If you want to buy a new cell phone these days, manufacturers attract mainly with AI functions. For example, Google Gemini can summarize YouTube videos for you,Write down in the morning what is going on during the day.
Artificial intelligence is a big issue for manufacturers, whereas a different development is largely under the radar: the new cell phone battery.
Traditional lithium-ion batteries have been used in smartphones for many years, but this era could soon end.
In 2023, Honor presented the worldwide on the MWC with the Magic5 ProFirst smartphone with silicon carbon battery. In 2024, smartphones were then traded with the new battery technology - meanwhile in the third generation, which is further developed.
Realme, Honor, OnePlus, Vivo and Xiaomi rely on technology in particular. Samsung, on the other hand, remains with lithium-ion batteries. According to its own statement, the new batteries are not yet available in sufficient quantities to equip millions of devices for the market launch.
What are silicon carbon batteries?
A silicon-carbon battery is essentially a variant of the lithium-ion battery. However, the anode (minus pole of the battery) no longer consists of graphite, but of silicon.
That has loudWorld of physicsThe advantage that a single silicon atom can bind four lithium ions, while in the previous lithium-ion batteries six carbon atoms were required to bind only one lithium ion.
To put it simply:Due to the increased binding of the lithium ions, the energy density increases significantly. With the same size, silicon carbon batteries offer a higher capacity. In theory, you can store up to ten times more electricity.
Advantages of silicon carbon batteries
The new technology is superior to the classic lithium-ion batteries in several points:
- Silicon-ion batteries are smaller due to the higher energy density with the same capacity.
- The technology offers better temperature resistance. Have lithium-ion batteries. A silicon carbon battery is more resistant to this. LoudHonorthe batteries can cope with extreme temperatures in the range of -20 degrees Celsius.
- The higher energy density can lead to a potentially longer battery life, since fewer charging cycles are required to store the same amount of energy.
- In theory, silicon-ion batteries enable much faster charging compared to the previous lithium-ion technique.
Disadvantage of silicon-carbon batteries
The silicon-carbon technology also has to deal with challenges. Silicon tends to extend when charging. In the worst case, this could lead to mechanical damage to cell phones and Co.
Manufacturers work against this by using a nanoco float framework that stabilizes silicon during charging and unloading. This is how they counteract the expansion.
What does that mean for you in everyday life?
The new battery technology allows cell phone manufacturers to build thinner devices with the same size. Alternatively, you can also install a larger battery with the same case.
For example, realme installs a huge 7,700 millia amper-hour battery on the NEO 7-otherwise only tablet batteries offer such a capacity.
Larger battery, longer term?
One would like to think that a larger battery also ensures a longer term. However, that doesn't have to be the case.
The device software plays a crucial role in the battery life and also the interaction with CPU, RAM and Co.
Example:Thehas a silicon-carbon battery with a capacity of 6,150 milliampers' hours. In the PCMark battery mark, however, the smartphone reached just nine hours and 47 minutes.
That is opposedwith a traditional lithium-ion battery and a capacity of 5,000 millia amer hours. It reached 26 hours and 15 minutes in the same benchmark.
More important than AI - at least still
In my view, the further development of battery technology is a bigger thing than the AI features currently advertised everywhere in cell phones.
Why? I think that very few AI functions will offer real added value in everyday life-even if this should certainly change in the future.
The new batteries, on the other hand, could turn cell phones upside down if software and hardware are right.
Then we may not speak of 26 hours, but of 40 or more - who knows. Load the smartphone only once a week? Perhaps this scenario is not that far away.
Do you use a cell phone with a silicon carbon battery? How are your experiences with the new technology? Do you only see advantages or maybe disadvantages? Give me your opinion in the comments.
