Samsung's new battery tech could change smartphone design

Samsung is working on a new battery technology that will either last longer or help decrease the phone size while having a similar capacity to today's smartphones.

According to The Elec, Samsung is working with two Chinese companies to develop its battery technologies to offer better features in its upcoming devices. The companies are working to develop a piece of new stacking equipment used in battery production.

Two other South Korean companies were also in the race to work on the project, but the Chinese had the better offers.

Samsung SDI is already using step stacking technology in Gen 5 batteries used in electric cars. However, the company wants to bring it to smartphones and other devices to improve their charging and battery options.

Samsung

Current batteries are "jelly rolls"

The engineers will stack battery materials on top of each other. This method helps the battery to be more compact and have a better energy density. Currently, Samsung rolls up battery materials in "jelly rolls" and puts them into cans, says The Elec. It is mentioned that this method could increase energy density by over 10% compared to the current "jelly roll" way.

The two Chinese companies that won the bidding are opening offices in South Korea to work closely with Samsung SDI engineers. Samsung will use the developed technology at its plant in Cheonan, South Korea.

As mentioned, Samsung is already using the technology for electric cars and wants to bring it to smartphones, tablets, notebooks, and other related products, with the help of Chinese companies.

There are two paths that Samsung could follow in the future. The company could either use the technology to increase the battery sizes of the existing products. For example, Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, and it could go up to 5,500mAh.

Secondly, the company could also maintain the same battery capacities while decreasing its size, which will eventually make the smartphones a little smaller. It is not clear which way the South Korean giant will follow. We probably have more time before it hits the shelves. 

Source