Phone battery capacity, 2024–2026: by year and by maker

Context: silicon-carbon cells, sales data and shipping rules

In February 2023 Honor announced what it called the industry's first silicon-carbon battery, claiming 12.8% higher energy density than current lithium batteries with graphite anodes. The Chinese Magic5 Pro was listed with a 5,450 mAh battery, against 5,100 mAh for the international model (GSMArena).

Counterpoint Research puts the average smartphone battery capacity in January 2026 at 5,291 mAh, about 400 mAh more than a year earlier, and says phones with batteries of 6,000 mAh or more made up 29% of sales. In the same note, six of the ten best-selling phones with 6,000 mAh or more used silicon-carbon cells, and Chinese brands dominated that list (Counterpoint). Our figures count each catalogued phone once, by launch year, while Counterpoint's come from sales tracking, so the two measure different things.

Samsung's first phones with silicon-carbon batteries are its Galaxy Z8 foldables, unveiled in July 2026. Moon Sung-hoon, who heads Samsung's mobile R&D, said the company adopted the technology only after it met Samsung's own safety standards (The Korea Times). Apple and Google have not announced silicon-carbon batteries for their phones.

Some makers also fit smaller batteries in the versions they sell outside China. Notebookcheck's example is the Xiaomi 15 Ultra: 6,000 mAh in China, 5,410 mAh in Germany and elsewhere. It says shipping rules are likely at least part of the reason, pointing to a US rule that treats lithium batteries above 20 Wh per cell as dangerous goods, and suggests similar rules may exist in the EU. Where a model has a global version, our catalog usually lists that one.

How we counted

• The sample is every phone in the InnoReviews catalog launched in 2024–2026 and on sale by Oct 7, 2026. The catalog does not hold every model on sale: it leans toward notable and widely sold phones over regional variants. Regional versions with different specs sometimes appear as separate entries.
• The year is the year the model first went on sale. Capacity is the maker's published figure (the typical one where both typical and rated are given). Where the China and global versions differ, the catalog usually lists the global one (the Xiaomi 15 Ultra appears with 5,410 mAh, not China's 6,000 mAh); China-only models appear with their China figure.
• Rugged phones (thick, heavy outdoor models such as Ulefone Armor, Blackview BL, Oukitel WP, Cubot KingKong and 8849 Tank) are left out as a separate class of device; some carry packs of 10,000 mAh or more.
• Each figure uses only the phones where that spec is known; the battery chart and the maker table say how many that is.
• Redmi and POCO count as Xiaomi, iQOO as vivo, CMF as Nothing, REDMAGIC as nubia, and Tecno, Infinix and itel as Transsion. OPPO, OnePlus and realme are shown apart because they launch and market phones as separate brands; Honor and Huawei have been separate companies since 2020. Makers outside these groups count in the yearly figures but have no row of their own.