October 2024 was a big month for smartphones. Although most of the major releases in that month were constrained to China, there was a noticeable trend among them. All of those devices came with batteries that we’d easily consider massive, especially as the majority of them weren’t gaming phones, and neither did they compromise on slimness.
We’ve saw more 6,000mAh+ smartphones in Q4 of 2024 than we’ve seen in a very long time, and the reason for that boils down to the battery tech. Silicon-carbon batteries are changing the game, and even though Samsung has missed the cut-off for adoption for 2025, it looks like its 2026 flagships will hop on that train.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Series Is Rumored to Be Adopting Silicon-Carbon Batteries
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra was a big release for Samsung and it marked the company finally hitting the 5,000mAh mark for its flagship smartphones. That was back in 2020 and a full five years later, Samsung’s upcoming S25 Ultra is still expected to have a 5,000mAh battery. For the largest Android manufacturer in the world, I wouldn’t say it is too entitled to expect a little more of an evolution in that timeframe.
Fortunately, according to new rumors, the Samsung Galaxy S26 series might be the one to save us from the stagnation that Samsung has made us sit through. According to Jukanlosreve on X—who in turn got his information from Ice Universe on Weibo—the Samsung Galaxy S26 series is going to use silicon-carbon batteries. If true, that could mean battery capacities closer to what the competition is doing.
However, one important plot twist Samsung might choose would be to reduce the thickness of its devices and stick to 5,000mAh, rather than keep the thickness at what it is and upsize the battery. I personally doubt that’ll be the route it takes, especially as an extra year of same-sized batteries could mean the South Korean company being left in the dust. However, Samsung is one OEM that can be very hard to predict.
Samsung’s Upcoming S25 Slim Might Have a Painfully Small Battery
For some reason, Samsung decided that one of the things that the world needed the most from it when it comes to its smartphone duties, was a model that prioritized thinness over everything else. I don’t see the market for that in 2025, but Samsung has more data than me, so who am I to judge?
Well, with recent leaks, it looks like the Galaxy S25 Slim is going to be 6.4mm thick, which will make it the thinnest flagship smartphone that we’ve seen in an incredibly long time. However, considering that the Galaxy S24, Samsung’s current thinnest flagship, is 7.6mm, you shouldn’t be surprised to see a ton of compromises.
The Galaxy S24 has a 4,000mAh battery, which is small by modern standards. However, the Galaxy S25 Slim will be even slimmer than that and the battery will likely suffer as a result. A rumor from Digital Chat Station on Weibo points to a battery that will be somewhere between 3,000mAh to 4,000mAh. That’s not fun.
