Smartphone makers will once again be banging the AI drum this year. However, there’s a major upgrade coming to phones this year that will probably go under the radar, but is arguably more impactful than yet another AI feature. We’re talking about smartphone batteries, or more specifically, silicon-carbon batteries.
Unlike existing lithium-ion batteries that we have been using for years, silicon-carbon batteries use silicon for the anode instead of graphite. The result is an increase in energy density. So you can have a higher-capacity silicon-carbon battery while keeping the same size. Or you could shrink the battery (and hence the smartphone) while retaining a similar capacity.
This new battery tech has been brewing quietly for several years now. Honor debuted the world’s first smartphone with a silicon-carbon battery back in 2023, and its latest Honor Magic7 Pro uses a third-gen 5,850…
