Wild leak points to 20,000mAh battery for Samsung, but there's bad news

We’ve seen flagship Android phones with 7,000mAh+ batteries in the last few months, while HONOR has just launched phones with 10,000mAh batteries as well. Now, a leaker has alleged that Samsung is testing a 20,000mAh silicon-carbon battery.

Tipster phonefuturist claimed on Twitter that Samsung SDI has tested a dual-cell silicon-carbon battery with a total capacity of 20,000mAh (h/t: Android Headlines). The first cell is said to be a 12,000mAh battery while the second cell is apparently an 8,000mAh battery.

Samsung apparently achieved 27 hours of screen-on time with this battery, along with roughly 960 charging cycles in a year. But that’s where the good news ends.

The company reportedly discovered battery swelling after the test, meaning the battery won’t survive long-term usage. In other words, you shouldn’t expect a Galaxy phone with a 20,000mAh battery any time soon. The leaker also posted images that purportedly show these batteries, as seen below.

It’s worth taking this leak with a pinch of salt because we’re not very familiar with the source. However, another tipster with a mixed track record reported that the 8,000mAh battery went from 4mm thick to 7.2mm due to swelling. It’s also possible that Samsung SDI is testing this core tech with a view to implementing it in cars rather than phones.

We’d like to hear more details about the battery’s silicon content too. Companies can increase the capacity of their silicon-carbon batteries by using a higher percentage of silicon content in them. However, phones like the OnePlus 15 and its 7,300mAh battery top out at 15% silicon content to strike a balance between capacity and reliability. For what it’s worth, realme announced a prototype phone with a 15,000mAh battery, but this had 100% silicon content. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that Samsung SDI’s 20,000mAh battery contains a higher percentage of silicon content compared to commercial phones.

We’ve emailed Samsung SDI to ask for comment regarding these claims and whether this test was related to smartphones. We’ll update the article as soon as the company gives us an answer.