Samsung is said to be adding battery-extending technology to the Galaxy S26 smartphone range, though it should arguably have been present in the Galaxy S25 already.
South Korean outlet Fnnews has issued a fresh report claiming that Samsung is pondering the use of silicon-carbon (Si-C) battery technology in next year’s Galaxy S26 family.
Here’s what that means for Samsung’s future flagship line-up, and why we’re just a little underwhelmed by the news.
What is silicon-carbon technology?
Silicon-carbon is a new form of technology that enables more densely packed batteries than the existing lithium-ion (Li-ion) standard.
By replacing graphite with silicon in the cathode material, it essentially means that you can get a lot more charge into a cell of broadly similar proportions.
You can see the effect of this in new phones like the OnePlus 13 (below), which packs a massive 6000mAh ‘Silicon NanoStack’ battery into a phone that’s both thinner and lighter than the OnePlus 12 with its 5400mAh cell.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
What Si-C could mean for Samsung phones
According to the aforementioned report, Samsung is looking to implement silicon-carbon technology into the Galaxy S26 range. Apparently, this could see battery sizes go from 4000mAh in the Galaxy S25 to 6000mAh in the Galaxy S26 – that’s 50% larger.
At the top end of the range, it could see the 5000mAh Galaxy S25 Ultra battery expanding to 7000mAh in the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Si-C could help Samsung to address another slight weakness in its recent flagship phones. Silicon-carbon batteries can charge faster, so we might finally see a boost beyond the usual 25W-45W charging rates with the Galaxy S line.
Better late than never from Samsung
While we’ll be glad to see silicon-carbon technology incorporated into Samsung’s flagship phones, it feels as if it’s a year late.
As we’ve already mentioned, rival devices like the OnePlus 13 are already incorporating the technology into this year’s flagship phones.
Xiaomi, meanwhile, is rumoured to be using Si-C to bolster the capacity of its next foldable phone, the Mix Flip 2, which could leave the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 – and indeed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – looking a little short of breath.
This all makes the Samsung Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25 Plus, and particularly the pricey Galaxy S25 Ultra, feel a little dated already – at least when it comes to battery capacity and charging speeds.
The report explains that Samsung has been slow to implement the technology due to the higher number of units it has to produce compared to its Chinese rivals, but that might not wash with power users fed up with travelling with a portable charger in their pockets.
