Although smartphones are becoming more and more efficient, their autonomy continues to disappoint. A need that Samsung wants to meet, which is embarking on the development of a completely new type of very durable battery.
Do you charge your phone two to three times a day? You can no longer leave the house without your charger? Do you spend your time in energy saving mode? So, Samsung’s next project should please you. After improving the photos and, more generally, the performance of its smartphones, the South Korean firm has embarked on a major new challenge: that of optimizing the autonomy of its devices. Because, yes, most phones available on the market are designed to last a day without being recharged. In fact, this translates in particular to continuous use of around ten hours, on average. To remedy this, Samsung is working on a new type of cell phone battery.
ASB: batteries with a solid electrolyte
Recently, the South Korean company appointed a team led by Go Joo-young, marketing team leader (vice president) of the large-scale battery business unit, to work on commercializing a “dream drums”. Called ASB for All Solid-state Battery, it uses a solid electrolyte – the material in which ions circulate to produce electricity – instead of the liquid electrolyte used in lithium-ion batteries which are currently the most used and which require a separator between the positive electrodes, the anodes, and the negative ones, the cathodes. From now on, Samsung batteries will no longer need a separator since the electrolyte will be solid.
The company is therefore focusing on a new battery with an energy density of more than 900 Wh/L and which uses sulfide-based technology, resulting in the fastest flow of lithium-ion per unit volume . Thanks to this new feature, the performance of future batteries could be greatly improved. As the energy density will be higher, the capacity to supply energy will be greater and the shape of the battery will also be smaller. At least, that’s what Samsung hopes. At the same time, this project should also offer less dangerous batteries for consumers. And for good reason: ASB technology greatly reduces the risk of fire and battery explosion.
On paper, this battery has everything to establish itself on the market. Unfortunately, you will still have to be patient before you can test it. For now, Samsung has only set up the ASB trial production line at its Suwon research center. The marketing of the product is therefore planned, at the earliest, for 2027. So, no, the next Galaxy S24s should not be equipped with these new batteries, but it is possible to see them arrive on the market on the occasion of the release of the Galaxy S27.