Last updated April 12, 2019
Mobile phone accessories manufacturer XPAL Power claims that its new cell phone, the SpareOne, can hold its charge for as long as up to 15 years. The $50 phone, which is slated to ship during this quarter in the United States, is a dual-band GSM handset that needs just one single, off the shelf AA battery (Alkaline, Lithium or NiMH). It also comes complete with an Energizer Ultimate Lithium L91 that enables the cell phone to hold its charge, providing it is unused, for a decade and a half, the company claims, while talk time lasts for up to ten hours.
The SpareOne is a no frills cell phone which is intended for use in an array of situations where a customer’s main cell phone either isn’t available or has lost its charge, for example during tourist excursions, roadside emergencies or various other outdoor escapades. The company also claims that the low cost cell phone has a variety of corporate uses as well.
The new cell phone “can be left in a car for emergencies, used by hotels who want to pre-program concierge numbers for guests, passed to your children or parents to maintain an open line of communication – it’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what,” says the project director on SpareOne, Alan Cymberknoh. SpareOne is not capable of streaming videos and the like as with many modern cell phones, but the whole idea for it is as a throwback that is slim, simple and has serious staying power.