Battery anxiety has been prevalent in smartphones for a while now, but that era is changing as manufacturers adopt new battery technologies, including silicon-carbon batteries, where manufacturers can increase the battery density without compromising the space inside the phone. As new smartphones launch, it could become a little challenging to cope with those models that have batteries made with this technology. Here we are to help you with our list of the top 5 latest smartphones with silicon-carbon batteries.
Lithium Polymer Batteries Vs Silicon-Carbon Batteries
Lithium polymer batteries first appeared in smartphones around the late 1990s, offering a slimmer profile and greater design flexibility compared to older lithium-ion technologies. This was crucial for the increasingly sleek and compact designs that consumers demanded. They quickly became the standard, powering the mobile revolution for over two decades.
However, the demand for longer battery life and faster charging has pushed lithium polymer batteries to their limits. This is where silicon carbon batteries enter the picture. Silicon can store up to 10 times more lithium than the graphite traditionally used in lithium-ion batteries. In other words, this means that silicon-carbon batteries can house significantly higher energy density, meaning smaller batteries can pack a bigger punch.
In practical terms, this means smartphones can offer significantly longer battery life, or maintain current battery life in a much smaller and lighter form factor.
Silicon carbon batteries also offer faster charging capabilities and improved safety. Silicon anodes are less prone to the formation of lithium dendrites, which can cause short circuits and fires in lithium-ion batteries.
Despite their dominance, lithium polymer batteries have some inherent disadvantages:
- Limited lifespan: They degrade over time, losing capacity with each charge cycle.
- Vulnerable to swelling: Exposure to high temperatures or overcharging can cause them to swell, potentially damaging the device.
- Safety concerns: While generally safe, they can pose a fire risk if punctured or mishandled.
- Environmental impact: The extraction of lithium and the disposal of these batteries raise environmental concerns.
Silicon-carbon batteries’ potential advantages in energy density, charging speed, and safety make them a promising contender for the future of smartphone batteries. The transition is already underway, with manufacturers shifting to silicon in their battery anodes. As companies continue to invest more in R&D of this technology, we can expect to see silicon carbon batteries playing an increasingly important role in powering smartphones.
Coming back to the top 5 latest smartphones with silicon-carbon batteries in India, here they are:
Redmi Note 14 Pro+
The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ is the most feature-packed device in the Redmi Note 14 series, packing a huge 6200mAh silicon-carbon battery with 90W fast charging. This makes it one of the top 5 latest smartphones with silicon-carbon batteries, and not only that, but it is also the cheapest and the only device to pack such a huge silicon-carbon cell in India.
Redmi guarantees up to 1,600 charging cycles before the battery health drops to 80 per cent capacity. The device delivers a 40% battery life improvement over predecessor as per Redmi’s claims. It packs a 22% bigger battery than its predecessor and that too in a smaller battery size than before. Redmi also says that the device can provide a day’s power with a 15-minute charge.
It sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K Resolution AMOLED Display with a Refresh Rate of 120Hz, Dolby Vision, 12-bit colours, 3000 nits peak brightness, 240Hz touch sampling rate, 1920Hz PWM dimming, and HDR10+ support. It is protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The device is equipped with Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC under the hood, with up to 12GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 512GB UFS 2.2 storage.
The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ features a triple camera setup with a 50MP f/1.6 Light Hunter 800 primary sensor with OIS, an 8MP f/2.2 IMX355 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 50MP 2.5x telephoto camera. The smartphone also has a 20MP selfie camera. The Note 14 Pro+ packs a 6,200mAh battery with 90W Fast charging support.
Additional features include X-Axis Linear Haptics Motor, IR Blaster, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6, 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, NFC and a USB-C port for charging. The device runs on Hyper OS based on Android 14 and will get 3 years of OS updates with 4 years of security patches. There’s an in-display optical fingerprint sensor for security, and the handset is up to IP69 rated.
iQOO 13
The iQOO 13 draws power from a massive 6000mAh battery with 120W fast wired charging. This makes it one of the top 5 latest smartphones with silicon-carbon batteries out there, coupled with the latest chipset from Qualcomm, 120W fast charging, accounting for an all-rounder flagship.
iQOO claims a 19-hour video playback time, 92-hour music playback time, and 6.8 hours heavy-load gaming time. Furthermore, the device can charge from 0 to 100% in 30 minutes and can retain 80% or more battery health even after 1600 charging cycles.
The iQOO 13 5G sports a 6.82-inch 2K 8T LTPO OLED flat display with a 144Hz refresh rate, 1800 nits brightness in HBM mode and 4500 nits peak brightness, 2592Hz PWM dimming, and OLED circular polarized light eye protection technology. The display is made by BOE and is tuned for iQOO. The iQOO 13 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC with up to 16GB LPDDR5x RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage.
For optics, the phone features a triple cam setup on the back, including an OIS-assisted 50MP f/1.88 Sony IMX921 primary camera, a 50MP f/2.0 Samsung JN1 ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 50MP f/1.85 Sony IMX816 2x telephoto sensor with OIS. A 32MP f/2.45 sensor handles the selfies and video calls on the device.
Aside from this, iQOO 13 has a metal middle frame, a Halo light strip, an IP68 + IP69 rated body, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.4, GPS, NFC, IR blaster, stereo speakers, and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor.
