In the evolution of technology, it is very easy not to notice the moments that will change things forever, even as you live through those moments. I had that thought when thinking of T-Mobile and Starlink’s direct-to-device satellite service. Yet, another thing that spurred that thought is the advent of silicon-carbon batteries in smartphones.
This new battery technology allows for greater capacity in the same volume compared to traditional battery tech like lithium-ion, and we’ve been seeing Chinese OEMs take advantage of it to astounding effect. Samsung didn’t do it for the S25 series, which is sad, but it looks like next year’s S series models will and to the same extent as the others.
A Report Says the Galaxy S26 Series Could Have a Battery as Large as 7,000mAh
Look. We’ve already entertained rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will switch over to silicon-carbon batteries, and generally speaking, there’s very little reason to doubt that. If Samsung doesn’t, it’s going to be at a major disadvantage compared to its competitors, which will launch in late 2026. The South Korean OEM is far from an early adopter, so early 2026 seems about right.
The first time we heard this, it was rumored that Samsung could be considering a 10% increase in the battery capacity for the series, which would bring the Galaxy S26 Ultra up to 5,500mAh from 5,000mAh. The problem with that is that it still wouldn’t have been competitive enough, as phones were hitting that capacity even before silicon batteries.
A new report from Financial News in Korea corroborates that Samsung is considering switching to silicon-carbon batteries (which I personally think doesn’t need to be “considered” as it’s the obvious smart move). However, they provide a battery range that’s a lot more than I’d have expected. They report that the manufacturer is likely to aim for the 6,000mAh to 7,000mAh range.
That’s a lot, and there’s no other way to put it. The direct quote says that those capacities will be “in the Galaxy S26 series“, though I prefer to think of it as the expected range for only the S26 Ultra’s battery—there are good reasons to be skeptical that the base S26 will see a 50% increase in its battery capacity. However, these numbers are far from set in stone and are merely being tested at the moment.
Some Chinese Manufacturers Are Aiming for Phones with Sub-8,000mAh Cells
The silicon-carbon craze started with OEMs out of China, so there’s little surprise that there ahead of the curve in regard to battery capacities. Most flagships released out of China last year had 6,000mAh as a sort of de facto minimum.
However, a phone like the Realme GT 7 Pro settled for 6,500mAh, and a gaming phone like the Redmagic 10 Pro—devices typically renowned for much “bigger” specs—had 7,050mAh. It’s clear how close casual smartphones are to 7,000mAh+ batteries. The Realme Neo 7, at just 8.6mm thick, managed to squeeze in a battery just over that threshold.
As long as consumers are safe (let’s not see another Note 7 debacle), it looks like things are going to be pretty darn fun.
