Why Samsung’s 5,000 mAh battery hasn’t changed in six years, and how Apple finally caught up
From Note 7 safety fears to regulatory roadblocks, Samsung stuck to a 5,000 mAh battery for its most coveted flagship line. However, its closest competitor is quickly catching up.
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
Several things are certain in life.
Death.
Taxes.
And, obviously, the use of a 5,000 mAh battery on Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra flagships over the years.
That's because Samsung's most coveted devices, the high-end Galaxy S Ultra flagships, have constantly featured batteries with a 5,000 mAh capacity ever since their debut in early 2020. Seasons changed, pandemics came and went away,
Don't get me wrong, back in 2020 a 5,000 mAh battery was not too shabby at all and was actually among the best-endowed flagship phones out there. I was particularly impressed with the Galaxy S20 Ultra's battery size and battery life, respectively, but now, nearly six years in, this initial interest has transformed to boredom.
In the meantime, Samsung's rivals have caught up to its initially strong position. Apple, in particular, started this decade at a rather weak spot in terms of battery capacity for its top flagship at the time, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but has since beaten Samsung's latest Galaxy S25 Ultra with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which brings a hefty 5,088 mAh battery.
Here's the rise of Apple's battery capacity increase compared to Samsung's constant use of similarly sized batteries.
A chart comparing the battery capacities of Samsung and Apple's flagships between 2020 and 2025 (Image by PhoneArena)
Do battery capacities even matter these days?
I get it; there's much more to battery life than battery capacity alone. Efficiency is key, and we've scored even bigger gains in the past few years. The same applies to Samsung. Even though I love rubbing in the fact that Galaxy S Ultra flagships always come with a 5,000 mAh battery, I can't deny that the optimization and efficiency of Samsung's flagships have been perfected greatly, and as a result, the battery life has increased exponentially across the board.
Here's how Samsung's flagship phones have fared in our custom battery tests over the years, and it's clear to notice the upward trend in overall efficiency. The consistency of that battery life is striking: every generation has better battery life, with the biggest jump being from the Galaxy S22 Ultra to the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
In the case of the iPhone, our tests prove that the trend is upwards, but it has its ups and downs. For example, we notice a battery life dip with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which makes the improvement with the iPhone 16 Pro Max that much more noticeable, and conversely, the dip to the iPhone 17 Pro Max a bit more pronounced.
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That's definitely more inconsistent than what Samsung's flagships achieve.
And here are the two device lineups compared against one another.
A chart comparing the battery life of Samsung and Apple's flagships between 2020 and 2025 (Image by PhoneArena)
So, overall, despite Samsung's reluctance to go big in terms of battery size, the company has so far successfully fared well with the same-sized 5,000 mAh battery, extending the battery life further with each generation.
The historic Galaxy Note 7 curse
One of the reasons why Samsung is playing it much safer with battery sizes these days could be traced back to the Galaxy Note 7 a decade ago, in 2016. This notorious device had an unfortunate battery design flaw that caused multiple units to catch on fire and pose serious risks to its users. It's also at the top of the list of phones that have ever been banned from being on you, your checked-in, or carry-on luggage on plane flights in the US, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Aside from full-page apology ads in printed media, the Galaxy Note 7 made Samsung take battery safety very, very seriously. That's why since early 2017 (a few months after the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 launch), Samsung has implemented a rigorous 8-point battery safety test that ensures each battery is safe and, well, won't catch on fire in your pocket.
Samsung's extensive 8-point battery testing system (Image Credit - Samsung)
This has been a successful move: ever since the Note 7, no other Samsung phone has suffered from the same or even remotely similar battery issues on such a large scale. And that's great for consumers.
However, that's not the real reason why Samsung phones have batteries in the 5,000 mAh. As usual, there's more.
It's all about the law, man
I know, I know, I too get excited when I read rumors and leaks about Chinese phones that come with silicon-carbon batteries that exceed 6,000 mAh, and lately, even 7,500 mAh, but there's a pretty simple reason for that battery capacity windfall of late––the lack of any specific regulation about battery size for consumer devices in China.
In the US, regulation 49 CFR § 173.185 postulates that a lithium-ion cell should not exceed 20 Wh, and if it exceeds 20 Wh, it needs to comply with stricter provisions under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), which is a much larger can of worms. It so happens that the Galaxy S Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery cell multiplied by 3.8V and divided by 1,000 equals 19 Wh.
But wait, how did OnePlus get away with peddling a phone with a 6,000 mAh battery in the US, the OnePlus 113? Well, as usual, regulation 49 CFR § 173.185 only restricts single-cell batteries to be below 20 Wh, while the OnePlus 13 had a 22.92 Wh silicon-carbon battery, but it was a dual-cell one, so technically, neither of the cells exceeded the 20 Wh imposed limit.
This is one of the reasons that Chinese phones with large silicon-carbon batteries are sold in many European countries with significantly smaller batteries. For example, the recent Vivo X300 Pro has a massive 6,510 silicon-carbon battery in China but a smaller 5,440 mAh one globally—to comply with the different regulations in the West.
Samsung did nothing wrong
In my opinion, the fact that all Galaxy S Ultra phones come with 5,000 mAh batteries isn't such big of a deal. We've already proved that despite the battery not having grown in the past six years, battery life has gradually increased.
While I get excited at the prospect of a Galaxy Ultra flagship with a 7,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery as much as the next nerd, it's unlikely that this is happening anytime soon.
In fact, rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is due in a couple of months, indicate that we will be getting a 5,000 mAh battery once again. Let's hope that the upward battery endurance trend continues with that one, and we get even better battery life.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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