Forget Galaxy S25 — Samsung Galaxy S26 battery could get a huge upgrade

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Samsung Galaxy S26 may use a silicon-carbon battery

Galaxy s25 Ultra concept design by Technizo Concept on YouTube
(Image credit: Technizo Concept)

More evidence of the Samsung Galaxy S26 getting a major battery upgrade has surfaced, which may make anyone considering picking up a new Galaxy S25 wait for next year's model.

FN News' report backs up earlier claims that Samsung is looking into giving its future phones silicon-carbon batteries, which have higher energy density than typical lithium-ion batteries used in all kinds of portable electronics.

These batteries could increase the capacity of Samsung’s flagship phone batteries to between 6,000 and 7,000 mAh, an increase between 20% and 40% over the largest battery in the Galaxy S25 series, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's 5,000 mAh cell.

Battery life is driven by more than the outright size of a battery, as we saw in our Galaxy S25 Ultra battery test results. The S25 Ultra lasted 17 hours and 15 minutes, beating all previous Samsung phones we've tested. But we’d be happy to see future Galaxy models get larger batteries and increase the phones’ longevity further.

What other phones are using silicon carbon batteries?

Silicon carbon batteries are already used in rival devices like the OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic7 Pro. But Samsung has not joined the bandwagon yet because it apparently has concerns about how long these batteries physically last before losing a critical amount of capacity, compared to familiar lithium-based ones.

Instead, Samsung reportedly wants to work on the battery formula further to ensure it meets expectations.

For what it's worth, the OnePlus 13 lasted a much longer 19 hours and 45 minutes on the Tom's Guide battery life test. But it also benefits from a larger 6,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery.

Charging speed upgrade?

An upgrade to silicon carbon batteries could mean faster charging speeds, too. Samsung hasn't upgraded its 25W/45W wired speeds and 15W wireless speed for half a decade, other than switching which models support the higher 45W option.

With OnePlus and Honor offering 80W wired charging and higher, and 50W and beyond in wireless charging, the Galaxy S line is well overdue for a charging power increase.

Since the Galaxy S25 is barely a month old right now, we'd assume that the Galaxy S26 is still close to a full year away from launching. That's possibly enough time to implement silicon-carbon batteries, but perhaps we'll have to wait another generation or two if Samsung takes its time refining the design of these batteries.

Even if it doesn't get fresh battery tech, the Galaxy S26 is still tipped to use Exynos chips instead of the Snapdragon ones found in the Galaxy S25 (at least for some models), higher-res cameras and an under-display selfie camera instead of a punch-hole.

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Richard Priday
Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.

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