Samsung is reportedly hoping to have “at least one handset either next year or in 2021” with a graphene battery instead of a lithium-ion battery. Yes, many of you are probably shaking your head right now, as we have been hearing about graphene batteries becoming a viable solution for smartphones for years at this point. And the latest rumor, courtesy of leakster Evan Blass (aka evleaks), suggests that there is still a couple of years to go before we see a phone powered by a graphene battery.
Last year, rumors of Samsung being close to using graphene batteries in smartphones started floating around on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo, but as we all know, no such device has made its way to market yet. Why are graphene batteries so important? Well, thanks to a material Samsung calls “graphene ball”, graphene batteries can charge up to five times faster than lithium-ion batteries. The material can also increase battery capacities by 45 percent, and these batteries can also handle higher temperatures.
All of those benefits would be right at home on smartphones, especially as manufacturers continue to insist on making their phones as thin as possible. The Galaxy Note 10+, for example, is just 7.9 mm thick, nearly 1 mm less than the Galaxy Note 9. Granted, Samsung has still managed to fit the Note 10+ with a 4,300 mAh battery, but no one will complain if we can get, say, a 5,000 mAh battery in such a sleek profile with faster charging capability than we have right now.
Just how much longer consumers will have to wait before they can buy a smartphone with a graphene battery is anyone's guess. Samsung is likely to be the first manufacturer to have such a phone on the market, and while it's now being suggested that phone could be ready as early as 2020, it's best to keep the proverbial salt container handy until companies officially make some commitments about bringing graphene to mobile devices.
