930/9900
BlackBerry® Torch™ 9860/9850
BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810
BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800
BlackBerry® Bold™ 9780
BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700
BlackBerry® Bold™ 9650
BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G 9300
BlackBerry® Curve™ 8900
BlackBerry® Curve™ 8500 series
BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630
BlackBerry® Style™ 9670
BlackBerry® Storm2™ 9550
BlackBerry® Storm™ 9530
BlackBerry® Pearl™ 3G 9100 series
BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8200 series

Let us know how the PlayBook Rapid Charger works on your BlackBerry smartphone!

More on BerryReview

RIM Confirms BlackBerry PlayBook Premium Charger Charges Phones 2X Faster!

 

There has been a bit of confusion about using the BlackBerry PlayBook Premium charger and charging BlackBerry smartphones. Kevin @CrackBerry speculated a few months back that the Premium Charger that ships with the Playbook charges phones faster but RIM was mum on the subject and we speculated on our own. Now RIM has confirmed on their Shop BlackBerry store that:

It’s (BlackBerry Premium Charger) designed to work with your BlackBerry® smartphone—charging twice as fast as standard BlackBerry chargers.

From what I have been able to tell by using the BlackBerry Engineering Screen the PlayBook Premium charger pumps ~1250mAh charge into my BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry Torch 9800. That is compared to 750mAh from the new standard BlackBerry Charger Plug that RIM ships with new phones. It is also higher than the 700mAh that the older model Folding Blade Travel Charger pushed out. The PlayBook Premium Charger on the other hand seems to be able to push 1800mAh though from what I can tell my phone is only reporting 1250mAh so it could be the numbers are a little less than two times the regular charger.

Still its nice to see RIM come out and confirm that the PlayBook Premium Charger is “designed to work with your BlackBerry smartphone” instead of just happening to work. This means that RIM has probably tested it with the smartphone capacitors to make sure you are not frying the charging circuitry.

PS: I am still trying to figure out what the story is with the BlackBerry PlayBook Rapid Charger. For a rapid charger it seems to only be pushing out 2000mAh which is not much higher than the Premium chargers 1800mAh. I am not an electrical engineer by any count but let us know if you figure it out!

More on BerryReview