How Samsung, Apple, Honor and more are pushing smartphone battery tech to the next level
- Samsung is reportedly developing a solid-state battery that can store more energy, Apple is developing its own tech in-house, and Honor is using silicon carbon
- Chinese start-up Betavolt Technology unveiled a new nuclear battery which it said it can power a smartphone for 50 years without the need for recharging
A smartphone that can be charged in fewer than 40 minutes. Even better: a tiny nuclear battery that could keep it running for 50 years.
Facing consumers who are fed up with having to plug in their phones all the time, device makers are racing to develop more potent batteries that can charge faster and last longer.
Telecoms firms highlighted some of the progress they have made at the industry’s biggest annual show, the four-day Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, this week.
“All manufacturers are looking to have better-performing batteries,” says Thomas Husson, an analyst at advisory company Forrester Research. “There is a sense that it is an area that is lagging behind, that we have to move forward.”
As smartphone models have become increasingly similar, having a better battery is a way to “stand out from the crowd”, he adds.
