Is your smartphone battery always draining faster than you think? Then 2025 could be the year to buy a new Android device.
A trend seems to be emerging among makers of Android smartphones, and it has everything to do with the battery in those devices.
Several manufacturers seem to be opting for larger batteries in their new models thanks to new technologies. What exactly can you expect from the different brands?
New batteries in Android smartphones
Currently, most Android flagships have a battery between 5000 and 5500 mAh. Consider, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (5000 mAh), Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (5060 mAh) and OnePlus 12 (5400 mAh). That seems like child’s play compared to smartphones we can expect in 2025.
Thus, initial rumors seem to point to a significantly larger battery capacity of up to 6000 mAh. For example, the OnePlus 13 and the Vivo X200 Pro are said to come with a 6000 mAh battery. The Xiaomi 15 Pro would even go to 6100 mAh.
Those are the true Android flagships, but the lesser models are also being pulled along. For example, the regular Xiaomi 15 would go to a 5400 mAh battery, while the 14 still had to make do with 4610 mAh.
A new technology
The leaps being made have everything to do with a new technology. Several Android smartphone makers are switching to a battery that uses silicon-carbon. Like current batteries, these have lithium cells, but unlike those batteries, they also use a silicon carbide anode. This gives a number of advantages.
By adding silicon to the battery, they gain much greater density and resilience against more extreme temperatures. So hot or cold weather affects the battery much less.
The greater density means that these batteries do not need to be larger or heavier than current Android models. We can see this in the OnePlus 13, for example, if rumors are to be believed. It will have 600 mAh more capacity than the OnePlus 12, but the device will be thinner and 7 grams lighter.
Still, this battery also has a drawback. It takes longer for a battery to charge. Current batteries often use a double cell structure, which allows for faster charging. Because of their greater density, silicon-carbon batteries are made of a single cell, and thus do not charge as quickly.
Again, take the OnePlus 13 as an example: it charges to 100 percent in 36 minutes, while the OnePlus 12 does so in 26 minutes. Of course it has more capacity, but the percentage difference between capacity and charging time does not match.
Battery doesn’t say it all
Still, the technology is not entirely new, as Honor is already using it in China with its smartphones. So now more brands seem to be making the switch, such as Xiaomi and OnePlus. Samsung, Google and Apple seem to be waiting a bit longer. It is mainly the Chinese Android brands that see quite a future in battery technology.
But a battery’s capacity doesn’t say everything, of course. Components such as a processor and software largely determine how energy efficient a smartphone is. You can have a big battery, but if the device is not efficient, it’s not much use to you. So don’t just focus on battery capacity when buying a smartphone. You can read more about that below.
