Samsung Galaxy Graphene Batteries Could Boost Capacities By 45% Within 2 Years

While we can usually count on mobile SoC performance increasing year-over-year on the latest iPhones and Android-based smartphones, one thing that hasn’t seen a dramatic increase is battery life. While smartphone OEMs have been able to allow for super-long runtimes with massive lithium-ion batteries (like the gargantuan 5,000 mAh unit in the ASUS ZenFone 6), power density has pretty much stayed the same.

That could change with a switch from lithium-ion battery technology to graphene, and Samsung is apparently leading the way. That news comes to us from gadget leaker Evan Blass, who claims that Samsung could release a Galaxy smartphone as soon as next year (but most likely in 2021) with a graphene battery. According to Blass, in addition to boosting runtimes, a graphene-based battery would allow a Galaxy smartphone to go from 0 percent to a 100 percent charge in less than 30 minutes. 

Other advantages of graphene over lithium-ion technology is the fact that engineers can achieve much higher capacities (given the same amount of space), or maintain the same capacity while taking up much less space. Graphene batteries can also be made to flex, which could pay dividends for foldable smartphones (and other device categories).

Samsung’s newest flagship Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ come equipped with 3,500 and 4,500 mAh batteries respectively. Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) has previously stated that its graphene battery technology could improve capacities by 45 percent over standard lithium-ion technology.

With that in mind, graphene batteries occupying the same amount of space in the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ would have the equivalent capacity of 5,075 mAh and 6,525 respectively.