Oppo Find X8 Pro
The Find X8 Pro packs a 5910mAh silicon-carbon battery with 80W fast charging support. Oppo claims up to 7.2h continuous Dolby Vision recording. The device can stream videos for more than 20 hours, which equates to over 30 episodes of your favourite series on a single charge. Oppo claims that even in temperatures up to -20 degrees, the Find X8 Pro can provide a solid 5.3 hours continuous video recording time without faltering.
The battery is paired with MediaTek’s latest chipset and is the first device in the world to get a dual periscope telephoto sensor setup.
The OPPO Find X8 Pro sports a 6.78-inch (2780×1264 pixels) AMOLED Display with a 1 to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, up to 4500 nits peak brightness, 2160Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, 240Hz touch sampling rate, 2160Hz instant touch sampling rate, Dolby Vision, and OPPO Crystal Shield protection. It packs the latest MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Processor paired with up to 16GB LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The device gets Hasselblad optics as well.
The setup includes a 50MP primary camera with 1/1.4″ Sony LYT-808 sensor that has f/1.6 aperture, OIS, 10-bit HDR, paired with a 50MP 1/2.75″ Samsung JN5 ultra-wide angle sensor with f/2.0 aperture, 120 FoV, joined further by a 50MP 1/1.95″ Sony LYT-600 3x periscope telephoto sensor with f/2.6 aperture, OIS, and another 50MP 1/2.51″ Sony IMX858 6x periscope telephoto camera with f/4.3 aperture, OIS, up to 120X digital zoom, along with Hasselblad portrait.
At the front, there’s a 32MP Sony IMX615 f/2.4 front camera. The device is backed up by a 5910mAh battery with 80W SuperVOOC fast wired charging and 50W wireless charging. For connectivity, you get 5G SA/NSA, Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth v5.4, Beidou, GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (G1), GALILEO (E1+E5a+E5b), QZSS (L1+L5), dual-antenna NFC, and a USB Type-C port.
The OPPO Find X8 Pro also features stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, an in-display optical fingerprint sensor, an IP68 + IP69 rating, and an IR blaster as well. The device runs on Android 15-based ColorOS 15 and will get 5 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches.
Vivo X200 Pro
Similar to the iQOO 13, Vivo X200 Pro also has a huge 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery, making it one of top 5 latest smartphones with silicon-carbon batteries. Aside from 90W fast wired charging, the device also supports 30W fast wireless charging. Vivo claims up to 18-hour continuous video playback time and up to 9.1-hour continuous gaming time.
The Vivo X200 Pro features a 6.78-inch 8T LTPO AMOLED Display with quad-curved edges and a centre-aligned punch-hole cutout. The display on the X200 Pro has a 1.5K pixels resolution, 452 ppi, HDR 10+, a dynamic 0.1Hz to 120Hz Refresh Rate and 4500 nits peak brightness. The device is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 SoC paired with UFS 4.0 storage and LPDDR5x RAM.
The Vivo X200 Pro has a triple-rear camera setup that includes an OIS-assisted 50MP f/1.57 Sony LYT-818 primary camera, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide unit with a 108-degree FOV, and a 200MP Zeiss APO Super periscope Zoom HP9 telephoto camera with an f/2.67 aperture. It offers a 32MP f/2.0 selfie shooter at the front. A Proprietary V3+ imaging chip and Zeiss optics join the optics.
It also features an IP69 rating making it water and dust-resistant. Vivo X200 Pro runs on Android 15-based FunTouch OS 15 and will receive 4 major Android OS updates with 5 years of security patches.
Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.4, GPS/ A-GPS, Infrared (IR) blaster, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. It also has stereo speakers and an X-axis haptic motor along with an in-display optical fingerprint sensor, unlike the Chinese model which has an ultrasonic fingerprint reader.
Realme GT 7 Pro
Also packing a silicon-carbon battery in India is the Realme GT 7 Pro which features a 5800mAh cell with 120W fast charging support. Realme claims up to 450-hour standby time, 17-hour YouTube playback, 20-hour Instagram browsing time, and up to 68-hour Spotify streaming. Even when at 1%, the device is claimed to provide a 4.5-hour Standby time and 40-minute Spotify streaming. The device is claimed to charge from 0 to 100% in 30 minutes.
The Realme GT 7 Pro sports a 6.78-inch 1.5K Resolution (2780 x 1264 pixels) Eco2 AMOLED Display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, DC dimming, Gorilla Glass 7i protection, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, 450 ppi, 10-bit colours, and 6500 nits peak brightness. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset powers the handset paired up to 16GB LPDDR5x RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The phone runs on Android 15 with Realme UI 6.0 skin on top.
As for the optics, the GT 7 Pro has triple cameras on the back, including a 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 f/1.88 primary sensor with OIS, an 8-megapixel Sony IMX355 f/2.2 ultra-wide angle lens and a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 f/2.65 2x telephoto sensor, while the front houses a 16-megapixel f/2.45 selfie camera.
Connectivity options include 5G, dual 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port for charging. Further, GT 7 Pro packs a 5800mAh battery with 120W Fast charging support in India while the China model gets a 6500mAh cell. Additionally, it includes an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor for security, X-axis linear vibration motor, IR blaster, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, and VC liquid cooling. The device is also IP68 + IP69 rated.
