This Samsung Galaxy S26 rumor might make you rethink buying a Galaxy S25

• The Samsung Galaxy S26 series could use silicon-carbon batteries
• That should allow for a 10-15% increase in capacity
• The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra then could have a battery of up to around 5,750mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series is almost here, but reports suggest their batteries won’t be any bigger than last year’s phones. So, if you’re hoping for improved battery life, you might want to wait for the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, which could have much bigger batteries.

According to @Jukanlosreve – citing leaker @UniverseIce – the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will use silicon-carbon batteries. This kind of battery has only recently started making its way into phones, with the likes of the OnePlus 13, Honor Magic 7 Pro, and Xiaomi 15 Pro already having silicon-carbon batteries.

Those three phones have much larger batteries than most handsets, at 6,000mAh, 5,850mAh, and 6,100mAh respectively, and that’s no coincidence, as this kind of battery allows for around 10-15% higher energy density, so a higher capacity battery can take up the same amount of space.

Up to around 5,750mAh

The source doesn’t say what capacities we can expect from the batteries in the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, but for reference, the Samsung Galaxy S24 has a 4,000mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus has a 4,900mAh one, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery. We’re expecting the same from the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.

So, assuming an increase of 10-15%, we might be looking at somewhere between 4,400mAh and 4,600mAh for the Samsung Galaxy S26, between 5,390mAh and 5,635mAh for the Galaxy S26 Plus, and between 5,500mAh and 5,750mAh for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Those are big enough increases that these phones could last substantially longer between charges than current Galaxy S models, so if battery life is a priority for you, they might be worth waiting for.

Of course, this is just a rumor for now, and a very early one at that, so even though the source is reputable we wouldn’t count on it happening.

Plus, while rumors suggest the battery capacities in the Samsung Galaxy S25 line won’t be higher than in the S24 series, we won’t be certain of that until these phones launch on January 22. And even if there’s no change in capacity, they might still offer improved life through software optimizations.

So, you might not actually have to wait until 2026 for a longer-lasting Samsung smartphone, but in any case, we’ll have a clearer idea soon.

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