Not to mention that bigger batteries produce more heat, so some phones might need to ship with special cooling systems, thus increasing costs for manufacturers. But that’s about to change once the next-generation smartphones start hitting the market.
Most of these phones will no longer use traditional lithium batteries, the kind that Samsung uses in its flagships, which aren’t particularly big. Instead, Chinese companies like Honor and Oppo will fully adopt the new silicon-based technology, which allows for higher energy density in a slim body.
Oppo Find N5 is one of the first foldables to adopt silicon-based battery technology | Image credit: PhoneArena
Basically, silicon batteries are just as slim as lithium ones but pack a lot more energy. The amount of silicon included in today’s batteries is about 10%, which allowed Chinese brands like Oppo, Xiaomi, Honor, Nubia and OnePlus to include 7000+ mAh batteries onto their phones without having to make them bulkier.
Chinese companies are spearheading innovation in battery technology
Oppo was the first company that managed to include 10 percent silicon in a smartphone battery. Even though it doesn’t have an extremely large battery (6,500 mAh), the Realme GT7 Pro is the first phone to pack a battery with 10 percent silicon content.
But Oppo has been testing a 15% silicon 8,000 mAh battery for six months, Digital Chat Station claims, so its next phones are expected to adopt the new battery cell design.
To make things even more exciting, the reliable tipster says that Chinese manufactures are already testing even bigger capacity batteries. Oppo, Honor and a few other brands are considering increasing the amount of silicon inside their batteries by 25-30 percent starting next year.
In fact, the next-generation phones expected to arrive later this year may ship with batteries that pack 20 percent silicon, double the value used in today’s silicon-based batteries.
Another exciting piece of information is that the battery capacity of upcoming smartphones is expected to reach 8,500 mAh for single-cell designs by next year. It’s important to mention that the not-so-many smartphones that use silicon batteries are based on dual-cell designs.
But the good news doesn’t stop here! Apparently, preliminary research is underway for 9,000 mAh batteries, which means that many companies have begun testing these huge batteries in their research labs. It will probably take 6 months up to 1 year to make sure they’re reliable and the technology is viable.
Last but not least, a new type of batteries might be adopted by smartphone makers beginning next year. Metal-shell batteries offer superior volume efficiency, which means they can increase capacity in the same physical space.
At the moment, metal-shell batteries can increase capacity by roughly 5 percent, which might not seem a lot, but this is actually an incredible achievement considering that we’re talking about sizes that are smaller than 1mm.
Samsung seems to be at a big disadvantage
The first phone to feature batteries that have about 15 percent silicon are slated to arrive as early as September. Some manufacturers will be even bolder with their phones and will include batteries that have 20 percent silicon.
Honor Magic V5 is the first phone to pack a 25% silicon-based battery | Image credit: Digital Chat Station via Weibo
Based on all the inside information revealed by Digital Chat Station, it looks like companies that are reluctant to adopt silicon-based technology will be at serious disadvantage when new phones packing 8-9,000 mAh will start hitting the market.
One of the biggest players in the smartphone industry that hasn’t been too willing when it comes to adopting new technology, Samsung, is expected to launch its new foldables, Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, on July 9. Both come with lithium batteries that aren’t larger than their predecessors.
Source: Phone Arena
